Big future for tiny houses
Municipalities seek to make small dwellings into permanent homes.
The tiny home under construction at Cornerstone’s Longwood factory has room for a queen bed, an apartment refrigerator, a closet and even a washer and dryer hook-up.
But the biggest difference in the $68,000, 360-square-foot home model is the lack of wheels, meaning it isn’t technically a mobile home like other popular tiny homes. It’s meant to sit on a foundation for good.
“You can’t really buy a home in Seminole County for less than $200,000, so tiny homes appeal to those looking to own but can’t afford it,” said Cornerstone Tiny Homes CEO Brett Hiltbrand. “The problem is that you can’t really put tiny homes on an actual piece of land [you own], so you have to put it in a mobile home park and still pay rent.”
The dream of owning these minimalist and low-cost dwellings has bumped against market reality in the five years since tiny home shows became a mainstay on cable television reality shows such as Tiny Home Nation.
It’s difficult for buyers to get a loan on a non-traditional home that doesn’t have a permanent address, finding insurance can be difficult and many cities have restrictions on where tiny homes can be placed.
But tiny home owners and builders are pushing local governments to reform laws in the face of growing house prices and apartment rents.
In Central Florida, Longwood passed new rules for tiny homes in March, and Osceola County passed an ordinance last year to make way for tiny homes on permanent foundations, joining places such as Rockledge and Marion County in reforming housing laws.
Tiny home advocates say the changes are making tiny homes more appealing and giving owners a sense of legitimacy in the emerging market.
Longwood passed its new rules in March after a push from Hiltbrand and Cornerstone Tiny Homes, who hopes to build a tiny home community with a handful of model units.
“Living in Longwood, finding any home under $250,000 is hard,” said Longwood planning director Chris Kintner. “As a city you really have to take any kind of emerging housing seriously.”
Most municipalities have rules for minimum lot and home sizes. In Orange County, a permanent housing unit must be at least 500-square-feet, eliminating most tiny homes.
However, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and other leaders are open to modifying rules that would increase the availability of affordable housing, said county spokeswoman Doreen Overstreet.
Longwood already allowed “accessory dwelling units” to build a guest home in backyards. The new rules allow smaller lot sizes to go along with smaller homes in certain districts.
Residents did express some concerns over how tiny homes would fit into existing neighborhoods, said Longwood Mayor Matt Morgan.
“But people came from all over to say they were supportive of the idea,” Morgan said.
Osceola’s change isn’t as aggressive as Longwood’s, but does allow for tiny homes in backyards as guest houses.
Even with the push for regulations for tiny homes, they are still rare in Central Florida and only seen in a handful of RV parks.
Real estate broker and property developer Giovanni Fernandez planned for a tiny house community in the Hourglass District in east Orlando, but he has dropped plans because it was too difficult to comply with
codes, he said.
Allowing permanent tiny homes also makes the dwelling units safer, said Robin Butler, CEO of the National Organization of Alternative Housing, a tiny home inspection service based in Orlando and Apopka.
“Now building departments will have to make sure tiny homes live up to certain standards,” Butler said. “Municipalities are getting some pressure on the local level to let tiny houses in. People want to live legally in their tiny home and too many have to live in someone’s backyard and worry about getting caught.”
Emily Lindahl Willix lived in a friend’s tiny house off Lake Fairview in Orlando in 2014 before deciding to build her own. She loved the concept so much she decided to build her own.
“The process of trying to find a place for the tiny home was an experience,” said the 32-year old. “Most RV parks didn’t even know what we meant.”
Her tiny home experience was featured on HGTV and she started a Facebook group called Florida Tiny House Enthusiasts that has more than 11,000 members.
But she got married in 2016 and moved onto a boat, which her husband describes as a tiny house on water. The six-month process of selling her tiny home was stressful, she said.
Willix still loves the tiny home community, but thinks there are are too many complications for owners.
“A lot of young people liked the idea of a tiny home but then couldn’t get a loan because the banks didn’t want to put a mortgage on something that doesn’t have an address,” she said. “Right now it’s just too hard for a lot of people to own a tiny home. Hopefully, that is changing.”