Some people like tiny houses because they offer freedom — not only financial freedom, but freedom from being tied downtown to a specific place, freedom from having to work all of the time to pay an expensive mortgage, or freedom of material possessions. Some tiny houses are mobile, and they allow the owner to travel and take their house along. Other tiny houses sit in on an existing property, and some even sit in backyards and serve as an office or guest house. Because of their smaller size, they can offer a money-saving alternative to building a larger structure.
Like any house, however, a tiny house can get pretty pricey. If you go for a tiny house that’s more like a mini-estate or a luxury retreat, it may end up costing you a fat wad of cash, which kind of defeats the purpose. The cost of a tiny home can range from less than $10,000 all the way up to $180,000 or higher, depending the size and options you choose.
We went in search of some of the cheapest tiny house options available, and we found five options that start at under $15,000. You can turn some of these structures into fully functioning homes, and others you can build into a backyard office, a man or woman cave, or a guest house. However, all of these options are exceptionally affordable when compared to most other tiny houses on the market.
Outdoor Living Today Studio 96-Square-Foot Backyard Structure
List Price: $7,626
This little structure can serve as a shell for a separate office, guesthouse, or a backyard bar. It has paneled interior walls, pre-shingled roof panels, and two functional windows with screens. The shell takes about a weekend to build (two people can build it in about two or three days). If you add the living essentials like electricity, some insulation, and furniture, you can make this cheap little building into whatever you can imagine. Plus, you can buy it at Walmart, and you can get free freight shipping.
Outdoor Living Today SR812 Santa Rosa 96-Square-Foot Backyard Structure
List Price: $4,851
This is another creative tiny house idea you can use in the backyard for whatever your heart desires (a Star Wars memorabilia room, perhaps?). It’s similar to the above option in that it provides the materials for you to build into a shell structure. However, this structure has a deck porch, and you’ll likely need to do a bit more additional work to this one (i.e. the windows and roofing will need more work to make the structure livable). You’ll also need to add the extras like insulation and electrical to make it into a place you’ll want to hang out. But, considering you can buy it at Walmart for under $5,000 and get free freight shipping, it’s not a bad option for someone looking for a backyard DIY project.
Portable Day Cabin with Porch
List Price: $9,750
This 200-square-foot cabin (10 feet by 20 feet) has a porch, new windows, a new door and 30-year roofing. It has 7-feet-tall sidewalls, and the peak of the structure stands 10-feet tall. You can wire the cabin for electrical, and add a biolet toilet and shower to make it into a guest house, office, or even a tiny home to live in. The builder can paint the structure your desired color. The porch, which is 6 feet by 20 feet is an extra $2,000 add-on though.
Cabin kit by My Modern Cabin
List Price: $4,997
At 108-square-feet (12 feet by 9 feet), this cabin is the ideal size for a she shed, man cave, office, or guest house. It’s made of dried Norway spruce boards, and you get the floor joist, floor boards, roof boards, fascia boards included in the kit. Of course, you’ll need some additional materials to make this a functioning game room or backyard bar, but with a little imagination and some sweat equity, you can turn this into a pretty sweet backyard hangout spot.
Tiny House Gypsy Wagon Camper with Custom Luxury Vardo Caravan
List Price: $11,995
The epitome of tiny, this structure is only 56-square-feet. Because it’s so small, it’s also lightweight enough to be pulled by most vehicles, so you can travel around with the tiny home. The house is built to order by a builder in New Jersey.
You can customize the home to your liking. However, the model (as shown) includes an aluminum roof, gunstock oak flooring, eight windows, a dutch door, full insulation, and a twin XL mattress. The ceiling height is roughly 6 feet 7 inches, and there is no bathroom, although you could add a composting toilet. The power is standard hook up with an integrated battery for the ceiling LED lights, USB ports, and a 12-volt socket for off-the-grid use. You could add solar panels as well. You can have even have AC, as well as a pump faucet running on a water storage tank.
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