3. Designing our Tiny house

The main thing influencing our design is whether or not we are living on a property with Lara and Andrew.

With them, we can do whatever we like so skies the limit.

If we have to rent from someone else, Noel's not keen on a pod - This has led to a few "debates"..... I really want a pod!

"What's a pod?" you ask.

A pod is a small room next to the Tiny House and accessed through a door in the main house. Now that NZ says we can build 30m2 sleepouts this can even be two bedrooms and leads to a number of options. You might have seen the video of Shaye's house on YouTube?

It shows the pod.

Looking through to Shayes' pod.

From the bathroom

The Pod is a playroom for Hazel.

Noels' reasoning is, if we want to relocate, moving a pod, as well as the house, will be a hassle. My argument is .... we have kids who can help!! Yes, I'm not shy to ask for help and to be honest the girls are awesome at offering - Their other halves have been well trained and are great at providing muscle power! Noel always thinks he has to do it himself! Anyway, perhaps we won't need to make that decision.

Another option might be to buy a property.

Hmmmm...... Buy or rent?

In fact, a number of people have asked this question. It actually differs depending on each person's situation. Remember ......"We tried to get rich but we didn't" (1st blog) So budget is a factor in our case.

A good way to decide is to do a PMIP ...... NO NOT PIMP!! PMIP = Plus; minus; interesting; possibilities! This is a task I used to give my art students to analyse an artwork ..... If any past students are reading this, I can see you now... Rolling those eyes! But it works .... admit! Not only for art but it helps with difficult decision-making as well. Here is the PMIP we did to decide which way to go. RENT VS BUYING.......

Renting a property

PLUS

1. Not a big financial outlay.

2. Allows for a far more beautiful property than we could afford to buy.

3. Offers the opportunity to move without having to sell.

4. In many cases there is access to water and electricity. No connection charges.

5. More chance of living rurally. Which is what we want.

6. No rates, council contributions, development fees.

MINUS

1. Having to go off-grid if not close to services on the property – this adds to the cost.

2. restrictions could be imposed by landowners as to what we can or cannot do.

3. The chance that we could be asked to move if they sell.

4. What would happen if we decided to move somewhere else?

5. Would our dogs be an issue? (They look far cuter than they sound!)

INTERESTING

1. Surprising how many people are prepared to rent out a little piece of their lifestyle block. You could start by checking out this site Landshare .

2. Even people in town are offering spots. New MBIE regulations make this possible. We Know a number of clients living in their Tiny homes on Wheels in the middle of Auckland. 3. Advertising on Facebook community pages is a good option 4. Letter drops work as well.

5. Most people in Auckland are happy to rent out land with water and electricity for $200.00 per week. Considering a three-bedroom house in a very average area in Auckland is over $700.00, we are happy to pay this for the right spot.

Many THOW (Tiny Homes on Wheels) owners say they live in a spot they absolutely love but could never afford to buy.

Look at some of the properties our clients live on. See videos here.

POSSIBILITIES

1. There are some very good solar options if need be. There are plenty examples of

off-grid Tiny Homes to follow. 2. Water tanks are not a huge expense and luckily Noel is a plumber 😊 3. There are some very good lease agreements on The tiny house hub 4. Draw up an agreement that addresses all the points of concern.

There is always a chance that the perfect spot will be found.

Okay, now let's look at ........

Buying a property.

PLUS

1. Security in the knowledge you won’t be moved off.

2. No restrictions around how you develop the property around your Tiny home.

3. Pets will be allowed.

MINUS

1. We want to stay in Auckland, but rural Auckland. (Moving out would be cheaper!)

2. Type of property is limited by our budget. In Auckland, land costs are so high.

3. If it is undeveloped property, there will be council costs. We will need to navigate development fees and contributions…. Resource consents etc. There are still some grey areas here.

4. Connection costs.

5. Ongoing rates to pay.

INTERESTING

1. A small 400m2 Plot in West Auckland suburbs goes for over $1000.00 per m2.

2. New housing rules about to come into play allow for a minor dwelling in backyards in the suburbs without resource consent.

POSSIBILITIES

1. Buy into a lifestyle property with family which already has a house. This does away with all the risks of renting and restrictions around buying bare land. Might suit the budget better!

2. Buy a property with a small house to rent out and put the tiny in the back yard. With our budget, it would be a very small house!

So, what decision do we come to?

1. Best case scenario will be living on a property with Lara and Andrew, even if means buying into it, paying rent, or doing what we can to make this possible. 2. Next best scenario will be to rent the most perfect property on offer and negotiate around the points in the Minus column. 3. In our case, renting far outweighs buying.

Must-haves and deal breakers in our Tiny House design.

Remember, it needs to fit your lifestyle.

What were our main "must-have" requirements?

1.No crawling in the lofts.

2. Wardrobes with drawers, shelves and hanging space.

3. Lots of drawers and storage in the kitchen

4. A comfortable TV lounge.

Yes, this is all possible in a tiny house!

This is the kitchen in our Sophie design. (The house we will have if we can't have a pod.)

I love this kitchen.

SOOO Pretty!

So much storage.

So much space.

Noel will love cooking in here!

(My cooking is legendry for all the wrong reasons! So I will be banned.) Friends and family, I can see you nodding your heads!

Sophie has a really cozy TV lounge as well! In our house, it's really important to be able to watch sport! So a TV lounge is crucial. To be honest - I watch TV too. We might have to resort to a coin toss .... Sky Sport or Netflix?

Hmmmm Maybe we need a second TV space ...... Boomer talking!!

As far as the "wardrobes with drawers, shelves and hanging" and "No Crawling in the loft" are concerned - No worries about that in the Sophie design.

I could be very comfortable in this bedroom. Even space for bedside tables next to the bed - Important for water bottles, glasses, false teeth, glass eye, and anything else Boomers might keep in a bedside table. (Anyone watch Grace and Frankie on Netflix? LOL. )

Boomers at their Blooming Best! Certainly not boring! They could teach the millennials a thing or two.

Anyway... Sorry, took a bit of a detour there. Before I get totally lost, (a boomer trait to be sure!) let me get back to more serious things.

Dream additions to our Tiny House Design

Now that we have decided on the things we NEED

There were some lesser things to consider - More a wish list than a "HAVE to have" list.

1. Downstairs bedroom. Most boomers will agree.... stairs to the toilet at night ... NOT a great idea.

2. Space for the grandkids. Preferably where they don't have to tidy away when they leave.

3. Spare room for guests. As most guests are boomers, it needs to be comfortable.

4. A flushing toilet - mainly my wish list. Noel is not too fussed and after seeing all the options out there, it's not a deal-breaker for me either. This could be an idea for a toilet blog at a later date.

Hazel's Tiny Mansion won't need to be tidied away in our dream design.

All possible if we can have the design with a pod. It's drawn up and ready to go. We will have to make the decision soon ..... Land or no land. I can't risk losing our building spot.

Decision time.

Two weeks later.

We decided to take the plunge and go with our dream design. The one that was designed for the plot with Lara and Andrew. Trailer has arrived and frames are under construction.

I have been M.I.A. for a while, licking my wounds. Our property fell through.

So looks like we will be renting...... for a while anyway. Lara and Andrew are still looking.

On the bright side ..... I get my pod no matter what! It's too late to change that now (Method in my madness.)

More on our custom build Tiny Home next time. For now, I am off to find some land!

See you soon.