Big Demand For Homes, Bigger Demand For Communities

As this great story by WFLA News Channel 8 points out, the desire to move away from a large living footprint to a smaller more manageable footprint is gaining steam in an already established market. What we see on HGTV is meant to be entertainment and might not exactly be “reality” TV for everyone, but where there is smoke there is fire and we believe one reason for the popularity of this trend is the underlying desire to do more with your life than live to work.

There are three major hurdles to tiny living; finding a qualified builder, financing and where to put your home.

We call this the Tiny Triangle. You can rest assured that you have solved one of these three major challenges by finding Tampa Bay Tiny Homes. We build tiny houses on wheels on foundation and are certified by the National Organization of Alternative Housing.

Tiny houses on foundation can be built as an accessory dwelling unit on a property that already has a primary residence in many areas of Florida. Building a tiny house as a primary residence depends on local building codes and zoning which often prevent a true tiny home from being built due to minimum size restrictions.

Tiny houses on wheels (THOW) also face challenges with where they can be parked or placed permanently. This challenge primarily is driven by tiny houses not having their own category in the many standards, laws, rules, etc and thus being pushed into the closest category of RV or Mobile Home. The solution to this problem is complex yet simple, we need to create a category in the many standards, laws, rules, etc specifically to address tiny houses on wheels and on foundation.

Here are some details from the fantastic story by WFLA News Channel 8

“Some tiny homes are finding a place in RV parks, others on private property. But currently, there aren’t many convenient neighborhoods to call home. Debbie Caneen wants to change that.

The Sun City woman and director of admissions at Sun Towers at Sun City Center, purchased a 210-square-foot tiny home created by University of South Florida architecture graduate Stephanie Henschen. The tiny home was featured on HGTV and resulted in Henschen landing a job on the West Coast. Caneen now uses it to drum up interest in tiny living.

Earlier this year, Caneen purchased an old trailer park in Ruskin, near the Hillsborough County Community college and Amazon fulfillment center and is developing the 4.5-acre property into what she’s calling Circle Pond Tiny Community. Her vision is a neighborhood with space for 24 tiny homes, with amenities including utilities and WiFi service included.

“I’d like to keep the rent around $400 a month,” says Caneen, adding that she hopes to use the neighborhood to not only welcome tiny homes, but also to encourage others to build similar communities.”

Keep tabs on the progress of Circle Pond Tiny Home Community in Ruskin, FL as it works towards launch in early 2018!