I'm much more interested in the 20k housing project by rural studio in Auburn, Alabama. The tiny houses are cool, but I don't want to live in a trailer that doesn't actually have proper utilities. I'll take running water and a proper sewage system over their composting toilets, as well as a proper hookup to electric and cable over getting an extension cord run over to my house and relying on someone else's internet/electricity. Yeah you could go solar for power, but the benefit of being able to hookup to the utility company's line when you need the extra power is pretty substantial. Also I hope if you're living in a tinyhouse you are nowhere near any tornadoes because that's not going to be a very fun experience. The biggest part i'm worried about is meeting code, as well as the cost of getting a well dug and septic put in with a house. The cost of water/septic will probably be as much as the actual house if I decide to build one. The reason everyone is building the tinyhouses on trailers though is to avoid all of the code violations they would have to deal with if it was a proper house. I would like to buy a big plot of land in Alabama where land is cheap and build one of the 20k houses myself though once I've saved up enough money, and eventually start up a farm to provide myself with food and possibly others who would want the same lifestyle.
I just bought a house a few weeks back. I found Wee House during my search. I really wanted to build one, but, sadly, I couldn't find a suitable piece of property in the area I was looking. It would've cost me an are and a leg, because I would have had to buy a nice house just to tear it down (and also that kind of defeats the purpose of buying a zero energy house to begin with, given that manufacturing is a huge output of pollution all at once). It's a dream for my next house, but that won't be for another decade. Anyway, I'll continue to dream :)
My mother is dead set on having one of these Tiny Houses one day, the problem is that in most places there are antiquated minimum sizes for houses that are like three times the size of the average tiny house. She thinks she could get by in one about the size of a hard side camper and believes a mid sized storage barn is just about right. Personally I believe Straw Bale homes are a better alternative.
They are really neat but can be costly as in more than a traditional home structure if you want someone else to build them from what I've read. Of course if you are willing to learn how to construct it and do it yourself with friends or family, it's still going to be more than a tiny house, IMO. Basically you build a base and structure outline of a house and build it form straw.
I don't have many desires left for this world. So having a small place that I can sleep, groom, and make food, is really my needs. Everything else in this life, if you're asking me, is frivolous. You'll leave it all behind when you die, acquiring and protecting this stuff costs money, sweat, tears, all of it bringing little joy and mostly stress. I'm just over that. These Tiny Houses are much more practical for someone like me with these thoughts in regards to life on this planet. I want to live with as little materials as possible and one of the biggest obstacles is a place to live. A Tiny House could be paid for and no more rent, no loan with interest. That sounds better to me than a lease. You're not dismissive at all, you have a valid question and concern that I think most people would reasonably have too. I know they aren't for everyone but I'm at this weird stage of life where my boyfriend and I are thinking that renting forever is getting old and we want to find a place to own and family and all that etcetera etcetera... My boyfriend though is not on board with a tiny house lol so it's an uphil battle for me :/
People wanting a Tiny House probably also want to live on land they own. Not in an apartment they rent. Also you can't solar panel and green energy an apartment like you could a tiny home.