Musician and home inspector, Nick Soave lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. He built a 180-square-foot trailer with a combination of new and upcycled materials. He said he was tired of paying lots of bills and then decided to build a tiny house from scratch for about £19,200. Now, he lives rent free
The 36-year-old did some online research online and watched some YouTube videos on how to plan and build a tiny house. He said: “I was renting a small space in Denver and the rent was going up drastically every year. I kept having the thought that the apartment wouldn’t feel so small if it were only designed better”.
The musician wanted the materials used to be of high quality and from close by as he could find them and also upcycled/salvaged where possible. Half of the materials were brand new materials from local companies. He said that “50% are brand new materials from local companies. 40% are local salvage and upcycled materials. 10% came from big box stores”.
Before he could start building, he had to spend a couple of months watching videos online about tiny houses with his notepad. This helped with his design. However, he knew that food and music were important to him. So, he prioritized the kitchen space and music studio.
“Once I had all of those parameters figured out, the design fell into place.”
His home inspector job gave him the required knowledge he needed and he was also helped by his father who was an experienced builder.
Nick said: “I had a decent amount of building knowledge previously, but had never completed something start to finish on my own. “I was lucky to have my Dad in the process. It was the most time I’d spent with my dad since leaving the house after high school.”
Nick Soave used six months, though on and off, in building his new house, which cost him approximately $23,000. He raised this amount of money by doing house inspection jobs for parts of the year.
Now, Nick is a landlord. He rents the land, the tiny house is on, and is also able to cut down on his expenditures well.
While recounting his experience as a tenant, he said: “I was spending $1,000-a-month to rent in Denver, which is actually on the cheap side. “I pay $250/month here, electricity and water included.”
Nick sees owning a tiny house as being cost-effective and one that anyone can achieve. His total savings per year is $9,600 and it goes on just rent. Now, he owns his house, which gives him financial security.
In cost comparison to a regular house, the IKEA Tiny House reportedly costs just $1,100 to build. That’s a huge savings!
By building his tiny house, he has been able to save a lot of money and time. He can creatively use some parts of his day.
Nick thinks that a lot of people should ask themselves if working for long hours like 80hours weekly just to pay bills is worth it. Wouldn’t you like to work for a few hours and have time to pursue your passion too?
In recent years, there is an increase in the number of people having the same living situation as Nick. 688,500 new tiny homes are being sold in the US each year.
