Tiny Homes: Affordable Alternative or Passing Fad? A Study of the ‘Tiny Home’ Market in 2021

Tiny homes are usually under 600 square feet, though the average size of a tiny house for sale in the US measures just 225 square feet. Here are some key findings:

• The average tiny home in America costs $52,000, 87% cheaper than a regular home

• Per square foot, however, tiny homes are 62% more expensive than full-size homes

• Tiny houses are cheapest in North Dakota ($28,000), but Arkansas ($31,700) has the lowest price per square footage at $109 per square foot

• Hawaii has the most expensive tiny real estate, average home costing over $149,000 or $490 per square foot

• Tiny homes are most affordable in North Dakota, New Hampshire, and New Jersey where they cost less than 50% of an average annual household income

• Colorado (-4%) and Hawaii (-3%) are the only states where tiny homes cost less per square foot than regular homes

• In Massachusetts, tiny homes cost 91% less than regular homes, the biggest price difference than any other state

During the pandemic, a survey by IPX 1031 found as many as 86% of American first-time home buyers would consider buying a “tiny house” as their first home, citing affordability, efficiency, and eco-friendliness as their top considerations.

More recently, the post-pandemic housing boom has also manifested itself in the increased demand for these small living spaces. According to the Wall Street Journal, tiny house listings grew by an average of 8.6% a year since 2001. There are now more than 1.4 million homes that can be classified as “tiny”.

But what are tiny homes? How tiny are they actually? And are they really that much more affordable than their full-size counterparts?

What Are Tiny Homes and Who Is Buying Them?

Tiny houses probably reached their peak popularity when the TV show “Tiny House Nation” aired on Netflix in 2019. Small homes, typically under 600 square feet, are typically built on trailers (so they can be towed to wherever the owner’s heart desires). They are occasionally built on foundations like full-size, immovable homes.

Born out of the minimalist “less is more” narrative, the tiny house movement has popularized the idea that one can fit their life in a tiny house and enjoy it without the outsize expense of owning a full-size home. 

It’s also worth noting that like minimalism in general, the tiny house movement has historically struggled to differentiate itself from class privilege, due to its gentrification of lifestyles typically associated with poverty. Tiny homes are widely touted for their reduced carbon footprint and ability to serve as an affordable living option, both feats that smaller homes and mobile homes have always accomplished, yet which have never previously been socially linked to people not able to afford regular-sized homes.And yet it’s exactly this affordability which has in recent years attracted the attention of a greater number of Americans looking to buy a home. 

Statistically, Millennials are especially drawn to tiny homes due to their price, flexibility of location for remote work, and eco-friendliness. And for Baby Boomers, a tiny house is an opportunity to exchange a big empty nest of a family home for something more affordable with significantly less upkeep. These are the two demographics who are most active on the tiny house market, according to TechNavio.

For further details on this study, please click on the original article.

*Content posted with permission from Lorena Romo, Content Marketing - Porch.com

Organizing Children's Chores During Quarantine

With most school buildings still closed, kids will have to continue learning virtually and stay at home for a much longer period, especially if they live in areas where lock-downs are being implemented. Given their seemingly boundless energy, it’s easy to assume that kids will be bored being stuck at home longer than they ever expected. Then again, that doesn’t have to be the case. You can keep your kids occupied with activities the entire time. You can arrange for playtime, screen time, and most importantly, chore time to give them things to do while quarantined. An easy way to delegate chores is by using a chore app for kids, especially if you’re getting them to do chores as a way of teaching them about money management.

Before you can organize your kids’ chores, you will need to get them to agree to do them first. Without a doubt, many children would not be too keen on doing household tasks. If your kids like doing chores, then you can consider yourself fortunate. If they don’t, then you still have to get them to help out just the same simply because chores teach them responsibility, self-reliance, and money management skills if you’re giving them an allowance for tasks they do. Many kids may not be too enthusiastic about chores, but the life skills they learn from doing them today will help them later in adult life, and they could only appreciate your helping them out in that regard.

When assigning your kids tasks around the house while in quarantine, always keep in mind that they all should be age-appropriate. For 4 to 5-year-olds, age-appropriate tasks would include folding towels, wiping surfaces, dusting, and sorting laundry. Meanwhile, kids ages 6 to 8-years old can already do more labor-intensive tasks like sweeping the floor, watering the plants, and cleaning their room. More complex tasks like loading and unloading the dishwasher, making easy-to-prepare meals, raking the yard, and changing bed sheets are ideal for 9 to12-year-old children. Teenagers can do any of the above, as well as mowing the lawn, washing the car, preparing full meals, doing the laundry, and most other grown-up household tasks.

There is no better way to organize the tasks you expect your children to do than create a chore chart. With a chore chart, you should be able to list all tasks that need doing and break them down into individual lists for your kids, primarily according to their ages. You can set easy-to-follow schedules and deadlines, and if you’re giving them an allowance, a chore chart can also make tracking the money they make easier. Some parents go for printable chore charts and post them somewhere in the house for everyone to check on a daily basis. However, considering how tech-savvy children these days are, chore apps for kids can offer an easier way of creating and managing chore charts, especially if they receive an allowance for completed tasks.

Aside from making it easier to give out tasks and set schedules and deadlines, a kid’s chore app also gives parents full control when assigning a monetary value to every single chore and transferring funds to their kids’ accounts. All they have to do is check the app for a given chore, complete the task, and tap it as complete on their dashboard. The beauty of these apps is that they also teach kids financial skills like saving, investing, and giving to charity. The benefits they receive from doing well-organized chores during the quarantine, can help make the situation more bearable and manageable.

I hope these ideas help your quarantined space to BLOOM in Maryland and beyond. A special thank you to Samantha Green, Content Marketing Strategist for BusyKid, for this wonderful guest blog post.

Declutter In A Snap: 9 Simple Ideas To Thin Out Your Closet

The idea of decluttering your entire walk-in or reach-in closet might feel overwhelming. You know there are clothes lurking in the corners of your closet that you haven’t touched in months—maybe even years. There are extra hangers crowding your closet rod and each time you rummage through your drawers for a fresh pair of socks, you inevitably pull out one or two orphans or a pair worn thin.

Before you take on cleaning out your entire closet, which, we admit, does take a chunk of time, here are some odds and ends you can get rid of in just a few minutes to instantly make it feel a little more open.

Extra hangers—especially metal ones

The metal hangers your freshly dry-cleaned clothes hang on aren’t good for your garments—and they can bend and warp under the weight of a nice dress or suit. Remove them, and any other extra hangers from your closet, to instantly add hanging space. Your dry cleaner may even take back the hangers and reuse them.

Orphaned gloves

As much as you loved those cute wool mittens, if you lost one last winter, it’s time to part with the orphan. They’re only taking up much-needed room in a closet basket or a drawer.

Worn out belts

Leather belts that are cracked, worn out or completely out of style are likely taking up space in your closet or drawers. And if you work in an office that’s gone casual, you might not have much use for some belts anymore. Donate those that are still in good condition but not worn, and toss out the others. (While you’re at it, you should replace your belt storage with a slide-out belt rack.)

Single socks or those with holes in them

Socks wear out quickly—others often mysteriously go missing after a dryer cycle. While it’s okay to hold out hope you’ll find a missing sock for a few laundry days, if you can’t seem to reunite it with its match, it’s time to move on. Pitch them in the trash or upcycle them.
Broken jewelry

Sorry to say that if you haven’t fixed that broken necklace in two years, you probably won’t wear it. Review your jewelry when you get a spare 15 minutes and declutter your jewelry storage by getting rid of anything that’s broken.

Worn out undergarments

Underwear and bras can wear out quickly—but when you’re quickly folding laundry, you might not take the time to inspect everything and discard anything in bad shape. Go through your undergarments drawer and throw out your old underwear.

Extra buttons

If you’re anything like me, you have a small box overflowing with spare buttons the thread from knits and sweaters past. How often do you use actually use that spare button? If the answer is “not often,” then pitch them. The same goes for spare buttons that fell off clothing and weren’t replaced. Time to say goodbye.

Broken sunglasses and other accessories

Free up space on your dresser, near your vanity or in your jewelry armoire by finally getting rid of those broken sunglasses and accessories. The likelihood of you fixing them is little to none.

I hope these tips help your space BLOOM in Baltimore, Maryland and beyond! And a special thanks to closetworksinc.com for this fantastic guest blog post.