Colorado Tiny Home Living

I guess it may depend on the neighborhood? This one is across the street from the house I live in -

there's at least one more in the neighborhood.

I'm not going to spy on my neighbors, but on a cursory glance, I don't see many hookups.

I think we don't technically live in city limits, but right across the street, so what we can get away with is different. There's strange rules still - like you couldn't  build another house with working plumbing on the same property, or something like that.

A neighbor loopholed that by building a second house, which technically touches the first.

There's also a trailer park across the street, that I think a tiny homer I know used to live in (in city limits). This is all in North Boulder.

Found this article about the economics of tiny houses:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/02/tiny-houses-grow-in-popularity-yet-drawbacks-abound.html

We took a look at several small and tiny homes in Salida yesterday. When it comes down to it, having twice the space of a tiny home is even better. Now add three times the space and you have a one bedroom cottage. That really is the smallest place you want to live in, and it's still really cute and tiny. All of these tiny home look cool new, but I saw a video of a friend's stay at a tiny home in Hartsel with the composting toilet adjacent to the main room and it was, er, way too small for two people and a huge dog. You may as well just get an RV.

On the other hand, cottages, cabins and the like are super nice. 

Tim Stich wrote: We took a look at several small and tiny homes in Salida yesterday. When it comes down to it, having twice the space of a tiny home is even better. Now add three times the space and you have a one bedroom cottage. That really is the smallest place you want to live in, and it's still really cute and tiny. All of these tiny home look cool new, but I saw a video of a friend's stay at a tiny home in Hartsel with the composting toilet adjacent to the main room and it was, er, way too small for two people and a huge dog. You may as well just get an RV.

On the other hand, cottages, cabins and the like are super nice. 

I mean... your entire comment is an opinion. I live comfortably with another person, and a soon to be big dog. And i’ve lived in houses, apartments, and a van. I’m sure eventually i’ll want to buy a house. For now it’s a great basecamp. 

Max Rausch wrote:

I mean... your entire comment is an opinion. I live comfortably with another person, and a soon to be big dog. And i’ve lived in houses, apartments, and a van. I’m sure eventually i’ll want to buy a house. For now it’s a great basecamp. 

Everything dealing with the program and aesthetic of a personal dwelling is an opinion. 

Max Rausch wrote:

I mean... your entire comment is an opinion. I live comfortably with another person, and a soon to be big dog. And i’ve lived in houses, apartments, and a van. I’m sure eventually i’ll want to buy a house. For now it’s a great basecamp. 

Right. We're all expressing opinions here. I thought I might be able to do the tiny house thing, but reconsidered. It's good to figure these things out before you sink a lot of money into them. Luckily, just about every living option mentioned here can be rented and tried out, including tiny houses.

So can anyone offer links to Ft Collins/Lariner County laws and regulations on this matter? Or perhaps specific things to lookup for further investigation. Land use codes there are a plenty. New to all that but have time and happy to dig into the readings.

Any local lawyers specializing in this stuff?

Thanks!

Tim Stich wrote: We took a look at several small and tiny homes in Salida yesterday. When it comes down to it, having twice the space of a tiny home is even better. Now add three times the space and you have a one bedroom cottage. That really is the smallest place you want to live in, and it's still really cute and tiny. All of these tiny home look cool new, but I saw a video of a friend's stay at a tiny home in Hartsel with the composting toilet adjacent to the main room and it was, er, way too small for two people and a huge dog. You may as well just get an RV.

On the other hand, cottages, cabins and the like are super nice. 

With prices north of $500/sq ft for a tiny home, there are many other options worth considering.

Also, I have two friends with a cat and large dog that have lived in a tiny home that’s MAYBE 200 sqft for 5+ years and they still love it. Heck I love staying with them. Friends very often gather at their place and hang inside/outside. Their bills usually hit around $50/month and the space can actually be too warm. They’re working on opening a tiny home village outside of Austin, TX. Just waiting on final septic approval for all the lots I believe. Certainly a long process, but it will be a wonderful option for those seeking a space for their tiny home. Plus, custome fabricator just down the road from them. 

As has been mentioned, the biggest hurdles are finding the right plot, and utilities, mostly septic. BUT, once that’s figured out, it’s then just how you want to make the most of what you’ve got. $100k goes a LOOOOONG way with a tiny home and all the furnishings and supporting infrastructure. You can’t get a home thats off the grid for under $200k, in many places even $400k!  Space is sacrificed, but in my experience less space = less overhead and upkeep = more $ & time for being a happy human. Caveats, I like having some land and a work studio. I dont see those as being incompatible though. We really dont need much space to LIVE in. Very certain the work space would be WAY bigger than our living space. 

Very much looking forward to being a home owner again, but this time in a much smaller space. 

What needs to be changed is septic laws. A cheaper septic that accepts only gray water paired with a composting toilet is way more affordable and environmentally friendly. Most localities don't recognize composting toilets as legitimate. Keeps the hippies from settling!

I've been looking for some time for a piece of CO mountain property to put a yurt on. It is WAY more complicated than you can ever imagine. Zoning, secondary vs primary structures, covenants, septic requirements, sq footage requirements, size of the lot etc. I've kind of given up on the idea altogether...

My Wife said she would be okay with living in a tiny home as long as she could have a trailer for all of the climbing gear.   

Lon Harter wrote: My Wife said she would be okay with living in a tiny home as long as she could have a trailer for all of the climbing gear.   

LOL.

For us, we decided that a tiny home for full time living would be no less than 1600 sq ft. Anything smaller is a weekend cabin.

Marc801 C wrote:

LOL.

For us, we decided that a tiny home for full time living would be no less than 1600 sq ft. Anything smaller is a weekend cabin.

My first house was a 500 sq ft brick bungalow in sugarhouse, no problem with no kids. Of course sleeping on the ground with no tent for 100s to thousands of days between each of us made it easy peasy.

I lived in one in Lakewood and have since moved to Arvada in my THOW. The Lakewood location is looking for a new TH to move in. My advice is build the house and eventually you will find a place to live. 

Corey McD wrote: I lived in one in Lakewood and have since moved to Arvada in my THOW. The Lakewood location is looking for a new TH to move in. My advice is build the house and eventually you will find a place to live. 

In fort Collins the Availability is hard to come by. Do you mind me asking what you paid for rent?

In crazy limited growth Santa Barbara, in crazy California, we allow mobile homes / tiny houses to be legalized as an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit)

I didn't have the time to find out whether Boulder or elsewhere in CO allows this also, but here''s a place to start: https://bouldercolorado.gov/housing/adu
https://library.municode.com/co/boulder/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT9LAUSCO_CH6USST_9-6-3SPUSSTESUS 
9.6.3.a land use code cited, has no mention of minimum standards for an accessory unit.

Best thing - pick up the phone, call your local jurisdiction City/County Planning and Zoning department. They'll give you an answer right away. To be a legal "dwelling unit" does require a permanent attachment / foundation and hooking up to utilities. Otherwise its a mobile home and limited to mobile home parks.

With the current housing crises, most states or local municipalities are trying to increase affordable units - in CA the state mandated that local jurisdictions allow ADUs on all single family zones. Basically it allows 2 units per parcel, in zones that were originally designated as single family only. 

Sean Onasch wrote:

In fort Collins the Availability is hard to come by. Do you mind me asking what you paid for rent?

$350 in englewood but then we moved to a 3/4 acre lot in Lakewood for $500 a month with water and electric included. 

I'm curious if anyone knows the R-value of the insulation in typical RVs.