The Tiny Living Course: Types of Tiny Homes & Their Costs

1. Welcome to Tiny Living: Hi everybody, Chris pin here, welcome to our first-class on tiny living. We put this class together because understanding the different types of tiny homes, as well as their associated costs, are the fundamental building blocks to your tiny home journey. So this class is right for you. If you've ever dreamed about the minimalist or the intentional lifestyle. Also, it's for you if you are just remotely interested in the tiny home lifestyle. In this class, we're going to review the four major tiny home options, e.g. we're gonna be covering the traditional Tiny Homes, school bus conversions, camper vans, RVs. In our experience, we have toured over 700 different Tiny Homes. We're going to share that knowledge with you and highlight the different important aspects that we've learned along the way. Plus you're going to hear from R5 course instructors on why they chose their tiny home and how it's working for them. By the end of this class, you're going to have a firm understanding of the different tiny home options and their associated costs. And be sure to let us know if you have any questions and enjoy the class. 2. Why I went with a Skoolie: Hi everybody, Chris, here in this video, I'm going to be discussing why I went with a school bus and why I think it should be a consideration for you as well. So just to give you a little bit of a background, I've actually lived in two different camper vans, a class, a motor home, and the school bus. So that does leave out fifth wheel travel trailers or traditional tiny homes. But for my lifestyle, I like to travel full-time, be able to bounce around and go to different locations. And also the main thing I do on the road is actually stay on BLM public land, go out to a spot, stay for two weeks to a month, and just kinda chill. Stay for free, explore the local areas, go hiking and do all the outdoor activities. Now, if that is something that you are considering, if that is something that is part of your tiny home journey, I highly suggest a school bus conversion for a couple of reasons. Number one, for me, it was the ability to carry a lot of weight. And it's not necessarily a lot of my stuff, but it's the building materials of a school bus that you can put into it because this bus has a 36,000 pound weight capacity. Basically, what that does is allow me to use the best building materials. So e.g. all my countertops are inch and a half butcher block, all of my building materials and the wall and the fluorine is all three-quarter inch plywood. I'm also able to have a bunch of food storage. This area right here has a five cubic foot chest freezer underneath here. I have a residential fridge, and then also I have 200 gallons of freshwater. And again, that goes back into the lifestyle of going out to one particular location, parking my bus, and being set up and good to go for a long amount of time. I mean, if I really had to, I could probably go to Costco stock up, fill up my 200 gallons of fresh water. And I could go out to an area in part for two or three months without having to move the bus. Also, with the length of the buses of 40-foot bus. I have a roof deck on my bus, but I also have 1,700 watts of solar, and then I have 900 amp hours of lithium batteries as well. So just the weight capacity and the size of this bus allows me to achieve my goals. Also another aspect of why I went with a school bus, why I enjoy having a school bus is the drive train. I was able to purchase this bus for $300. It has the Cummins engine and it has the allison 30, 60 transmission. That is just an absolute monster drive train. If you get a good drive train from an auction or a school bus dealer, you're basically able to be set. The maintenance is a little bit more expensive. If something happens to it, it's a bit more expensive. E.g. my pressure pump on this particular rig is a caps system to replace that cap system and that's just a component outside of the engine. New one is around $3,500, right? So it can be fairly expensive to maintain these and keep these going. But as I was doing research on this particular bus, that cap system was replaced in 2013. This is a 2002 bus. So theoretically I still have a decent amount of time left on that cap system. And also this bus had 120,000 mi when I purchased it. And with diesel engines for those that don't know, diesel engines seem to hold up a lot better, especially over time in terms of mileage. Also just the exterior structure of this rig is phenomenal. So these buses are built to transport children safely. Obviously, I did a roof raise online. You can see how the ceiling of mine is a bit taller. I do 20 1 " rephrase on this particular bus. And that's pros and cons of a school bus as well. If you are taller or if you want the extra storage or rephrase is something you can do. It usually costs anywhere $6-10 thousand to do the rephrase. Overall, if you're investing into the lifestyle and you're wanting to do it for a decent amount of time. The school bus, whether it be rephrase or non rephrase, it is a very viable option. You might notice that a lot of families do the school bus life. It's very easy to build bunks into your configuration, especially if you have 40-foot. Typically the parents rooms are at the back and right in front of that. You can put in for bunks very easily and you can do it on a budget. And again, you can put those good building materials in there where you don't have to worry about it. And I keep mentioning the better building materials. That's because in my class a, it was a great rig for what it was. Two things with getting class a motor homes is typically they try and get those in and out of the factory as quickly as possible, that frame comes in. They have builders building in as quickly as possible and they want to get it out into the marketplace and get it sold. And then any issues that RV has, the service department deals with that later. Like there's a section in this course, What's know before you buy a new RV, goes into detail on some of the issues that people have with brand new RVs. And for me, when I have the class a, I stopped by the manufacturer. They allowed you to park your rig. I'm outside and I used to spend my summers up in Alaska every summer. That was a stop where I could fill up water, hookups, electricity, and just kinda hanging out a couple of days before I crossed the border and I met a couple that bought a 450,000 dollar RV and there were so many issues with that brand-new $4.50 thousand RV that the manufacturer was just given them a brand new rig. It then there were sitting out in the parking lot for about six months waiting to get everything fixed. Now that's an extreme example, of course, but anybody that's bought a new RV, anybody that you've talked to, there's that basically factory break-in period where there's going to be tons of issues with that particular vehicle. You're rolling the dice with that with that RV. And they don't really use that good of material. One, it's cheaper. But to the weight capacity on those class a motor homes isn't great, so they're not able to use three or three-quarter inch plywood. They're not able to use butcher block. Basically. The walls are just particle board. And as you're going down the road, when I first started driving that class a, it felt like the actual Rectangle Structure of the Class a was swaying back and forth and it's meant to have a little bit of give this bus does have air ride, so it does have an air ride suspension. But as you're going down the road, it just feels very solid. I feel like I'm in a solid piece of machinery way, way better than that class a. So it's pretty obvious that I am partial to a school bus B in the non-living in one now, but I've been living on the road for over ten years now, like I said, to camper vans, a class, a motor home, and now the school bus. Overall from the people that we film on the tiny home tours channel, the people that I talked to, the pros and cons. I mean, the only real con with the school bus for me is I'm not able to really park it in parking lots, but I do have a tow car. And being that you're able to tow a vehicle, it's an extra expense and you gotta get this toolkit and find a vehicle that's able to be towed and all that. But just with the overall lifestyle of being able to park this BLM public land and then take the tow car into town to the grocery store and get everything done. This is the best setup that I personally see out there, and I really enjoy it. Granted, like I said, you can't necessarily take this to a Costco and park in the parking lot. Typically, it's kinda hard to get that figured out, but with a tow car is way worth it. And I highly suggest looking into a school bus as a viable option for your tiny home. 3. Cost To Build A Skoolie: Hi everybody, Chris here. So today I'm going to be talking about the cost of a school bus conversion. There's a very wide spectrum here. I'm not going to lie. I mean, I've seen school bus conversions where somebody gets it in an auction for $1,500. They put a photon in it and a chest freezer and some very rudimentary cabinets, if any, and they hit the road and that's totally fine. Where you have school buses like mine, that is designed and built to be a full-time home for the foreseeable future. So I'll give you a rundown on mine and then kind of let you know where the variances are there, where you can kinda cut costs or add costs. So mine is a 2000 to Bluebird All American school bus with accumbens 83 and the allison 30, 60 transmission. A lot of people absolutely loved that particular drive train, in my opinion, and other people's opinion, it's one of the best drive trains you can get with a school bus. I got it at auction on public surplus for $3,050, had 120,000 mi on it and the drive train that I wanted, 40-foot bus. So it's a larger bus and there's two routes that you can go. You can go to the auction sites which will be linked down below. I got mine and public surplus. There's purple wave, There's gov deals. There's a lot of websites where you can find the school buses that are going up for auction. So you can get them on the auction sites anywhere from $2,500 to these days with people getting into the school bus conversions, they're starting to get up to the eight or 9,000 dollar range, depending on the drive train that you choose. You can totally do that. Another option is going to Bus dealers. Basically what bus dealers do instead of Going to the auctions and buying one-by-one, they'll go to a school district in by eight or nine buses so they're able to get a lower cost. And then typically that bus dealer will then have a team of mechanics go through the bus, check everything, make sure it's good to go and then sell the bus at a higher higher cost. The bus dealer that I get my bus worked on, I didn't buy it from them, but going back, I might have done them. The reason why I mentioned, I might, I have gone with a dealer is overall I got incredibly lucky with this bus in terms of having no mechanical issues, no major mechanical issues. And I'll preface that with saying school buses are either sold by the school district for one or two reasons. Typically, one reason is it's a problem bus. There's always something wrong with it. They always have to replace something. It's just a money pit. And eventually they just put it off to the side and then they're like, let's just get rid of that bus. The second reason is depending on the state, depending on where that bus is at. Usually it's 15 years before a bus has to be decommissioned out of the school districts, so they can have a perfect bus. That works great. But the 15 years is up and they have to get the new buses. And luckily with mine, this was not a problem bus. This is a bus that the 15 years came up. This school district had to get rid of it and I bought it at auction. But for me to even get this bus ready to go on the road, I had to buy new tires for it. Because a common thing school districts do is right when that bus is about to go up for auction, they will take all the good tires off of the bus and put on all the old tires. That is part of the school district fleet. So when I got my bus, they had all the old tires on it and I had it taken to a mechanic shop and they couldn't drive past 45 mph. So I had to buy all new tires, which is about a 3,500 dollar hits. They had to do some minor work on the ABS system, the anti-lock brake system. So I bought the bus for 3,000 is about $4,000 to get it road worthy. So I'm already looking at $6,570,000 just from the beginning to get it going. Then I had to drive it from Florida to Colorado to get the rephrase done, the diesel cost and everything associated with that, I was already fairly invested into the bus where I could have just went straight to a dealer, bought the bus for $9,000 or so and I would have been good to go. So when it comes to the build itself, there is a very wide range when it comes to school bus conversion. So as I said before, I've seen incredibly simple builds where they just throw some foods on mattresses in there and they hit the road. I've seen medium builds to wear a lot of the materials they build into the rig or repurpose materials. And then you have builds like mine that All new material they're buying it from Home Depot or lumber liquid daters and basically paying retail. Just give you context. My bus has about 55,000 into it, and I've been putting that into it over a span of about three years now. I should preface that I was able to get deals by working with companies like the Burkean, the sink, like some of the major components I was able to work out deals with companies where if I had to build this rig without any collaboration with companies, my bus would be about $70,000. But again, if you look at that in terms of going out there and buying a class, a motor home with the same engine and transmission to this build quality. I mean, I've seen rigs not built that well for about 300, $400,000. You can go out and press easy button, get an RV. It's set ready to go. But overall, you're not really buying that good of a product from what I've seen, some people have great success with their RVs. Some people have issues with it from day one and throughout the entire time they own the RV. Where with this, I know every single component that went into it. I know the craftsmanship and the quality and things are going to hold up. I don't have to worry about my cabinets fallen down like I did in the class. A motor home that I owned as I was going down the alkyne highway hitting a bunch of bumps, I was literally looking in behind me to make sure that the cabinets weren't loosening up. Where with this, I know everything solid. I know everything's good to go. The medium builds. My friend. He used a lot of repurpose materials. A lot of is three quarter inch plywood came from large crates that is able to use on his floors and walls. His cabinets are made out of old signposts that he was able to mill down and put together. And he has a fantastic builds or rephrase. He did all the work himself and he has about 30,000 into his bus. So the range is very wide. It's really how you want to build it and how much skill you have yourself or friends or family that can help out. With this build. I've done a lot of bartering. I'll help somebody with a project for two or three weeks and they'll help me with a project on this bus for two or three weeks. Or I'll pay friends or family to help out with particular things like e.g. with solar. I know the basics, I know how it works, but do I feel comfortable putting in the relays and the fuses and feeling confident that I'm not going to start a fire. No, I don't. So I hired that out. And it really is just a scale. But the most important thing when it comes to the cost of a school bus conversion and how everything is put together is just realizing it's going to take a lot more time. And pretty much every single situation that I know of more money, I always tell people it's going to cost three times as much and it's going to take two times as long to actually get this thing set and ready to go. There's always just small expenses is just you're always adding something. There's small things that you don't think about. They have to go to Home Depot. And you know, those Home Depot runs, they when they cause one to $300 every time they start to add up and it's just almost every day you're going there to get different stuff. So just keep in mind that the budget that you do have a can start with that. But typically it's going to cost a bit more than you're anticipating. 4. Why a Traditional Tiny Home?: I'm here to discuss with you now why I chose a tiny home above any other red. And in order to do that, I need to go back a little bit. So in 2014, we were living in Denver. We absolutely love Colorado. It's where my husband and I met. But my husband was offered a job at Amazon with much higher salary. And ultimately we made the hard decision to leave to create a better life for ourselves. When we got there though, we realized very quickly that while we were making more, the difference in the paycheck went straight to our mortgage, which is $3,000 per month. The cost of living in Seattle had skyrocketed the summer that we decided to move. Their people were elbowing for houses, offering 200,000 above asking in cash. And that just wasn't in our budget. And so what we ended up with was a house that had a 3,000 dollar a month mortgage. In 2015, we have the twins, and that made life even more stressful. And by 2017 we had just had enough. We decided to make a serious change. We started talking to builders and chose one fairly quickly. We did the math as we did contemplate building on our own like everyone else. But ultimately decided that for us, hiring a builder was the best option because of that $3,000 per month mortgage, it would have taken us at least a year, if not more, with the twins to build our own tiny home. And so we had to weigh that cost, benefit, cost versus benefit. And I think we would have paid out more if we would have tried to build the home ourselves, and obviously would've been more stressful. So ultimately, we were able to sell the home quickly and not have that $3,000 a month mortgage and pay a builder for their labor instead. In the span of just a few months, we downsized our entire lives. It was about four months and we use the money that we made from selling our Seattle home, to buy the truck, to tow the tiny home which needed to be very large. It was a Dodge Ram duly with a 410 axial ratio rate, It's TO 30,000 pounds. Then we also put a down payment on the tiny home and chose to finance the rest. In January of 2018, my dad passed away and the tiny home was complete. We moved in the same week that I attended the funeral. And it felt really powerful and still does. My dad worked hard as a financial consultant his entire life so that you couldn't enjoy his retirements. And instead, he died at the age of 65 and never got to enjoy what he had worked so hard for. And for me that felt like confirmation that we were on the right path. So the tiny home was the right choice for us because of our children. And I know a lot of couples who it's the right choice for them because they ultimately want to grow into the home and live in it for a long time. We needed dedicated sleeping spaces. We wanted a dedicated cooking spaces and a bathroom to potty train. They were still in cribs. And if you've had a baby, then you know that you do not mess with their sleep. We also knew that we didn't want to live in it forever and wanted to create something that could become something else. Eventually, we knew we would want to settle down somewhere. And the tiny home feels more like a home. If we would've gone with an RV, they aren't made the way Tiny Homes are. We have a beautiful fireplace, beautiful entertainment center, wood walls, real cabinet tree, it feels like a home when it's parked. Then we also knew that when we outgrew it as a family, we knew we could turn it into a rental of some kind. So it felt very multipurpose. We traveled with a tiny home for one year before we decided to settle in Durango, where a tiny home is currently parked, I would like to mention that towing a tiny home is quite the endeavor. It can be done, but if travel is on your agenda, a tiny home may not be right for you unless you build fairly small with a low roof. Our tiny home is a 34 foot gooseneck, and it's 13 ft tall. And for reference, it weighs 17,000 pounds dry. And we built with a steel frame in order to keep the weight low. Our friends who have a 28 foot bumper pool, which is obviously shorter than ours, and they built with a wood frame. Their home weighs 23,000 pounds dry and that would have kept us from towing it completely. Once your things are in it and you have to take into account the weight of the truck and the people in the truck. You go over limit and it would've been very scary going overpasses and things. Super grateful that we went with the steel frame. But again, if you are really wanting to travel, you will want to design something smaller. And I am definitely not the person who will tell you that it's impossible to tow a tiny home. I'm the person who tells you that it is possible. But if you want to travel just throughout the course, I'll continue to recommend when we're going through design process and all of that that we've designed smaller and that we make a lower roof in order to make that easier for you. Leveling a tiny home is a big job. It's heavier than an RV because of the good-quality materials that are used. I did become quite good at towing the home and actually nicknamed myself a TOA Hollich. I loved to tow the tiny home. It's been an amazing choice for our family. A tiny home is a perfect solution for someone who has to move every six months to a year for their job and struggles finding a new home at each location. It's a great option in a city where maybe it's hard to find a home because you have a pet. Obviously it's yours. You can have your pets. Using option for people, families who are wanting to save some money in cities with outrageous rent prices or purchase prices. In full transparency, our tiny home mortgage is 651 per month hour, and it's a 15-year loan, not a 30-year. So we're going to end up saving a lot over time. It's $150 per month for insurance. And while I could have found insurance for a little bit less every month, I went with a company that I trust that I know will pay out if something were to happen. And all that's left after that is finding parking and our current parking spot, we pay 600 per month. Our utilities are about 50 a month, even in the winter for electric water, everything is very low cost of living in a tiny home. And while 14, 50 might sound hi to some, it's extremely low to others, especially with the rising cost of living that's happening across the country. If we were to find something that we could all live in here in Durango, in the same location, we'd probably be paying close to 2,500 per month. 14 50 is a steel for us here. Then we're also paying towards something that's ours rather than paying someone else's mortgage. And that feels really good. It's also an amazing option for people who want to minimize their lives in order to have less stress and maintenance surrender. Reciting a tiny home is going to be much less expensive than 11,400 square foot home. Repainting a home, maintenance in general is just a lot less. And so if you're a person who loves to get outside, to enjoy nature, to travel to adventure. The minimal amount of cleaning and maintenance that you need to do, it's pretty substantial and it will improve your quality of life quite a bit. So hopefully by the end of this course, you will have made a decision on which rig is right for you. And you'll have full confidence in that decision moving forward. 5. Costs to Live in a Traditional Tiny House: Hi guys, Allie, here, the cost to build a tiny home is the number one question I get asked as a tiny home dweller that and where to park it. There's no easy answer when it comes to the cost of owning a tiny home because there are so many factors. Are you taking the DIY route, hiring a builder, purchasing a shell or buying used, how big would you like it to be? Do you want to bumper pool or a gooseneck? What amenities do you want to include? A dishwasher, a washer dryer, a farmhouse sink cabinet tree air filtration system, water filtration system, windows, mini split for heat and AAC, wood-burning stove, electric fireplace, solar setup. The list is long and this doesn't even begin to cover it. All. All of those things are going to drastically shift your budget from very affordable to very expensive. You can absolutely loved tiny home life anywhere on that spectrum. So it really depends on your budget and what will suit your own needs. Similarly to building and designing a traditional home, There's a lot that goes into designing and building a tiny home. You can go absolutely crazy. Hire a builder, and pick out every high-end appliance and your tiny home could cost close to 200,000. Alternatively, you could build a small DIY, tiny home using recycled materials and a trailer, necessarily meant to travel long distances and spend 15,000. Though I have to say that I don't necessarily recommend that option. Please please make sure to get a trailer that is meant to hold the weight that you plan to put on it. Recycled materials. Definitely, definitely go for that though, if that's what you're wanting and that will help keep the price tag lower. There's no easy answer to the question of cost. So a thorough and honest analysis of your wants and needs, both short and long term and a detailed breakdown of a realistic budget for you is necessary. In all honesty, in some places in the US, a tiny home may cost more to build than buying a traditional health. On the other hand, with what recently happened in many parts of the country with home prices skyrocketing. Building a tiny home, even a nice one will cost a fraction of the price of a traditional home. While I can't make the answer easy for you because it is personal, I have given examples of the cost of individual tiny homes and a general breakdown of the price tag of specific items that are important to clued include in your tiny home in the PDF. So make sure to check those out so you can see if the budget that you have in mind matches the home that you're hoping to build or acquire. In the PDF, you'll see Shannon's home, which is built well and absolutely beautiful. It is small and doesn't have a ton of extras like big appliances. But she was very intentional with her budget and did not want to go over. It costs 50,000 to have it built by our builder. It most likely would have cost about 30,000 to do on our own. You'll see my home, which is much larger as it was built for a family of four and has all of the large appliances that you could want, including a combo washer, dryer, and a dishwasher. Loved my dishwasher. It costs 135,000 to have built by a builder and most likely would have caused the 80,000 to do on our own. You'll also see Jennifer's home, which is a ten foot wide trailers, and she doesn't plan to move very often. It also has a downstairs bedroom. She did not include an HIV system, which I'll discuss a little bit later. As I do think it is a must have in a tiny home. You'll see Eric can raise home. They didn't DIY build and they estimate that they spent 45,000 on materials. They spent over two years building their home, and it was an incredible labor of love. Makes sure to check out the podcast that I filmed with Ray and the hiring of Builder section to hear him discuss the process. It's very cool. Lastly, you'll see blames tiny home, which was another DIY builds. They spent 50,000 on materials and believed that to have it built by a builder, it would cost 90,000. So as you can see, the prices are really all over the board, which means that you can get a well-built and insulated tiny home for anywhere 30200-30 thousand wide range, depending on whether you are building it yourself or hiring a builder, the size that you decide on, the extras that you prioritize on the inside. I also want to take a moment to elaborate on a few things from the workbook as well. The first is the importance of HRV or heat recovery system. Some people don't include them and I am 100% certain, that is a huge mistake. The air and a tiny home can get stale really quickly. Even if you're building a budget friendly, tiny home, please make sure to include some way to filter the air in your space. You'll protect your tiny on from bolts. If you ever want to use the homeless a rental or sell it, that will be a feature that you will absolutely want to have. Another item of safety is a propane or natural gas detector. If you have any appliance on propane, please make sure to purchase a really good quality detector to monitor the levels in your home. The majority of things that a tiny home or aesthetic, and you can absolutely choose the less expensive option for those items, open shelving versus cabinet tree or omitting dishwashers and washers, driers, the flooring that you choose, whether you install a fancy shower bathtub. But the things concerning safety should be prioritized in addition to the structure of the home and installation. Those are things that even though you can't see them, they are integral to the health and longevity of your home. So you wanna make sure that they're a part of the budget from the very beginning. You don't want to have added costs that you didn't budget for. The other thing I want to discuss is the option to finance your tiny home. There are credit unions and banks who are financing tiny homes now, I financed mine through PSCC. We were the first ones, a bank out of Washington State. A 20% down payment was still required and they do not finance DIY home, only homes built by a builder, but it is an option if you're already planning on hiring a builder. Our home cost of 135,000. We financed 86,000 of that. We got a 15-year loan and our payments are $651 per month. There are not any penalties for an early payoff if that becomes an option for us. So we were able to get a nicer home, then we would've been able to get if we would have needed all of that cash upfront. If making monthly payments is an option for you, this might be something that you'll want to explore. I would start by talking with a credit union or bank that you already do business with. As they already know, you, trust you and have a relationship with you, and then you can branch out from there. We did finance are tiny home, like I said, and our bank had never financed another tiny home. So I hope this video has been helpful for you and that you leave feeling like there are all of these possibilities out there that you can afford a tiny home as well. Thank you so much you guys. 6. Why Vanlife?: Hi, I'm Lauren, and I'm here to talk to you today about why I decided to live in a camper van. I spent two years full-time living in this RAM promised her van and now I live in travel in it part-time. There are a few reasons why I decided to live in a van instead of an RV, a traditional tiny home or school. One of the main reasons was just logistics. I had originally looked at building out a tiny home on a trailer and then pulling that behind a truck. And it just was actually more cost-effective because I didn't own cool any vehicle at all, and definitely not a vehicle with TO capacity. So it's a cost-savings for me to purchase something that was both the home and the vehicle in one package. Which of them is a great option for you need a pretty decent tow vehicle to trailer a tiny home as they are obviously quite heavy because you have not only the trailer that your home is built on, but the weight of your home and all of your contents. Another determination for me, it was just what I was comfortable driving. So I'm in a 159 wheelbase pro master, which means it's about 19.5 ft long. And I don't think I would have personally been comfortable driving anything bigger than this. It fits in a standard parking space, which means that I can still parallel park it in a city or parking really any parking lot that I want to it didn't require me to learn how to drive anything other than just being in a vehicle that was taller than what I was used to. This isn't diesel and it is not stick shift, so really nothing additional needed in terms of driving skills. Another reason why a camper van was a good option for me is because I live alone, just myself and my small dog. So 72 sq ft was more than enough for me to live comfortably even while I was working full time from the vehicle, traveling, cooking, entertaining. It is a really versatile space. If you are single or a couple, or possibly a person with a baby or very small child. If you have a family, you would definitely want to consider a traditional RB or a school of some size that you have more space. Even as a couple, you may want to consider the extended body versions of the popular camper vans to give you a little bit of extra room. Especially if you think you'll want a shower. Having that extended wheelbase. And the extended body typically is the amount of space that it would take to keep every keep traditional van layouts as they are, but also give you that extra space. Another reason I went with a camper van is that they look pretty unassuming. So it's really easy to stealth camp. I don't live in a white vehicle, so I'm not trying to pretend like I am in a work van, but it is quite easy to pretend like you are just parking in RV and people aren't really concerned about RVs perking overnight on residential streets. I think if you parked a schooling on the street in Denver, you would likely get a ticket. And I can definitely get away with stuff camping for one night in any given spot, in a van, deciding to go with a camper van conversion versus a traditional RV partially is a cost consideration. Many new RVs are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And I was unwilling or uninterested in purchasing an older RV that required a full renovation and a lot of vehicle maintenance, as I did not have any prior mechanical knowledge and really was ready to get on the road. Having a camper van that is within a new vehicle allowed me to have the full warranty. I also loved that with a custom camper van conversion, you can make the interior reflect your design aesthetic versus a traditional RV that even if you decorate it, it has a standard RV feel. Obviously that is not the case with renovated older RVs. People got them entirely and make them look like these really beautiful tiny homes on wheels. That again, I was not interested in doing a full-scale renovation. 7. Cost to Live in a Van: Hey, welcome back to another section of the tiny living course. Today we are going to talk a little bit about finances and budget. Specifically, we'll discuss how much it costs to buy and build out a van or purchase a converted man. And then we'll also talk a little bit about budgeting and what you can expect when you're trying to figure out if this lifestyle is financially possible for you, it's really hard to give you an exact number of how much it will cost to buy and build a van, because it completely depends on the type of venue by and what you want your bill to look like. I'll just give you two different examples. So you kind of have an understanding of what a range might be, but know that it really is incredibly specific. It comes down to the vehicle you purchase, the materials you use, the things you put in your build. If you do it yourself, you hire professionals. All of those things are going to completely shift your budget from either very affordable to very expensive. You absolutely can live in life on any end of that spectrum. Very, very, very affordable, very low cost to very high-end and very expensive. So just like when you're thinking about any other living option, it really depends on what will suit your needs. On the lower end, if we're talking about purchasing a used lower used low roof van, having a minimal setup, let's say a cooler using a water jug or maybe even a water jug with a foot pump, having maybe one AGM battery, maybe one solar panel, very, very minimal setup. You'd be completely DIY. You're probably looking at around 5,000 to $10,000 in total. Again, this is for a really minimal build where you do all the work yourself using a lot of salvage and repurpose materials. Purchasing a lower-cost vehicle. On the higher end, if we're talking about a high roof van, professional build a lithium lithium battery system, multiple solar panels. Nature's had composting, toilet and awning, a roof rack, a ladder. All of these fancy bells and whistles, you're definitely going to at least start at $30,000 for the build itself before you can purchase the van? My van is about in the 70,000 dollar range for the vehicle itself and the build and having someone else do it for me. I have some higher ticket items including a lithium battery system and nature side composting, toilet, ladder, refract, awning. So those things do add up very quickly. And most of those components, each component is in at least $100, if not in the thousands of dollars. What I would recommend when you are trying to figure out what your budget is and if you can afford it, is really just to sit down and look at all of the different things you want in your van, and then one-by-one go through those items. So let's say, you know that you want to cook. So look at all the different fridge choices and sit down and decide what is the happy point in between the lowest cost thing, aka having a cooler and the thing that you would be happiest with. So like, if a cooler is the most affordable choice for you, but you'd be really, really miserable having to deal with ice. Then look at what the next jump is and try to budget for that. So maybe a lower-cost converted dorm fridge. Then you'd want to look at your solar setup, okay? What are your power needs? How can you size your system? And just go through each component to get a number that seems pretty realistic, then you have a good starting point for figuring out your savings and what, and when you can make the leap and moving to a van. It's also important to remember that you don't have to be in your ultimate dream van to live van life. You 100% can, if you already have an SUV or a minivan or something that you can car camp out of. You can start with that setup, a camping setup in the vehicle you have, and drastically reduce your living expenses so that you can save money to get into a different rig or purchased a used already converted van and live in that for a year while you decide exactly what's important to you and where you should spend money and where you can save money. So how much does it cost to live in a van? Not talking about the van itself, but you've already got the van, you've moved into it. What should you be expecting for your monthly budget? And this, like everything else in this course, it really, really depends. In particular, if you're going to be traveling, your costs will fluctuate greatly based on what state you're in, how fast you move. So e.g. let's say you're planning to spend the fall. Chasing beautiful leaf change and you're going to go up and down the East Coast from Maine down to Florida. The East Coast has a ton of toll roads, especially up in the New England area. So you would want to budget more monthly for that section, for tolls, for things like campsites because there's less accessible public land on the East Coast because it's more densely populated. If you're moving around a lot, you'd want to budget more for gas as well. In contrast, if you're planning to spend a few months out in somewhere like California or in Nevada, you wouldn't really need to budget for campsites because there's ample free parking on public land, but gas prices are considerably more expensive than in other parts of the country, frequently in the five to $6 per gallon range. So you would definitely want to have a much larger budget there, but you wouldn't need to really have much much in your budget for tolls, except maybe the occasional toll bridge. When you are looking at your current budget living in a traditional house and you're trying to figure out how it will change when you move into your van. There are some new items that you may not be budgeting for already, and there are some items that you'll be able to remove. So some of the new items will either be gas if you don't currently have a vehicle or perhaps more gas because you'll be traveling more, as well as tolls. Possibly campsites, a gym membership if you don't already have one, laundry, if you are used to having a laundry facility that is free and in your home, you'll now need to use a laundromat RV or auto insurance. You may want to have a more robust hotspot or data plan on your phone, which could cost more money. And you also may want to join some type of RV membership programs such as harvest host or AAA roadside assistance passport America. There's a bunch of different things and you may decide that you don't need any of those. You'll also be able to eliminate costs and a lot of categories. You will no longer be paying rent or mortgage. A lot of people in the van life community consider gas, there are rent or mortgage payment. So that's a pretty easy thing. Let's say you want to set aside $500 a month for your mortgage or rent payment. And now you can just switch that to say, $500 a month for guests. And that number. It really again, depends on how much you're driving. I would say I budget $300-500 a month for gas when I am actively moving on the road. Other things you no longer will have a utility payment though, depending on where you get your water, you may end up you may end up purchasing water occasionally, but all of your electricity and everything else will come from the sun. You can cut the cord if you haven't already and get rid of that pesky cable bill, but you'll still possibly be paying for subscription services. You may be trading traditional Internet for a mobile hotspot or a more robust data plan on your phones so that you can work on the road. If that's something that you need, you may be able to get rid of a renter's insurance policy. Though. I personally kept my renter's insurance policy while I was on the road before I owned a home because the renter's insurance policy that I had also covered the contents in the van. So I just use my parent's address as the place that I was renting from and kept that policy to cover my belongings outside of the vehicle itself. For me personally, a big budget cut was in the personal care category. Before I was living in the van, I worked a very traditional office jobs, so I purchased new clothing on a regular basis for work events. I had a just a generally more high maintenance, I guess, expensive self-care routine. I would get my nails done every couple of weeks, that sort of thing. So all of that, you can completely well. So a lot of other things you can eliminate from your budget in the van, though, you absolutely should do all the things that make you feel your best self. Another category that I saved a lot of money transitioning from living in Washington DC to moving into the van, was eating and drinking out. In the van community. When you meet up with other people, you would do occasionally go to a new brewery or a new restaurant, or do an eating out experience. But a lot of the times you are looking for a cool place to park where you can hang out, have a glass of wine around the campfire, that sort of thing. So I ended up spending a bit more on groceries and a lot less on dining and eating out because I didn't have those multiple times a week after work happy hours. I didn't go to the movies as much. Most of my entertainment living in the van comes from the outdoors and other free activities. And living in a city, I definitely spent a lot more money on those those types of things. In the end, your budget is completely reflexive on what your needs are. But there are definitely a ton of ways that you can cut costs. Moving into van versus living in a traditional home or in an apartment. If you go into the finance section, I in-depth show you what my budget template looks like. It's there for you to download and use. I walk you through all of the different tools that I have developed that helped me save money, pay off debt, and keep me on track financially for glycine to keep this lifestyle sustainable. I hope that this has been helpful and that you're leaving this section feeling like YouTube can afford van life. 8. Why Rv Life?: Hey Sage here today I kinda wanted to talk about my history with tiny home living and my rig choices throughout the years. I will say that the rig that I was in when I first started living small is much different than the rig that I'm in now. And that's because the needs that I had for tiny living were very different than they are now. And I expect that in the future my needs are probably going to change again. And with that, my tiny living situation will also change. So when I first started out living tiny, I had just quit a job that I had been working nine years. I wanted to see the country and I wanted to do it fast and I wanted to be nimble and quick. I moved into a 2006 Honda element that I already owned with my dog, opec. And we made a quick trip around the around the country, hitting as many national parks thing, as many friends as we possibly could. And we did all that in about eight months. It was a great situation then. It was obviously a really small space, but we spent most of her time outdoors anyway, so that was perfect for us. When I returned from that trip, I found myself presented with a work opportunity that allowed me to live in a vintage Airstream trailer. And I lived in that Airstream for about a year-and-a-half through that employment opportunity. I think that opportunity met my needs really well for that particular stage of my life, because with that work opportunity, I was able to park that airstream in one spot and keep it there. I had a home-base. I can take weekend trips, but I also was a great way for me to be stationary, have some stability and save some money. However, I think that that amount of space was maybe a little too much for me at the time. And being stationary was a little bit too confining and constricting. I want a little more freedom to move and freedom to go. So I ended up moving back into my Honda Element and I moved up to Bend, oregon, which is where I'm currently based out of Shortly after I moved up to bend, my now partner cat, also moved up there in her than we started dating and lived in separate vehicles for awhile. Neither my Honda element or her van were big enough for both of us and our two dogs. We kinda kept it separate. We have the opportunity earlier this year to move temporarily into a short school bus, and we spent about three months in the school bus and found that it was a good amount of space for us, but it presented its own challenges. My particular work required to me to be out and moving around frequently. Whereas cats, more computer-based work forced her to be back at camp or needing to stay stationary for a long time. So if I had to go while we were both in the bus, she had to pack up her work and she had to go to which was challenging for us. So with that, we deduce that maybe a turbine camera would be the best situation for us because we could park this here at camp and take the van out into town or me off on a shoe or whatever. We had the ability to separate so that we both continued to work and have separate spaces. So that's the situation that we're in now. We live in this tiny little A-Frame camper that's towed by cats van that she had had before. I doubt that this will be our final tiny living situation. The one that we settle on. We may be serial rig changers, but maybe we'll find a situation that works better for us. So we'll settle into a lifestyle that is kinda more long-term, sustainable. All that to say that for me, living tiny wasn't necessarily about the type of tiny living situation that I have. It wasn't about being in a tiny house or being in a van or anything like that. It's more about the opportunities that it affords me, things that allows me to do. And I find that as my needs change, I also need to change my rig. Some people will pick a rig and find themselves happy with that rig for a long time. That's not my case. But I do think that if you find yourself with changing needs, it's okay to switch rigs. It's okay to move from a van to a tiny home or a school bus to a camper like this, if that's what suits your needs in regards to tiny living. So that's a brief look at my history with living tiny. I'm excited to share more of what we've learned with you guys. 9. RV Types: In this video, we'll go over the different types of RVs and travel trailers for you to choose from when selecting the best RV or travel trailer to call your tiny home. First up, we have class A's. These types of RVs look very similar to a charter bus. They're typically 20 to 45 ft in length, often even longer. This makes them the largest option of the three motorized types of recreational vehicles. This size packs a decent punch for your wallet when considering gas costs into your monthly budget, with their length and weight being the highest of the three motorized RV types. They boast a whopping six to 10 mi per gallon of fuel economy. Not great. You can find both gasoline and diesel engine options in this style of RB. Typically, they can sleep up to eight to ten passengers, and you often see multiple slide outs and exterior storage lockers in this style. Rv, making even more usable interior living space for you or your family. This type of RB is great for traveling, enlarge groups. Having your family and toe. Or if you're simply interested in having plenty of space and storage capacity to have all your favorite things with you on the road. For average costs new and used. These are v's are typically the most expensive RV models to buy. Typically priced at 200,000 to $300,000 for a new class ARV or plus or -15,000, 100,000 for used model in varying conditions. So I'll go over some pros and cons here. Pros, You have plenty of room, slide outs, exterior lockers and such. Lots of options for amenities and comforts of home on the road. They're great for large families and hosting friends on the road. You typically have a comfortable ride driving these, they are typically air ride and some cons, large profile heavy power consumption to run onboard appliances which requires large solar battery setups are staying at camp grounds or RV parks to be able to plug in. They can be costly. You have limits where you can go off road or in the back country. And specifically national parks due to vehicle size and weight. There is specialized maintenance which can be pricey or possibly difficult to find if you're traveling full-time. So to sum it all up, if you're a large family traveling with friends for extended trips or plan to host friends out on the road often. Let's say you have large are many pets that you like to travel with or simply enjoy having plenty of space for all your gear and fun, outdoor toys. Or even if you've just value having plenty of space for comfort and amenities while living out on the road. You've got the budget. And also don't mind some of the cons we pointed out here. Then a class a would be the right rig for you. We're on to class B, aka the camper van. This type of RV is the smallest of the motorized RV types. They're known by the often used term of camper van, or the lesser use terms sleeper bands. This type of RV is the most Agile of the three main motorized types. It's small footprint measures in at anywhere 15-20 ft long, with the lowest overall weight compared to class a and C types. This means it packs the best gas mileage of the three motorized RV types. Average gas mileage ranges 10-14 mi per gallon of fuel. You can find both gasoline and diesel engine options in this style of RV. They're great for traveling further afield while camping in the back country or bouncing between city streets and campgrounds. So this flexibility and agility is its biggest draw. They can be tied on interior living space, though. It can sometimes be found with slide outs and will often maintain minimal amenities such as compact toilets are wet baths while still providing the essentials, cooked up, sink and water storage, et cetera. Typically, this type of RV sleeps two to four passengers. At most. A great option for singles. Couples are small families that are okay with living with less interior space, but typically prioritize the ability to travel further afield for less older models, both to healthy used market for purchasing purposes, which is a big plus average costs new and use. With the more recent popularity of this type of RV and the nimble and sleek sprinter style models you see everywhere class be RVs can be found anywhere from $30,000 to $180,000 new. And can be found at around plus or minus $5,000, up to $30,000 used in varying conditions. Some pros and cons, pros, small footprint, smallest cost compared to class a and C. They are nimble on the roads and in parking lots are generally easier to park. Smaller carbon footprint while maintaining some limited amenities. You can pretty much access all national parks and most backcountry wild camping spots. You can park and optionally stealth within city limits, mostly without issue. Some cons. Newer versions can be pricey. They are the smallest RV types, so you sacrifice some space for the small footprint and they're not great for families or those with large pets along for the ride. So to sum it up, the class B is for you, if you value the ability to get further out into wild camping areas, you want zero restrictions at national and state parks, while also maintaining decent gas mileage, minimal maintenance, and the ability to stealth camp in most cities and towns. The class V is a great option for couples and small families that value time outside over plentiful interior living space. Next step, the class C RV. This type of RV is probably what most people visualize when they think of a motor home. So it's large. Ish comes in at around 19 to 30 ft. Total length. Classes often average about eight to 12 mi to the gallon. Not great, but not as bad as Class A's gas mileage. You can find both gasoline and diesel engine options in this style of RV as well. This type of RV typically has an over-the-counter sleeping area as well. They have many options for sleeping arrangements. They can be found with or without one or more slide outs to expand interior living space potential. This type of RV also tends to have the widest range of overall length and floor plan options. They typically sleep four to eight passengers. Overall, the class ERV is probably the most widely available RV type. It can be ideal for traveling with family or friends on the road and boasts a healthy used market for buying options as well. Average costs for new and used. This type of RV can typically be found priced around 75,000 to $300,000 new or plus or -7,000, 250,000 for use models in various conditions. You see the largest range in this type of RV for the price between the three motorized RV types, because it has the widest range of options for size and amenities. Some pros and cons. Pros. It's kind of easy in no special license or ability to drive. Its flexibility of floor plans, lengths, and slide layouts can be spacious or lean and mean. Also, the more the merrier, plentiful sleeping options, great for hosting friends on the road or traveling as a family. Some cons, they can be pricey. They're large, they're the middle sibling of RVs. This means that they're a little less nimble than Class B and just slightly more nimble or even similar to class A's. There are some longer length restrictions for some national parks and state parks. And specialty maintenance or repair could possibly be difficult or pricy if you're traveling full-time. So to sum it all up, this is the most recognizable RV type on the road. Plentiful. And there are many sizes and floor plan options that make traveling as a family are hosting friends on the road a breeze. And if you're looking for easy purchase due to a healthy used market than the Class C or V could be the rig for you. Remember that there is a learning curve for regular maintenance and some restrictions will apply for national and state parks onto the travel trailer. These types of RVs are also easily recognizable and come in the widest variety of sizes and shapes. One big difference between travel trailer style RVs and those I mentioned before is the lack of any type of motor to serve as your mode of transport. Travel trailers will always require some sort of towing vehicle to move it around on your travels. Because of this, there's the added bonus of flexibility in disguise. Travel trailers can be left at camp or at a campground, and the tow vehicle then serves as your vehicle. Vehicle does a certain kind of awesome to having a setup on the road that lets your home be your home and your vehicle be your vehicle. And each can now serve their individual purpose. And folks who have opted for the travel trailer setup often love this factor of their setup. They can comment options as tiny and nimble. As the iconic teardrop trailer to as large and palatial as a gooseneck or fifth wheel style to rival the living space and amenities afforded by the class. A, Barbie, travel trailers can come bare bones as dry campers without any sort of toilet, shower, water system, or electrical system onboard for simplicity sake. Or they can have just about any amenity you could include in an RV. This makes the travel trailer option a great one for just about anyone from the Solo Traveler. Couples, small and large ish families, like average costs for new and used travel trailers. Due to their range of sizes and amenities, travel trailers have our UE the widest range in prices. A quick Google search will show a very healthy, new and used and vintage or classic market. This could very well be the easiest style of RV to purchase. Travel trailers can be found for around 11,000 to $50,000 new and around 4,000 to 17,000 used, obviously in varying conditions. Some pros and cons pros travel trailers are the most affordable RV option. Many options to choose from, from sizes and floor plans. They are the most customizable to suit your needs. There are detachable setup, opens up more options for exploring while saving your camp spot. Big plus for us, it's easier maintenance overall, they are widely available across North America and there's a healthy used for purchasing your own. They're great options for families and hosting friends on the road. And they're separate. Tow vehicle means camper maintains a separate and greater value with age than most motorized RVs. Some cons does require a tow vehicle, which could be cost-prohibitive in this aspect. So that's something to think about. Hitching. An unhinging can be a chore. There's no quick, easy and quick, easy out. No passengers can travel inside the trailer while it is being towed. So your tow vehicle will need to be big enough to carry all passengers and pets that you are traveling with. Another con, there can be a steep learning curve to driving and parking a tow behind trailer. Certain restrictions do apply in national parks and state parks and camp grounds as well. So to sum it up, this our V type is the absolute most flexible of the four types we covered here. Just about anyone can make a travel trailer, the perfect rig for them for both full or part-time life on the road. It boasts the widest range of styles and price ranges of the four types and has the added bonus of being separate of your vehicle and keeps your camp spot saved, which lends to the sense of home on the road, very important. There's a learning curve to driving a vehicle with a tow behind trailer. And there will be certain restrictions for some national and state parks. So just remember that otherwise travel trailers are a great option for just about anyone. One of the reasons why we decided it was for us. 10. Thanks for Listening!: Hey everybody, thank you so much for taking our class. We hope that it helps you understand the different types of tiny homes, as well as the potential investment that you'd be making into the different types of Tiny Homes. I personally absolutely love this lifestyle. I feel so blessed that I'm able to live it. And what are the reasons we wanted to put this class together was to share this lifestyle with you and show you that it is possible for you. If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to us. Our email is info at tiny home tours.com. Once again, I appreciate you taking this class and have a great day.