Tiny Home Shells in KY & TN | Esh's Utility Buildings (2024)

FAQs

Can you buy the shell of a tiny home? ›

You can order a shell from any one of our four tiny house models, or a ground up custom! Finished on the outside, you just finish the inside. Mustard Seed Tiny Homes can also customize your tiny house shell to your needs.

Most tiny houses get their power the same way that RV's do, through an extension cord. This extension cord is sized differently depending on the power requirements and hookups of your house.

Building permit regulations in Tennessee are not generally stringent, making it a tiny home-friendly state. While there is no statewide law specifically for tiny homes in Tennessee, some counties and cities have established their own regulations regarding tiny house construction and placement.

In Tennessee, it is illegal to convert a shed into a tiny home. Sheds are only allowed to have electricity for operating machinery and tools, not for living in. Even though a shed may be a small space, it cannot be used as a small house.

The average cost of a tiny house is a reasonable $30,000 – $60,000, although they can cost as little as $8,000 or up to $150,000 depending on the amenities you choose to include. It's typically cheaper to build a tiny house than to buy one prebuilt, but don't get too caught up in the savings.

Unfortunately, tiny homes often do not retain their value the way traditional homes do. In fact, some sources indicate that you should consider your tiny home's value to be similar to that of an RV or trailer—as an investment that depreciates, rather than increases, in value as the years go by.

On average, a tiny home costs about $50,000. Comparing that against the average U.S. home sale price, which was nearly $298,000 in 2021, it's astounding how much a tiny house can significantly save you money. You'll find a broad range of price tags when researching common tiny house costs.

You can DIY the entire project or keep costs down by doing some work yourself, while you get help with the more complicated parts. The tiny home life is a new lifestyle that people are embracing, and if you're into off-grid life or living as a minimalist, this type of home may be right for you.

2. Tiny Homes Are Expensive. The small size of tiny homes doesn't make them much cheaper to build -- in fact, the typical tiny house costs more per square foot than larger houses do, in part because larger construction jobs make for more efficient use of resources.

Perhaps best of all, there are plenty of designs that are possible to DIY or partial–DIY. Still, building a tiny home from scratch is a major undertaking, and those with limited building experience will probably not want to do it alone.