NEED TO KNOW Living large A look inside the tiny house movement PBS

Video Rating: 4 / 5

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25 Responses to NEED TO KNOW Living large A look inside the tiny house movement PBS

  1. eddiemcintire says:

    @procommenter HI, I built my little solar house for less than 600 dollars all from scrap! I have, in the last 3 years, managed to SAVE about 36,000 dollars from my work.I do not pay one cent on any utilities though i do live very comfortably!!! POVERTY IS NOT NICE!!! Thats why i CHOOSE to live this way…..because i do not live in poverty anymore. TRY IT,YOU WILL PROBABLY LIKE IT!!!

  2. Babyhowdy233 says:

    @qwe07
    Good point, Dee may well be paying her friend back by helping her around the house.
    I can personally attest that there are many times I have felt I’d let someone live with
    me for free if they would only help with the housework and gardens,lol.

  3. qwe07 says:

    @Babyhowdy233 Well the video mentioned Dee does stuff around the house so that may be the “rent.” The lady is older so maybe the companionship makes up for a lot of it also (that was my first thought). Anyway, Dee lucked out on her situation. As for taxes, as mentioned before I think it depends on how it’s built and it’s size. It varies from city to city depending on code I think.

  4. qwe07 says:

    @procommenter I see you’ve continued your comments here but never responded fully to mine. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how much Dee makes. She WANTS and CHOOSES to live like this. If you needed wood and found perfectly good wood for free in a dumpster, would you walk past it and go buy some instead? Maybe you would, but many wouldn’t. Call it cheap or frugal, but there’s nothing wrong with that. “One man’s trash is another’s treasure” and all that.

  5. eddiemcintire says:

    @Babyhowdy233 The things that i have read confirm that if it is a permanent structure,it can be taxed,if it is mobile it cant be taxed because it is considered “for use on the road” which is already taxed once a year.
    If these tiny houses are built on trailors they automatically have to be tagged(taxed)once a year.therefore can not be taxed again for sitting in your back yard.I hope this helps.

  6. eddiemcintire says:

    @Babyhowdy233 Hi,again.im glad you got back to me. In both instances,you mentioned”built”. A treehouse is connected to the land resulting in use of the land and in turn resulting in more tax.(?) I will look this up for you.
    You also said the playhouse was “built”
    If i remember right,if it is built to be moble you can get money back.In fact,I got money back last tax season when i claimed it as a second home(or something)
    i will check for you and me and anyone else here who wants to know.

  7. procommenter says:

    Dee Williams has worked for the govt. for 19 years and yet she squats in the backyard of an old woman? Why? Surely, Dee makes enough money to afford a house with a flush toilet? Surely, she can do better than a shed on wheels built from wood retrieved from dumpsters?

  8. Babyhowdy233 says:

    (cont.) The second friend-who is a master carpenter-built a playhouse for his young daughter, and the same thing happened to him:radically increased taxes the following year. He too fought it in court and LOST. Eventually he disassembled it-to his daughter’s chagrin-and bought her a simple plastic “princess” kid’s house. You can imagine how she felt using that after having a house similar to what this woman in the video lives in!

  9. Babyhowdy233 says:

    @procommenter
    I quite agree!

  10. Babyhowdy233 says:

    @eddiemcintire
    No, whether it’s built on a foundation, sitting flat on the ground or on wheels it depends on the size and features (electrical wiring, plumbing, etc.) as to whether or not it’s considered a second home on the property. Two examples:one friend of mine built a treehouse for his son and was promptly slapped with increased taxes the following year, because it was decreed as a second home on his property. He had to engage in a lengthy battle in court to finally overturn that. (cont)

  11. eddiemcintire says:

    @Babyhowdy233 no, i dont think so, only if the tiny house is built on a foundation built into the proprty???
    If it is mobile (as in an rv) then the landowner MAY qualify for a TAX CREDIT!

  12. eddiemcintire says:

    @qwe07 LOL…I’m so glad you didn’t say “IRregardless”
    But noticing that you didn’t,also leads me to believe that you’re also a smart person.
    lol

  13. procommenter says:

    Hundreds of thousands of Americans are losing their homes as the economy is deliberately imploded. Small house movement = impoverishment & disenfranchisement. There’s nothing romantic, hip nor cool about living in an upholstered garden shed, despite P.B.S.’s preachments. Genuine intellectualism as opposed to the P.B.S.-variety is intolerant of animalic atheism and the human contrivances: bureaucratism & governmentalism.

  14. qwe07 says:

    @procommenter I don’t see how this relates to the tiny house movement. Regardless, the tiny house movement at this point (although growing) is so small that it could not possibly cause significant changes in your property value and taxes.

  15. procommenter says:

    @qwe07 : I pay property taxes. The market value of my house has depreciated 70 per cent since ’06 as my taxes have doubled. Misery loves company.

  16. qwe07 says:

    @procommenter I (obviously) disagree. I see a woman and some others that CHOOSE to live this way. People come to this lady because they WANT to. Is the media REALLY pushing this notion? Where/how often have you seen it? Additionally, I don’t recall anyone in this video mentioning directly or indirectly being caged, tracked, drugged, vaccinated, or driven into receivership and serfdom by confiscatory taxation. If you found this in the video, please point it out. I simply don’t see it here.

  17. procommenter says:

    @qwe07 : This presentation propagandizes the corporate-media-driven notion that middle-class citizens are greedy, spoiled brats who are boisterously unrepentant & uncaring in regards to the fragility of our smited mother (Mother Earth). As piss-poor stewards of the land they must be “apartmentalized”/compartmentalized, penned, caged, tracked, drugged, vaccinated & driven into receivership & serfdom by confiscatory taxation.

  18. qwe07 says:

    @procommenter It promotes it to those that are looking for it. These houses appeal to those that are already in the mindset of “living on the fly.” If you have very limited income or have an extraordinarily green outlook, then why not downsize accordingly?

  19. Babyhowdy233 says:

    @ThePsycheSociety
    Jay owns a REAL home that is right next door to his tiny house. His wife made him buy it after she found out she was expecting their first child. And NO, the real house is BIGGER than the mere 500 square feet he said they were gonna buy,lol. This kind of living is ok for a single, younger adult, but when you are raising a family or when you get up in age it’s an altogether different matter.

  20. Babyhowdy233 says:

    My respect lies not so much with Dee but instead with her wonderful friend. I know of NO ONE-either friend or family-who would let me park that thing-BIG ass solar panels and all-in their backyard and NOT demand rental space for the land! Furthermore, in many states it would qualify as a SECOND home on one’s lot and that would RAISE the property tax of the landowner!

  21. wheelori814 says:

    thats cool, but what is she gonna do when she is too old to go up that ladder? I wonder if the bench folds out into a bed. that would be cool.

  22. procommenter says:

    @pheenix42 : Austerity is disenfranchisement. This presentation promotes living on the fly.

  23. pheenix42 says:

    @procommenter No…poverty is not nice, not at all. This isn’t poverty.

  24. steinderbush says:

    Dear Dee, I have so much respect for you. What you create is awesome!! I lost my wife last year, and my job, I live on social security as you call it in the U.S. We, the whole world are in a crisis now and its affecting everyone. Its rediculous to pay about 480 euro’s every month to have a small tiny spot on mother earth, and additional costs!! I would come over and live there in a small home by tommorow!!

    Its all about being content!! Wish you good fortune!! Jack

  25. Nickodemusodurn says:

    @1971mgb

    No way I could build this in canada for 10k. Well maybe. I would have to scrounge. But I getcha about the experience for sure. I do like the idea.. Im just trying to think as practical as I can. Gah. Its difficult.