Category: Tiny Town Texas

How can I finance my Tiny House? $$$$$

On By Shari SnyderIn Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas6 Comments

So you wanna buy a tiny home? Five steps to your dream tiny home:

  • Step one: secure your financing so you know your budget. (see below).
  • Step two: secure your location to park your tiny home. Will you buy land? Park in a family or friend’s backyard, or a Rv park or community? See more info at this blogpost. Also, for insurance questions, see this blogpost.
  • Step three: choose your builder. You can schedule a free 30 minute phone consultation with Hill Country Tiny Houses to discuss your project. We will use your budget and needs as the guideline. (At this phase, you may want to schedule a tour of one of our homes and/or book a weekend stay in a tiny home to confirm it’s the right decision for you. We can suggest airbnb choices in Texas.) use this link to book your call now: https://hillcountrytinyhousesscheduling.as.me/schedule.php
  • Step four: now you’re ready to dive in and make your big dreams come true! We collect a $1,500 design fee/down Payment to start your project. During the planning and designing phase, we use our Chief Architect software to design your floor plan, the architecture, elevations, doll house view, 3D walk through, and help you choose all the colors and finishes. You know, all the fun stuff! When you place your order, this amount is taken off your total.
  • Step five: 25% down to engineer and certify your build and 25% to go into production and 25% when your home is “dried in” and 25% pre-delivery. We do a video walk through at certain stages throughout. Allow at least 8-16 weeks (depends where you are in the que) to complete your project. We deliver it and set it up so it’s move in ready when we leave.
  • Tiny House Lender Options

1. Personal loans from your local bank, Lending Tree, or even PayPal (many people will combine 1-3 loans from different companies to get the desired total) 

2. Home equity line of credit (some will take out a loan this way and when they sell their house, pay it off).

3. Of course, the option to borrow from friends and family and let them be your bank may save on down payment fees, closing fees, and higher interest rates.

4. The last section of this post includes tiny house trailer lenders. The middle section is for tiny houses on land only. I have listed in order of my personal preference.

Notes from a Tiny House Expert

Shari here: As a Dweller, builder, and advocate in this industry for almost 3 years, I have to report…see bottom of post for notes.

TINY HOUSE LENDERS FOR THOSE WHO OWN LAND OR WANT TO BUY LAND

Alamo Lending, A J Allee. Start here ??

Serving all of Texas. aj@alamolending.com. +1 (210) 410-4831

19851 State Highway 46 W. | Spring Branch, TX 78163 | USA

GUILD MORTGAGE, HUGH VAUGHN

Mortgage Broker/Lender. He has access to multiple lenders, but can only serve clients who own land and will put a park model (permanent style–ie. take the wheels off the trailer and put on foundation) style tiny home on it. hvaughn@guildmortgage.net. 512-775-2883. Hugh has had success helping a family in Bastrop, TX, secure a small lot for a small home and get funding. He is a personal friend of ours and we highly recommend him. On the website, you will find some tools like the pre-qualification calculator and affordability calculator.

Thrive Mortgage, Georgetown, Texas

Texas Hill Country Bank

Kenneth Early is our contact over there. We are friends with the President of the bank and they will do what they can to help you. Mention our name. 830-955-8535. kenneth@txhcb.com.

FIRST FINANCIAL BANK

Texas only. No land size requirement, can finance land and home as a package. Builders risk policy.

First Financial bank

on purchases up to $75K.

• 625+ Credit Score

• 12-72 Months

• $50-75K

• No Cash down requirements

• Automatic business decisions during business hours – appx 10 minutes

• 6.99-18.99%

CITIZENS STATE BANK

CITIZEN TRUST BANK

MINNEOLA COMMUNITY

Dallas, Texas area.

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT

If you won or are buying at least 5 acres, this one may be a great fit for you. It does require a down payment and you can not have a chassis (trailer/wheels) under it. Rates are very good in this option. We deliver to you on pier and beam and set on a permanent foundation. As long as it is still under 400 sq ft, it doesn’t raise your property taxes. It is often considered an ADU (accessory dwelling unit). Some cities like Austin, Kerrville and most recently Los Angeles, have already legalized ADU’s. Visit website here.

Loan Star Ag Credit

If you own or are buying at least 10 acres, you can have a fully titled home at the end and get the best rates (even without a construction loan process or down payment) in the industry of tiny houses here. Again, you can not have a chassis (trailer/wheels) under it. We deliver to you on pier and beam and set on a permanent foundation. As long as it is still under 400 sq ft, it doesn’t raise your property taxes. It is often considered an ADU (accessory dwelling unit). Some cities like Austin, Kerrville and most recently Los Angeles, have already legalized ADU’s. 800-530-1252

BULLISH BOB BAGLEY SECURITIES INC.

TYPE OF LENDER: Other REQUIREMENTS: Other COLLATERAL REQUIRED: Yes ADDITIONAL NOTES: Bob is a an Investment Banker (Securities Broker/Dealer) 972-285-5474…

INCOMMONS BANK OF WACO

LOCATION SERVED: Texas Only. This is a full-service lender.…

************************************************************************

TINY HOUSES ON WHEELS – TRAVEL TRAILER OPTIONS

******Again, it is far more difficult to finance these. Cash buyers are best. Banks do not like them because they are mobile and if they need to repossess one, it could be far away and they probably could not track it down. Consequently, they require about 20-25% down payment and shorter terms like 7-15 years and higher interest rates (often times 7-15%). They also require higher credit scores. If you have any assets/collateral to offer, that does make it easier. Oftentimes, people get a family member to loan them the money or they apply for a personal loan, sometimes two or three personal loans to equal the total they want to borrow.

LIBERTY BANK OF UTAH

CITY NATIONAL BANK

Title Required 20% down / min credit score 650 Contact: RonWatson # 903-885-7523 Ext 4139 email: ron.watson@bankatcnb.com

LIGHT STREAM

LIGHT STREAM LOCATION SERVED: USA TYPE OF LENDER: Bank REQUIREMENTS: Personal Loan COLLATERAL REQUIRED:

PROSPER FUNDING LLC

LOCATION SERVED: Nation wide with exceptions listed here.

SOFI

LOCATION SERVED: All States except Mississippi. Call Ken

ONE MAIN FINANCIAL

ONE MAIN FINANCIAL LOCATION SERVED: USA TYPE OF LENDER: Bank REQUIREMENTS: Personal Loan COLLATERAL REQUIRED: No ADDITIONAL

BULLISH BOB BAGLEY SECURITIES INC.

TYPE OF LENDER: Other REQUIREMENTS: Other COLLATERAL REQUIRED: Yes ADDITIONAL NOTES: Bob is a an Investment Banker (Securities Broker/Dealer) 972-285-5474…

INCOMMONS BANK OF WACO

LOCATION SERVED: Texas Only. This is a full-service lender.…

ROCK SOLID FUNDING

Important Note: To help with financing a THOW, please know we can offer a national tiny house certification code that documents the build process via video and the building codes adhered to and saves it in the cloud for you forever. It’s an additional fee for this service, but reach out to us for more info. The value is banks like to see this as well as insurance companies and some RV parks. Each of the following lenders work with this N.O.A.H. Cert. process except for the last two: Liberty Bank and Rock Solid.

NOTES FROM A TINY HOUSE EXPERT

Shari here: As a Dweller, builder, and advocate in this industry for almost 3 years, I have to report it’s been discouraging and difficult to get our clients financed for THOW’s (see below) . We paid cash with the proceeds from the sale of our big house for our own tiny house and many of our clients are cash buyers, sometimes borrowing from family. I believe the day will come when financing becomes easier, but until then, I hope the following info will help you on your journey. 

The first thing you need to understand is the difference between a THOW (Tiny House on Wheels – ie. Travel trailer) and a 399 sq ft Park Model Design – I refer to it as a home on a trailer that can travel occasionally (ie. one with a trailer/chassis under it that comes in on wheels and is designed to be put on land or not moved very often) and a general small home (typically 400-800 sq ft) built off site and delivered to land. The latter is the model we have chosen for our development in Kerrville, Texas, called Tiny Town Texas, coming 2021!

Tiny Houses and RVIA park models on wheels/chassis, are similar to a manufactured home and do not appreciate much in value, esp. if they are not attached permanently to land. Tiny Homes on a foundation on land, however, are treated more like a stick built home and will appreciate in value like any traditional home. We offer modular certified tiny homes as well. The city likes these better and it is the ideal scenario for the banks and insurance companies. You will get far better rates.

Where can I place my tiny home?

On By Shari SnyderIn Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment
  1. www.searchtinyhousevillages.com is One of the best resources for placement options across the nation. We are friends with the founder, Jill Kanto.

2. This website has multiple options: https://www.tinyhomebuilders.com/tiny-house-communities/search

3. www.tryittiny.com. This is a great resource, just type in the location and search for places to park, or rent a tiny house to “try before you buy”.

4. www.imatinyhouser.com

5. https://www.tinyhomeindustryassociation.org/tiny-home-communities/

6. http://www.vintagegracetexas.com/. She runs a 55+ tiny home community and is full, but you may get on a wait list.

Hill Country, Boerne, Texas. This is a small gated and wooded community, a combination of tiny homes and Rvs. It’s on 22 acres privately owned, minutes from downtown Boerne, Our family lived here for almost two years and it was great! The landlord, Roy, is great! We shared land with peacocks and chickens and it’s pet friendly. Lot rent was $525 a month. Contact Roy Faz: +1 (210) 835-4355.

6. Boerne, Texas, also has 3 spots on privately owned land, contact Mike or Paige at (210) 843-2610.

7. Lake Dallas Tiny Home Village https://www.facebook.com/groups/lakedallastinyhomevillage/. I hear they are full.

8. Enchanted Woodlands, South Austin. Contact Eduardo, 512-600-1350. OFF GRID, ON WHEELS ONLY.

9. Www.tinyhouseparkinglots.com

10. Open Air Resort, Spicewood, TX

Todd and I toured this and it’s very nice near Lake Travis, with pickleball courts, sand volleyball, pool, fishing pond, and clubhouse. Rent is about $700 a month, bring your own tiny house. Great place to rent a tiny house to test it out for a weekend too. info@openairresorts.com or call 512-559-4284.

11. Near Dallas/Forth Worth: https://www.thepinesrvcommunity.com/tiny-homes/ $425-$550 per month.

12. Coming Fall 2021, to kerrville, Texas. We are working on 3 projects here. Contact Shari Snyder for info, 830-285-5909

13. Coming soon to Brenham, TX, 34 acres of horse pasture land. We will be offering park model tiny Homes, Contact Shari Snyder for info, 830-285-5909

14. Coming soon to nacodoches, TX, 80 acres next to a golf course in east tx. We will be offering park model tiny Homes, Contact Shari Snyder for info, 830-285-5909

15. Coming soon to Pittsburg, TX, 58 acres lakefront lots in east tx. We will be offering park model tiny Homes, Contact Shari Snyder for info, 830-285-5909

16. Coming soon to Richland Chambers, TX. https://www.facebook.com/PeninsulaPointTexas/

16. Coming to Aubrey, Tx, park model tiny homes, own the home, rent the land. 7 acres in the country. Contact shari Snyder 830-285-5909.

17. Coming soon: a brand new tiny home community outside of Tyler, Texas. They will add more homes as clients come on board. They have 78 acres and it will be a 55+ community. Angela has some fun ideas to do tiny boutiques, hair salon, maybe pet grooming and a general store. She plans to use golf carts instead of cars inside the community. Since the location is quite remote, she doesn’t want them to have to leave if they don’t want to. She has a wait list of 116 and only about 12 spots available. If you want to get on her wait list, go here, contact shari Snyder 830-285-5909

Hidden forest lake Campbell, Texas

Austin, Texas
spicewood Texas rv resort
my favorite community I toured in Tennessee, MontEteagle retreat
monteagle retreat

Weatherford, Texas, we know the owner, Danny, super great guy! https://m.facebook.com/ByTheCreekTinyHomes/

Manor, Texas, outside Austin. Marc, owns about 30 acres and will rent space for a reasonable price to tiny house owners. The location is quite rural and a bit rustic, but may work for you. Contact: Marc, 512-803-7158

Medina, Texas. Rocky Point Retreat http://rockypointrvretreat.com/. Must be 50 years or older. Can rent or buy lots to park a tiny home. It’s really beautiful here and very remote. Contact George: 210-413-9216

Medina, Texas. Skyline Ranch RV Resort, https://www.skylineranchrvpark.com/

Bandera, Texas. We have personally parked our tiny house here and had a wonderful time. http://www.antleroakslodge.com/.

Royse city Texas rv park outside Dallas allows tiny homes: https://roysecityrvpark.com/https://roysecityrvpark.com/

https://www.rbcabinresort.com/. Liberty hhill yes s

Tennessee tiny community
Abilene Texas

THE VILLAGE AT RIVER POINTE/HICKORY HILLS CAMP RESORT

LOCATION ADDRESS: 499 Dixie Hill Road Spencer, Indiana 47460 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: Rv OWN OR RENT:…

GUYTON GA

LOCATION ADDRESS: Green Bridge Farm: 1302 Zittrouer Rd, Guyton, GA 31312 TYPE OF TH: Foundation TYPE OF ZONING: Rv OWN…

BRIDESVILLE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

LOCATION ADDRESS: Wheatgrass Tiny House Community: 36 Timberwolf Trail Rd, Bridesville British Columbia TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING:…

MASON AND GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY WA

LOCATION ADDRESS: Washington State: Mason and Grays Harbor County WA, 98526 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: Single Family Residential…

DEBARY FL

LOCATION ADDRESS: Florida: 488 W Highbanks DeBary FL 32713 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: RV OWN OR RENT:…

CHIEFLAND FL

LOCATION ADDRESS: Florida: 1250 NW 82 Ct, Chiefland FL 32626 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: RV OWN OR…

RUSKIN FL

LOCATION ADDRESS: Florida: 302 24th St SE, Ruskin FL 33570 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: RV OWN OR…

INMAN SC

LOCATION ADDRESS: South Carolina: 200 Lowe Lane, Inman SC 29349 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: RV OWN OR…

RODEO NM

LOCATION ADDRESS: New Mexico: 19 San Angelo, Rodeo NM 88056 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: RV OWN OR…

BLUE RIDGE TX

LOCATION ADDRESS: Texas: 5907 FM 1962 Blue Ridge 75452 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: Single Family Residential OWN…

PORT LAVACA TX

Off Grid only, 1 block from the beach

LOCATION ADDRESS: Texas: 526 S Quail Run, Port Lavaca Tx 77979 TYPE OF TH: Wheels TYPE OF ZONING: Single Family…

Victim of EMF poisoning? Take this test…Tiny Town Living benefits

On By Shari SnyderIn Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment

“In our tiny town communities, we will not allow these harmful utility meters that are a fire hazard and can sky rocket utility bills and we will provide grounding rods for EMFs.” Shari Snyder

TOP 10 SYMPTOMS FROM EXCESS EMF EXPOSURE

(1) Fatigue, Weakness
(2) Insomnia
(3) Headaches
(4) Brain Fog, Concentration
(5) Depression, Anxiety
(6) Memory Loss
(7) Visual Problems, Light
….. Sensitivity
(8) Skin Problems
(9) Heart Palpitations
(10) Dizziness

People who physically feel the effects of wireless technologies can shut off their
wifi and their cell phones, but they can’t shut off their UTILITY METERS which are
terrorizing society with RF radiation, fire hazard, dirty electricity, and surveillance.
Since 2011 we have been helping people make themselves safe and secure from
utility meter trespass and utility company misconduct.

Info from website below…

Is your story similar to this?
Someone in your home starts to get sick. You don’t know why. 

People are losing sleep, suffering mood swings, memory loss, fatigue, anxiety, skin problems and other unexplained symptoms.

Your doctor has no answers, only drugs and huge charges for not helping you. 

Your utility bill has skyrocketed, perhaps doubling or tripling electric charges per month.

Then you realize that the health issues and electricity rate increases started right after the installation of the electronic utility meter with it’s high-powered radio transmitter penetrating the walls of your house with pulsed radio frequencies known to be the most damaging type of RF to biological organisms, and the electronics in the utility meter are causing transients (“Dirty Electricity”) throughout your home, broadcasting constantly from all of your house wiring. 

And that electronic utility meter is causing a lot of other hazard and harm as well. Your electronic meter may simply explode in flames from a grid line surge.

You find out that your utility company has gone criminal with fire hazard, surveillance and radiation trespass on your property, on your home, without disclosure and without your consent.

You find it hard to believe that electric company policies, employees and executives would commit criminal trespass with all of that without even telling you.

In any case, you know something has to be done.

You call your utility company ask for a safe and lawful electromechanical utility meter. 

Instead of helping you, they bully you, lie to you, threaten you, intimidate you, insult you and ridicule you. They might even manage to get you arrested or sue you for “interfering with their business.”

That is their idea of “Customer Service.”

While you never opted in to the hazardous and harmful meter, they offer you an “opt-out” contract with add-on extortion fees, but it turns out that expensive “opt-out” deal does not even provide a safe and lawful legacy electromechanical meter at all.

Instead, for the extra fees and giving up your rights, the “opt-out” meter is just another electronic meter causing dirty electricity, fire hazard (no surge protector), and a surveillance device that collects high-resolution personal data on your living habits inside your home 24/7. 

They will pick up that data with “fewer RF transmissions”, but they can turn that transmitter back on any time they want without telling you, just like they installed the electronic meter in the first place without telling you.

You realize this is a major crisis for you and your family because you are dependent on electric service, but you simply cannot live with that meter. 

The utility company is a government-protected monopoly with no accountability for its violations, and even if you went to court, the judge has probably invested his or her pension fund in the utility company and does not feel that is important enough to disclose as a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, you or some family members suffer more and more, becoming “electromagnetic sensitive” (developing an “allergy” to radio frequencies and electric fields), and it will only get worse over time.

Reputable peer-reviewed science has now confirmed links between ionizing (heating) radiation and non-ionizing radiation with major diseases such as cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and injury and immune system failures. In typical fashion, industry, government and media all cover up the problem while collecting trillions in revenues.

You need to “escape” but there is nowhere to go.  

This is why EMF Help Center exists. We have answers on this web site. There are things you can do. Start at the top of this page in the middle column titled “SOLUTIONS”

What you can do: website for resources: https://www.emfhelpcenter.com/

People who physically feel the effects of wireless technologies can shut off their
wifi and their cell phones, but they can’t shut off their UTILITY METERS which are
terrorizing society with RF radiation, fire hazard, dirty electricity, and surveillance.
Since 2011 we have been helping people make themselves safe and secure from
utility meter trespass and utility company misconduct.

COMMUNITY FIRST BROADCAST

On By Shari SnyderIn Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas, ToursLeave a comment

You may remember when we introduced you to the ‘Community First, A Home for the Homeless’ documentary a few months ago. Well, it will be featured on PBS once again and we would love to show them our support and become more informed about this issue, if you would too don’t forget to tune in!

Here’s the schedule:

     Los Angeles/San Bernardino: KVCR 2/25 at 8pm

     Austin: KLRU 2/25 at 7pm

Spokane: KWSU 2/26 at 8pm

Shari Snyder Resume

On By Shari SnyderIn Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment

Profile

  • My Core Value is high-performance teams through collaboration, focusing on three key things:  Strengths, Unity, and Humility
  • This kind of culture gives birth to unstoppable teams that are more productive, more fulfilled, and more loyal to the company’s mission
  • I  thrive on the challenge to accomplish more with less so everyone wins
  • My ideal position is to grow with a mission-based company that is product-focused, contributing my expertise and talents, and advancing my career based on results 

Experience

Hill Country Tiny Houses

Director of Marketing And Public Relations · 2017 to present · Kerrville, Texas

  • “Besides HGTV and the DIY Network, I facilitated the company being featured in Daily Mail, The Sun, New Atlas, multiple YouTube Channels, as well as local newspapers and magazines without any advertising dollars”
  • “I recruit and develop high-performance teams by connecting and empowering people”
  • “My team grew the social following to 35,000+ loyal fans in 12 months on a very meager budget”

Selah OasisChief Hope Giver · 2013 to present · Boerne, Texas

Nonprofit Hill Country Healing Retreat and Ministry

  • “As a volunteer, I wear many hats, but my favorite is Hope Giver, sharing from my heart the miracles I’ve experienced”
  • “The mission to help broken hurting people discover healing and freedom for body, soul, and spirit, drives me to continue to give back to my community”

The Wellness CompanyTalent Acquisition Leader · January 2003 to present · Boerne, TX

  • “When I joined the company, it was half a billion in sales.  Today, it’s five times that, an unprecedented growth”
  • “By recruiting and developing leaders to grow brand awareness and duplication through word of mouth and online marketing, my team and I quickly advanced, propelling me to the top 10% in the nation”
  • “My sales team of forty leaders consistently produces an annual revenue for the parent company of more than one million dollars, with a customer base of nearly 1400 monthly shoppers, and a 97% reorder rate.
  • “My sales team has earned 1.7 million dollars in profits for their families.”

Skills

  • “I excel at developing leaders, making keynote presentations, building relationships and teams, word of mouth and appreciation marketing, media interviews and appearances, social media marketing, MailChimp, YouTube, and Blogging”
  • My team and I created a simple online marketing system using ‘Storybranding’
  • Customer acquisition and retention through relationship marketing
  • Recruit and build high-performance teams through collaboration using Strengths, Unity, and Humility
  • Top 5 Strengths:  Focus, Command, Restorative, Significance, Futuristic

Testimonials from Pocket Neighborhood Homeowners

On By Shari SnyderIn Family, Lifestyle, Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment

What homeowners say about Bigelow Neighborhoods and Homes…

“We really love our home and the neighborhood. There is a very warm feeling when you enter the subdivision. Our lot is perfect. Even our friends have commented that there is a good feeling in the neighborhood.”

– Michael & Verna B.

“We love our house. It is above and beyond our expectations. The quality of the construction is better than the homes twice the price across the street. Thank you Bigelow Homes!”

– F. Mulligan

“I believe that the HomeTown subdivision is one of the best I’ve seen. It is so inviting to everyone that visits me. They always ask, “are they still building and can I see a model?” The neighborhood is beautifully arranged with landscaping, the pond, the ducks, and the friendly atmosphere.”

– J. Club

Beautiful, built extremely well from slab up, and I feel blessed to have an energy efficient, quality home in a unique spot for a great price!

– Gwendolyn K.

We are extremely pleased with Bigelow Homes. We’ve been recommending you to friends and family and even blogged about your great work. The home is beautiful and as we expected.

– Eugene E.

We’re Moving! Hill Country Tiny Houses

On By Shari SnyderIn Design, hgtv, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas, ToursLeave a comment

We’ve been stationed in Boerne the last 20 months. Our intention was to be there just a few months. We moved to Kerrville 8.5 years ago from Michigan. We miss being closer in proximity to the beautiful supportive community and network we built in Kerrville socially, spiritually, and professionally. So we are happy to announce after much searching, we have found a prime location where we can park our tiny house, our tiny office, and set up manufacturing with visibility on a major highway. Due to a current zoning issue, we can not put up a sign, but you will find us working at 3105 Memorial Blvd. Kerrville, TX 78028, right on the Guadalupe River! Text Shari to set an appointment for a tour. 830-285-5909.

Hiring Assistant Builders

On By Shari SnyderIn Design, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment

We are looking for assistant builders to apprentice and work alongside Todd Snyder, the owner, and his son, Andrew, as they build tiny houses in Kerrville, TX. If you have skilled trades, it would be by contract. For those looking for a job, we pay hourly and it’s a flexible schedule. We start interns at $10 and up to $20 an hour with experience. Workdays include Monday through Saturday 9-5. Choose at least three days that work best for you. These tiny houses are built on trailers that Todd engineers and transports across Texas. Job includes learning all the trades, including welding, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, roofing, siding, tiling, windows/doors/floors/cabinets install, etc. For example, a Dr from Houston has commissioned us to build a veterinary clinic/tiny home.
About us:
We build beautiful inspiring tiny homes in the Kerrville area and deliver them all across Texas. Our homes have been featured on HGTV, DIY, Netflix, global magazines like Daily Mail, New Atlas, and local magazines like Hill Country Culture.

Email shari@hillcountrytinyhouses.com

The Joys of Becoming Minimalist

On By Shari SnyderIn Design, Family, hgtv, Lifestyle, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas, WellnessLeave a comment

Trading Ordinary Space for Extraordinary Adventures

by Shari Snyder

Two years ago, our family designed and built 384 square feet of “tiny luxury on wheels” to replace our 4 bedroom/2 bath “forever home”.  Our “why” was to realize our family values and mission, living in a real house, without a 30-year mortgage haunting us.  We didn’t want to be a slave to debt and experience the pain of regret.  Having two children leave the nest and a 12 year old still at home, experience told us you can never go back. Relationships produce the greatest joy in life.  As pioneers and business owners in the tiny house movement, our journey has not been easy, but we can honestly say the adventure, simplicity, freedom, and family closeness, that tiny living has brought us, are worth it!

Trading Stuff for Adventure


Since becoming minimalists, we have found many unexpected joys and adventures.  We have found the joy of collecting memories, not stuff!  Life is short. You only live once.  Why not go on an adventure, take a risk, and try something new?  We have launched two companies, been featured on HGTV, Daily Mail, The Sun, New Atlas, and travelled the country in our tiny home.  Doing the things that awaken passion and make you feel alive, is an adventure worth pursuing!  

Trading Space for Freedom

We traded unused space in our big house for more time and freedom. We have the power to choose where we want to live, what we want to do, and how we want to spend our increased free time.  Every day is a new adventure full of new choices, including our career paths.  We are passionate about building environmentally healthy tiny home communities for families to thrive in.  We are on a mission to pay it forward and help others discover adventure, freedom, and simplicity, through tiny house living.  Our motto is, “Shrink your house, not your dreams.”

Trading Stress for Simplicity

Live MORE by owning LESS!  Less stuff equates less stress, plain and simple.  We had no idea how heavy the burden of financial debt was until it was gone.  Being debt free and mortgage free cannot be underestimated or understood until one experiences it!  To kiss our debt good-bye after 23 years of marriage, is priceless!  The weight of all our possessions was keeping us from a life of true freedom. Instead of spending 3 ½ hours cleaning, we are done in 30 minutes. We don’t have to maintain a big yard, clean the pool, or fix things around the house.  We have claimed back our weekends for hobbies, fun, and family adventures!

Total Wellness

My pantry

As a wellness lifestyle coach for 17 years, I have helped hundreds of clients improve their physical, environmental, financial, and personal health and wellness.  My passion to achieve total wellness for body, soul, and spirit, was a perfect fit to embrace minimalism and tiny living.  I’ve already shared some of the benefits for financial and personal health and wellness.  Let’s review some of the mental and environmental health benefits we experienced too.

Mental Health

Clutter in my physical environment created chaos in my mental state. A lifestyle of minimalism, began to replace the stress and anxiety with more clarity and focus, resulting in more peace. Having a place for everything and everything in its place, simply helps you function at your best. We have found so much joy in living with less. We don’t collect things that don’t add value to our lives.

When I was downsizing, instead of asking, “What can I live without?”, I began to ask, “What do I need to live?”.  The mindset of simplicity transformed our shopping habits and carried over into every area of our lives, including how we operate our companies.

Environmental Health

Of course, the actual build process is environmentally friendly and the ongoing costs of utilities are about 70% less, but the choice of materials we build with also promotes environmental health.  For example, we use Rockwool insulation, a wool like material that is mildew and fire resistant, has a R value of 15, is very economical, and also deadens sound. We install a fresh air ventilation system and whole house water purification to promote wellness as well.

Why you want environmentally healthy products
These are the wellness products you will find in our tiny home

In addition, we use and promote a line of eco-friendly cleaning products that are up to 12 x concentrated.  This saves an enormous amount of space inside, as well as plastic for the environment, and makes the air inside the tiny house free of outgassing and polution.

In an unprecedented study, PhD student Maria Saxton looked at 80 people who downsized to tiny homes to quantify whether their environmental footprints really got smaller.  She reports an 86% positive effect on environment and a reduction of 45% in carbon footprint.  In the final sentence, Maria says, “In sum, I found that downsizing was an important step toward reducing ecological footprints and encouraging pro-environmental behaviors.”  Read entire article here.

Hi! I’m Shari.

On By Shari SnyderIn Design, Family, Lifestyle, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas, Wellness1 Comment


I am an advocate for wellness, people, and community building. As a wellness lifestyle coach of 17 years, my focus is on total wellness for body, soul, and spirit. That includes physical, environmental, financial, and personal goals. As the Chief Hope Giver of Tiny Town Texas, my mission is helping people trade ordinary space for an extraordinary lifestyle

We are Tiny House Dwellers, Designers, and Builders. After downsizing from the large 4 bedrooms, a 2 car garage, and in-ground pool home, to live in the 390 square feet we built on HGTV, we are now educating the world on this high-quality, low-impact lifestyle. As pioneers of this movement of minimalism and tiny house living, our motto is: “Shrink your house, not your dreams”.

What’s NEXT for the Snyder Family?
Our vision is to be a part of a community of likeminded people working towards a common goal of creating and sustaining meaningful relationships as part of a holistic lifestyle. Follow our journey as we design and develop beautiful inspiring communities for families to thrive in for years to come. We call it Tiny Town Texas, more than a place to be ~ a place to belong.