Let Freedom Ring
By Shari Snyder
Drastic downsizing for tiny living.
In this episode you will hear how and why Shari Snyder and her family downsized from their 2,200 square foot home to a Tiny Home on Wheels(THOW) and started a tiny home building company.
If you are thinking of downsizing you will be inspired to hear how going so drastically tiny has helped her family in so many ways.
I’ve been Practicing this with noticeable results! The science is fascinating!
Our Brains have a hard time believing something that is completely free and so Simple could actually heal our ailments, our organs, our aches and pains, and help us sleep better!
By Shari Snyder, Hill Country Tiny Houses
SO you want to downsize?
Maybe you want to “go tiny” or maybe you just want to clear some space in your head and enjoy a simple life with less stress. I like to say, “Downsizing is the art of reducing clutter in your environment to enhance your performance mentally, emotionally and physically.”
The most important thing is to get a clear handle on WHY you’re doing this. Focusing on the joys and benefits will keep you true to the end of the task. Will the tradeoff be worth it? Will the peace of mind you gain be worth saying goodbye to some old memories and possibly some things that feel like “friends” to you like old books? This is an emotional game and to win, you must be ready to take this leap. Take time to overcome your fears to get where you want to be.
Shrink your “todo” list, NOT your free time!
One of our clients relates the story about the day she decided to “go tiny” after her husband had been on board for a while. One Saturday morning, at breakfast, they went over the ‘to do’ list for the day. So much was related to the 3,000 square foot house they lived in with their 2 small boys. The wife said, “All I want to do is take the boys to the zoo today.” to which her husband replied, “If we lived in a tiny house, that would be the only thing on this ‘to do’ list today.” Will the joy of more time doing what you love and with whom you love be your motivation?
Reduce your stuff to reduce your stress
Another client we interviewed on WHY they want to go tiny replied, “So we won’t keep collecting more stuff”. They recognized that stuff was not making their life better or their family stronger and their solution was to downsize from a 4 bedroom 3 bath house to a 394 sq ft tiny house. Will the joy of less stress motivate you to get rid of your stuff?
Does this bring me Joy?
The best advice I got when I decided to go tiny was: “Don’t ask yourself: ‘Can I live without this?’ Instead, Ask: ’Do I need this to live?’”
In each room of my 2200 sq ft house, if I did not need the item to live, my next question was: “Does this item bring bring me joy?” If yes, then I put it in a separate area for the next few weeks. I worked on one room at a time. After I packed up the rest of that room, I took it to the salvation army (I’m opposed to Goodwill where only 10% of my donations help the needy). I reserved only the most valuable items to sell. When I left the salvation army, I felt loads lighter and the reward motivated me to want to do it again and again. I became addicted to downsizing. I repeated this process in each room twice in about 6 months. I ended up with 5 boxes/separated spaces:
1. Storage
2. Give away
3. Sell
4. “Brings me joy”
5. Tiny house (These items usually stayed right in that room til I moved)
I also liked the idea of my “give away” boxes staying in the garage for 2-3 months just in case I found I missed that item in my every day routines. In the end, I sorted through the boxes one last time before I made a final decision to keep or give away including my “brings me joy” box.
It’s also important to set up boundaries to protect yourself from ending up at this same place 12 months from now. If you’re not downsizing your home, how will you ensure you keep the clutter out?
1. Must change your buying habits. To do this, you have to change your mindset.
2. Ask yourself before a purchase, “How will this
own your stuff or your stuff owns you
less stress
more space in your head
https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/3-money-smart-reasons-to-downsize
HOME SELLING
6 MINUTE READ
If you think moving up in life means buying a bigger home, it’s time to set the record straight. Most American families have plenty of room to downsize their home without cramping their style.
Consider the numbers: The average new single-family home comes in at over 2,600 square feet, according to the United States Census Bureau.(1) You may not think that’s all too big until you look back at history. The National Association of Realtors reports that the average home size in 1950 was 1,000 square feet or less—and families were bigger back then.(2,3) By those standards, today’s homeowners are living large!
Moving into a smaller home may feel like a step down, but a closer look reveals quite a few upsides: saving money, saving time and having less clutter in your life. Downsizing could be just the fresh start you and your family need!
Smaller mortgage payments and spending less time dusting those spare rooms may sound like a dream come true, but is downsizing really the right move for you? Before you head down the path toward downsizing, read on for some tips to ensure your downsizing-dream doesn’t become a costly mistake.
If you’re thinking about downsizing your house, planning ahead will help ensure your transition is a success. Do you need extra space for that freelance business you’re planning to start? Or were you left you with more than enough room to spare after the kids headed off to college? Only you know if you can spare that extra space or if losing it would be more of a headache than it’s worth! Find expert agents to help you sell your home.
Remember back in college when your entire life fit in that tiny dorm room? Somehow you had everything you needed within arm’s length. Though that may be far from practical these days, you can still benefit from cleaning out the clutter from those closets. Sell what you don’t need and take that money to the bank, baby! Or donate it to a local charity and get the added bonus of a tax benefit. Wouldn’t it be nice to have less to clean and more money in your pocket?
Think of all the fun you could have if you didn’t have to polish your miniature unicorn collection every weekend. You just might find a whole new world outside your door!
Downsizing may save you money in those monthly mortgage payments, but what about the hidden costs? Does your home need any repairs to get it market-ready? What about your old furniture and appliances—will they fit into the smaller place, or do you need to bump up that budget for more space-efficient pieces?
And don’t forget to take into account the cost of moving, property taxes, storage, or even higher HOA fees. When it comes down to decision time, you may find that taking that leap to a smaller space will save you BIG time—or that you can save just by staying right where you are.
Downsizing your square footage might mean your family has to gather around one TV at night instead of spreading out across three or four different rooms (Gasp!). But is more time with the ones you love really all that bad? It just might be the kick in the pants you need to spend quality time together!
Still not convinced? Then it’s time to bring out the big guns and talk money. What if you reduced your mortgage by $500 a month and put that cash toward other financial goals? Check out three strides you could make:
If you’re working hard to kick debt to the curb, downsizing your home can help you maintain that gazelle intensity. Let’s say you owe $18,000 on your student loan. With a 6% interest rate and a minimum payment of $200 a month, you’ll be paying on that loan for 10 more years!
But throw an additional $500 at your loan each month, and you’d trim a whopping seven years and eight months off your pay-off date. Sallie Mae will have to find a new place to live, because you’ll be free from student debt in less than two-and-a-half years!
Once you’re debt-free with a fully funded emergency fund, it’s time to build wealth for the future. Dave recommends investing 15% of your household income into Roth IRAs and pretax retirement plans. If you’re still working your way up to 15%, that extra $500 could be the push you need to get there. And, boy, the difference $500 could make! In 30 years, you could have an additional $1–1.6 million in the bank to get you through your golden years. You can do a lot of living and giving with that nest egg!
Want to downsize Dave’s way? Trade in your mortgage for a paid-off home! Use the proceeds from selling your current home to pay cash for a smaller one. Just imagine what you could do with no mortgage holding you down!
If you can’t pay cash, aim for a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage and put at least 10–20% down on your new home. Apply the $500 you saved from downsizing to your new monthly payment. At 4.5% interest, you could pay off a $200,000 mortgage in less than 10.5 years, saving almost $25,278 in the process. Cha-ching!
Use our full mortage payoff calculator to see how quickly you can pay off your house!
Downsizing might not make sense in every situation, but it’s worth a look if saving money and simplifying life appeal to you. Ask an experienced real estate agent to help you determine what your home is worth and show you options for cutting costs. A true pro knows what it takes to get top dollar for your current home and negotiate the best deal on a new one. Ready to downsize but don’t know where to start? We can put you in touch with a real estate agent who Dave recommends in your area.
This girl has Beauty and Brains! She built our company website and digital assets. She’s getting her degree at Western Michigan University for advertising and promotions. Glad I got to visit her in Michigan this fall. #mydaughter
Her website is Www.sapphiresocialco.com
Raise your hand if you would want to live near a tiny town coffee house and tiny town chocolate factory!
Shut the front door!
How blessed we are with the most amazing Tiny house fans across the U.S. One of our customers gifts us with fresh eggs and honey they grow on their farm and we feel so loved!
Now Our Tiny House has even graced the presence of a world-renowned chocolatier Who brought us the most exquisite chocolates I have ever laid eyes on all the way from Santa Fe, New Mexico!
100% made from scratch by Melanie Boudar. She even roasted the beans. What a treasured gift ??
She started her business in Maui and she even entered the world wide chocolate contest in Germany, placing second amongst 2,000 entries. U.S. against all of Europe?
You better believe I’m doing my darndest to recruit her into our community to run the first ever tiny chocolate factory on wheels!
The verdict is in: we had a chocolate ceremony outside the tiny home with our neighbors and yes, we all agree, they taste even better than they look!
We at Tiny Town Texas have had a nine-year love affair with the city of Kerrville since strategically moving our family there from Michigan. We wanted to live somewhere warm and join a small community of entrepreneur-minded, conservative-thinking, world changers. We found just what we were looking for in Kerrville and are so grateful for the fantastic friendships we have built and we want nothing more than to give back to this amazing community and make Kerrville an even better place for future generations.
When we built our first tiny home in 2017, we were met with such enthusiasm from local business owners and leaders, including the Mayor, Chamber of Commerce, and the Kerr Economic Development Corp., Partnering with the perfect Real Estate Investor and his San Marcos team may have taken three years, but it was worth it because we don’t have to compromise our mission as they share our values, which makes the development process loads of fun, not stressful like some previous people who wanted to partner with us. Our investor will be revealed as the project unfolds, but until then, we anticipate the same enthusiastic response. Our mission is producing the best possible housing development to improve the quality of life for singles, empty nesters or retirees, and the average working family.
We believe this prototype will stand as a monument and proof that quality and beauty don’t have to be sacrificed in order to create affordable housing. Our business model is built around giving back to the community through the Hero Program as designed by our investor; this program offers a select number of firefighters and police officers a housing incentive package that pays for their first 12 months mortgage payment. The Hero Program will ensure Kerrville can recruit and keep some amazing individuals in the city who fill critical roles.
Our vision is to create a resilient community by creating a sustainable lifestyle using innovative vertical farming, greenhouses, edible landscaping, solar energy, rainwater harvesting, and ultimately by encouraging financial responsibility. A community that fosters relationships through group activities in a culture of honor will watch resiliency bloom as a natural result. Apartment complexes can never offer this kind of quality lifestyle with the addition of homeownership. We believe it will require innovation to develop land in ways that may not be traditional and we invite you to join us as pioneers who offer creative solutions to get this project done, creating a safe and healthy environment for all; one that will be sustainable to the neighborhood so families can thrive here for years to come.
By Lloyd AlterUpdated August 26, 2020
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After Treehugger wrote about a tiny home community in Tampa Bay, Florida, the developer of the project, Dan Dobrowolski, was depressed. I had forgotten to advise him that commenters can be harsh, particularly if they are not our wonderful Treehugger regulars. The post was very popular and got a lot of comments, many complaining about costs. This has been the case with every tiny house post I have ever written, and was also the case when I was trying to sell a green modern tiny house many years ago.https://cd0c40238a4927d156c7bb6805089daa.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
Tiny houses started with a fantasy: that you could build a little place of your own and park it somewhere and live a tiny life with almost no money. There indeed are people who have done this, but land is expensive, as are niceties like water and a sewer connection. That’s why after I bombed out of the tiny house biz, I wrote that “the only way the tiny house movement is going to succeed is if people get together and build intentional communities of tiny houses.” I was a big fan of the trailer park economic model, where you own the house but rent the land, because all the base costs of land and services are shared, so the costs are much lower.
This is the problem Dan had with the comments, where people were saying that they could go out and buy a house or a condo for the price of one of his tiny homes. Dan felt he had to clarify:https://cd0c40238a4927d156c7bb6805089daa.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
Specifically, many want to make the comparison between units in a community like ESCAPE Tampa Bay and a condo or home in terms of costs and expenses. They are vastly different. The only cost, other than power and internet, for a unit in our community is a monthly lot rental…this varies from $400 – 600.
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That lot rental fee includes property taxes, water, sewer, garbage pickup, parking, exterior maintenance, landscaping, and on-site management. There are also onsite amenities like the office space.
And as for the comparison to an apartment, this one is simple. In addition to savings on some of the items listed above, when your lease is up on an apartment, you have nothing, your money is gone. With one of our units, you own it. Plus the monthly cost for one of our units in Tampa is LESS than the average apartment rent in the area. Renting seems a very bad deal in comparison.
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This is not meant to be a free advertisement for Escape Tampa Bay. But it is an attempt to point out that ever since the start of the tiny house movement, it has been complicated. Ben Brown wrote almost a decade ago about his experience living in a community of tiny homes (Katrina cottages, not Tiny Homes on Wheels) and the three lessons he learned:
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Ben Brown was living in a cottage community within a quarter-mile of resources like supermarkets, bars, and a YMCA. ESCAPE Tampa bay is not; its location gets a Walkscore of 26 and the only restaurant within walking distance is an IHOP, so this is not a car-free paradise.
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But it is a community. It does provide the necessary services and a framework of support. Yes, the cost per square foot is high; it always is when you use quality materials and details, and you build to last. As Ben Brown said, “Better to achieve the savings by intelligently compacting the space, as opposed to competing with production builders who amortize prices per square foot over thousands of under-performing square feet.”
The Katrina Cottage where Ben stayed was supposed to be the start of a movement. I wrote at the time that “we are on the cusp of a revolution, where small, efficient and affordable houses on narrow lots in walkable neighborhoods will be the new normal and the new hot commodity.”
I really did think the tiny house would be part of this revolution, but it didn’t happen, perhaps because people didn’t understand it; they thought that if they are getting trailer-sized homes then they should be paying trailer-like prices; and the reverse, if they are paying ESCAPE prices, they should get a house. But it doesn’t work that way in the real world. (Ben Brown had his own take on why the Katrina Cottage revolution didn’t happen.)
This is why I am still excited about the ESCAPE project; perhaps it is revolution time. You can get a high quality, well-designed home that’s built to last, and like everything in life, you get what you pay for. It is not a trailer park but in a tiny home community. They are two different things, serving two different markets.
Dan started his note to me saying “sadly, I feel I did a poor job explaining some things for your readers.” But frankly, many of us have been doing a poor job explaining things since tiny houses started, because nobody was quite sure what they were: Are they trailers? Are they houses? Where do I put one?
Dan Dobrowolski may not have explained these things in words, but he is demonstrating it on the ground, and that is far more important.
Our Objective is to design and develop beautiful inspiring communities for families to thrive in for years to come.
Our Passion is building healthy communities that are more than a place to be ~ a place to belong.
Our Mission is building Joy-filled communities (high performance teams and individual’s dreams) by connecting and empowering people.
Our Core Value is high levels of collaboration emphasizing 3 key things: Strengths, Unity, and Humility.
Our Goal is to attract, build, and maintain high-performance teams through collaboration to accomplish more with less so everyone wins!
*More productivity, more fun, more profits with less employees, less stress, less micro-managing, less waste (time and $$).
Our Strategy
Introduction…Invitation…Involvement.
Marketing Strategy
Relationship Marketing, Word of mouth referrals, growing our online community of more than 37,000 loyal fans right now.
Measures of our success
1. Community Growth: ie. “not only do we sell out before we’re finished, but there’s always a long waiting list to get in because word spreads.”
2. Additional markers: Vibrant Relationships, Transformation, Belonging, Restoration, Healing, Joy, Miracles…
About Shari
Shari is an advocate for wellness, people, and community building.
Shari is an advocate for wellness, people, and community building. As a lifestyle wellness coach, her holistic approach includes practical solutions for body, soul, and spirit. As the Chief Hope Giver for Tiny Town Texas, her mission is to help people trade space, stuff, and stress, for freedom, simplicity and adventure.
For the last 14 years, Shari has held an Executive Director position inside a now 3 billion dollar company (they were half a billion when she joined them) amongst the top 10% producers/leaders. She recruited and trained a sales team of about 40 leaders nationwide and helped them generate $1.7 million in profits for their families.
Her team 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. Along with Todd, their award wining designs for floor plans, space-saving innovations, and interior design, have been featured on magazines and TV shows.
About Todd
Todd has been building and remodeling homes since 2003. He was one of the first and only innovators to engineer steel frame slide outs in a tiny home. Other innovations in the tiny house industry proves to buyers that he thinks outside the box. You will often hear him answer a crazy request, “Sure, we can do that! Maybe it hasn’t been done before, but I’m sure it’s possible.”
The family’s journey
Shari and Todd, along with their son, Andrew, are Tiny House Dwellers, Designers, and Builders. In 2017, they downsized from 2200 square feet to 384, to embrace minimalism, start a family business, and pioneer a movement. In 2018, their family was on HGTV’s Tiny Paradise, showing how they built their own tiny home. They are passionate about building environmentally healthy communities that are more than a place to be ~ a place to belong. They are on a mission to help people “shrink their house, not their dreams”.
Our Advisory Team
Kim Postma Cuenca recommends Hill Country Tiny Houses.February 18
We just stayed in the Bohemian Bungalow featured on HGTV for the last 3 nights and now all I can say is WOW!! I have always been obsessed with tiny homes but was not sure if I could live in one and now know we can! Especially one as well-planned as this beauty!! Still thinking about it and how we will make it happen in our future! Robert & Kim-Houston, Texas! Todd & Shari have outdone themselves on his home from A to Z!!
Tiny Town Texas is a type of miniature utopia where dreams are big and houses are small. Inside this tiny house wellness village, brave pioneers are showing Texans that bigger is not always better. Since 1990, housing sizes have doubled and prices have quadrupled, leading to the nation’s “affordable housing crisis”. According to CNN Business, more than half of Americans would like to downsize and live in 600 square feet or less. The growth of this movement is stunted by the banking industry and zoning and planning laws inside cities. 68% of tiny house owners today have no mortgage, which is great, but those who need financing find it very challenging. There’s a big movement to #legalizetiny across the nation, but until then, the best solutions are tiny house communities.
What makes Tiny Town Texas unique? The top three features are: a deed to the land is issued so owners can secure a loan package with park model tiny homes (those not on wheels) at the mortgage industry’s best rates. Secondly, the internal focus on wellness and holistic wholeness is threaded throughout the very fibers of this village, including amenities and tiny enterprises. Many of the top diseases killing people today are proven to be preventable, including diabetes and some forms of cancer and heart disease. Cancer is expected to affect 1 out of 2 people by 2024.
What if wellness was affordable, attainable and sustainable? Imagine a lifestyle of wellness, freedom and simplicity with a tribe of likeminded people. Lastly, the tiny enterprises (owned and operated by community dwellers) offer wellness goods and services, including organic gardens and farmer’s markets. And finally, all of this creates an ideal live-work-play environment and creates a self-sustained economy.
REQUEST A FREE APPLICATION TODAY TO SEE IF YOU QUALIFY. EMAIL INFO@HILLCOUNTRYTINYHOUSES.COM