How we found tiny home parking

Going against the grain is NEVER easy. And I want to be completely honest with you, most people burn out after tripping over their first hurdle. When you choose to do something that isn’t standard or doesn’t have constructs in place it is up to you to invoke the change you wish to see. Within the tiny lifestyle, you must have a passion for living alternatively. And that passion better be the fuel that keeps you burning the midnight oil to figure out how you are going to put it all together.

I want to take a moment and get real, and some of ya’ll might get uncomfortable. The glitzy glam you see on TV regarding tiny house living isn’t always spot on. Not all of us have the means to buy a chunk of property in counties that allow for tiny living. We sure didn’t, and we ended up living in a questionable trailer park for a year (i.e. bikes got stolen, had a wakadoo neighbor who screamed obscenities around my children, another tiny house in the community got broken into...he moved, and a lot of people in and out that didn’t live there. That being said, we did make some friends shout out to Larry Land Micro Tiny: https://www.facebook.com/larrylandsmicrotinyhouse/) and are now moving onto the next chapter in our life.

We built our tiny house before we even knew where we were going to park it. In fact, we built our tiny house 1500 miles away from where we would be living in it.  See, I am very goal oriented. I wanted to go tiny. That meant I would do most anything necessary to bring that goal into reality. Once I worked out the financials the next step was naturally to build. So I did. After the build wrapped up I started the insane and grueling journey of answering that one big question, so where am I going to park this thing? 

We now live in Las Vegas, NV which is a part of Clark County. Tiny homes are restricted here and only “allowed” in a few areas. We had two options, an RV park or mobile home community. I spent hours on the phone calling every single park manager I could find on google. Each time the call would end with a no. I was heartbroken and frantic; as we were moving to a city that didn’t really welcome our home. After pouring over all the mobile home communities in the area I finally found one that said yes. I was so relieved. But that joy was short-lived.  To be gentle with my adjectives I will use the word awkward to describe our first few months there.

The community was really curious about our home. Which in a sense is great, but things got weird. People would drive by real slow, sometimes even stopping in front to take photos. We had random strangers knock on our door and ask for a tour. And can I just say this, would you ever just walk up to someone’s house and ask for a tour? Heck no you wouldn’t! For some reason when it comes to tiny homes people forget common sense. At first we obliged but then we started turning people away as I felt uncomfortable.

Now, it wasn’t all bad. Our rent was CHEAP, I mean like nothing. Our utility bills were finally manageable and we had money left at the end of the month to “play” with. Going from basically living paycheck to paycheck to actually having money was insane. To be honest we were not thrilled about where we were living but the extra flow was nice. I started paying OFF debt. I was living this tiny lifestyle the way I had intended. I was teaching my children to take a minimalist approach to life. I was cleaning less. I was staying organized. And we were taking vacations with every opportunity. We had figured out how to make it work and for real it is and was fantastic! Our surroundings were not what we had envisioned but the lifestyle of spending less and living more was exactly what our family wanted and needed. 

Eventually, We were able to find private land to park our tiny home on and move out of the trailer park. It. Was. Awesome. So, why am I telling you all of this? Well, I want you to understand that by choosing to go tiny you have made the decision to change the way humanity lives. There will be hurdles, there will be tears, stress, frustration, and some choice four letter words involved in the process. But, let me be perfectly clear, it is absolutely worth every single headache.

Are we hopeful for a change in housing laws and regulations? Yes absolutely. We are actively working on changing the legislature here in Clark County. There are many like minded folks fighting the good fight to get more families into affordable home ownership. Currently there are a few progressive cities out there that have a bit more flexibility with allowing tiny homes. Once we move a bit more forward here in Clark County I will post our experience and the steps we took to make the change we wanted to see. Remember, don’t let yourself become bogged down with the work it takes to plow your own path. The blood, sweat, and tears are worth it all. 

Would you like a PDF mapped out state by state where to park?

Check out our free downloadable E-Book: https://farouttinyhomes.squarespace.com/ebook

Also, check out our YouTube! Tons of useful tiny home parking videos: https://www.youtube.com/farouttinyhomes