Mobile Home vs Tiny House | Similarities, Differences, Pros & Cons

By now, you should be fairly familiar with the mobile home housing concept, so let’s cast the spotlight on tiny homes first. After that, we’ll give a brief summary on what we’ve previously discussed about mobile homes. From there, we’ll look at the pros and cons of the mobile home vs tiny house options.

A brief overview of the tiny house movement

Interestingly, the modern tiny house movement sprouted in the 1980s, increasing in popularity these last three decades. Thanks to blogging, books, and magazine spotlights, the tiny house bug has spread and grown significantly.

While the real estate crisis has had an impact on the tiny house movement’s popularity, that’s not all that makes it appealing.

People love the tiny house options for practical, ethical, and emotional reasons.

Practical reasons

Additionally, choosing a smaller home can save you lots of money. You’ll spend less on utilities. Maintenance will cost you less as there is not so much house to maintain and remodel. They are more economical than a stick built home, and your property taxes are something to brag about.

Another practical point is minimalism in your belongings. In a tiny home, you will have no choice but to whittle down your belongings to what you will actually use. There is freedom in this.

Ethical reasons

From an ethical standpoint, tiny house proponents are environmentally friendly. They use less CO2 than the average home. Due to the smaller space, energy spent on heating and cooling is greatly reduced.

Oftentimes these tiny homes are made out of recycled materials. They are usually self-sufficient, making use of renewable energies such as rainwater. Thus they provide homeowners with everything they need.

Homeowners like to choose the way of the tiny home in an effort to help the environment.

Emotional reasons

Next, we have the emotional reasons behind the tiny home idea.

Choosing the tiny home lifestyle enables you to spend more time with those you love. The small living space ensures quality bonding time rather than hiding away in a room or behind a computer screen.

Along the lines of emotional reasoning, this type of home and lifestyle will get your creative juices flowing. You’ll be able to connect closer to nature and find yourself able to travel the country at any given moment.

Mobile home

On the other hand, we have the mobile home.

Thanks to the HUD code established in 1976, manufacturers have stepped up their game in quality, energy efficiency, and customizability.

Mobile homes are built in factory with much care along every step of the construction process. They are built on a chassis with transportation in mind. Once you order your home, it will be transported by professionals from the factory or dealership to your rental lot or land.

They are not built to be moved on a constant basis, but rather from factory to property for what will probably be the home’s final resting place. While moving the home again *is* possible, it may cost you several thousand dollars.

Similarities and differences

The following similarities are shared in the mobile home vs tiny house discussion:

• Usually not subject to a property tax.
• Full of options for customization.
• Great for those who wish to downsize.

Now for the differences between the mobile home vs tiny house:

• The mobile home is not built for constant movement, but the tiny home can be moved around at whim with a good trailer hitch and consumer vehicle.
• The tiny house is small enough to be outside the jurisdiction of government regulation. Basically, you can do what you want with a tiny house. The mobile home, however, falls under government regulations set forth by the HUD code and other state regulations.
• Mobile homes are equipped for every day modern living. Many tiny homes are more geared towards being self-sufficient.

Pros & Cons

Both the mobile home vs tiny home concept carry some benefits and downsides.

Mobile home pros

• Mobile homes have more space than tiny houses, but they’re small enough for a more minimalist life. They’re big enough for a family to have some quiet alone time and small enough to not be lost in a maze of rooms.
• They come with utilities. Maybe you need reliable air conditioning, heating, and electricity.
• While mobile homes force you to sink your roots in a locale, due to their low cost, you can still travel the world through other means.

Mobile homes cons

• They are static in their location. You can’t move them around.
• Mobile homes are not self-sufficient.
• They may require government permits for remodels and additions.

Tiny house pros

• The tiny house is much smaller than a mobile home, leaving a smaller footprint on the environment.
• A tiny house gives you a greater appreciation for nature as most tiny house dwellers get a chance to live in the woods and at the beach.
• The size of a tiny house forces you to do away with clutter as space is super limited.

Tiny house cons

• The tiny house doesn’t give family members any personal space. People are human and may need some more breathing room.
• If you have an indoor dog, there’s not really much space to run around.
• If you’re in need of hobby or workspace, you may have to be inventive about how you pull that off.

Who wins “mobile home vs tiny house” in your book?

There you have it. A brief scoop on the mobile home vs tiny house movement. We hope you found this article interesting and helpful. While we think there’s a great advantage in choosing the mobile home road, we understand that may not be right for everyone. Tune in next week for our third and final installment in this series.