Five Hundred Dollars and a Signature

Monday was a big day in tiny house dream land. We had a meeting at Dunwoody College of Technology to meet with more members of Team Tiny Dreams.

It was pretty cool to walk into a big conference room and sit across from three builder brains all excited about our project and wanting to help! At the end of the meeting we signed our design contract with John Dwyer, our architect, and talked layout. We could potentially be ready to bring something to the city by the end of the month, which would be amazing. Once a design is submitted, "our" lot is taken off the market - and that would allow us to breathe a sigh of relief as we navigate all the red tape associated with buying a city owned lot.

Also at the table was Heather Gay, Program Manager to the Construction Management program. Let me tell you, this lady is going to keep things moving. She's all about figuring out the next steps. Today she wanted to talk "Building Performance." I probably gave her a blank look, not knowing what she was asking. But basically she wanted to know what our goals are - besides just having a house.

She mentioned the smaller footprint and environmental benefits as one of the things she likes about the tiny house movement. We agreed with her, of course. Then I added two additional things. A smaller mortgage to be paid off more quickly so we have more money for travel and things (which I've mentioned before when we were trying to pick a lot). And two, minimal maintenance - this includes cleaning, yard work, anything that will keep us from fun.

It was fun to explain that side to the team, and I think they appreciated the perspective. For them, this is a great teaching experience and they want to help their students understand the "buyer" perspective.

The final member of the Team is Andrew Nelson of A-Squared - our general contractor. He comes to the table from a different perspective, but it was great to hear why he was interested in being involved in the project. He doesn't want to be pigeon-holed doing kitchen and bathroom remodels forever. He appreciates the diversity of this project and being involved with something out of the ordinary.

Perhaps the best thing is that everyone at the table sees the bigger picture - both of the tiny house movement and the value of helping it arrive in Minneapolis. I'm very thankful that this team has come together, and I have no doubt that they are the right people for the job. Our house will be on the large end of what is considered "tiny" but being in the city was part of our Tiny House Dream, and I believe we have the team we need in place to navigate these waters.

It Takes a Village

We had our first meeting last night with the Architecture professor, and I feel really good about it. It sounds like members of the administration (particularly the PR people) are pretty excited about this project.

Hopefully we'll be getting design contracts soon so he can get started on some drawings, and hopefully we'll have plans to present the city before too long so we can get the approval process started.

The build may take longer than originally expected. It sounds like it will be over the course of two semesters. However, he anticipated it may save us about 1/3 of the costs, which would be pretty awesome. To be clear, that wasn't our intent in forming these partnerships. The intent was to find a group of people willing to think outside of the box, who didn't want to build us a "regular" house with smaller square footage (because that isn't the goal of what we're doing). Plus I like the idea of having so many people involved. I like being connected to the community.

Next on my agenda is setting a meeting to talk to someone about financing. Brent is going to set a meeting to find out who we need to talk to regarding surveys, utility access, etc.

It's going to be a process... it's going to take a village to make this happen... but in the end, it's going to be amazing and worth it.

Tag Team

My epiphany might pay off. My chat with the one of the Senior Professors in the Architecture program was very promising. As in, our build could maybe be part of one of the design studios for next spring (read: reduced labor costs for us!).

We have a meeting next week to sit down with him.

This post is not expressing my enthusiasm properly, and I know that. However, I'm trying not to jinx anything. Yet the idea of having students involved in this makes me crazy excited. It's part of why I love Tiny House Nation so much. The whole idea of raising awareness outside the status quo.

More than that, we want to be a part of our community and the neighborhood we live in. So having a local school be involved in our dream project, is like icing on the cake.

p.s. We've got more bags ready for Goodwill!

Building Tiny

Building tiny isn't like building a normal house in a small space. That wouldn't work. That would feel small. The key to tiny house success (we think) is multi-functional spaces and pieces so that there is less in the tiny space, making it feel larger.

I've spent more time than I care to admit googling tiny house builders in Minnesota. Except there aren't any. So this is our current challenge. Finding a builder who has custom design experience and understands the specific challenges to tiny house living.

I've talked to one contractor. He's excited about it. He thinks tiny homes are on the way to becoming "the next thing." But I don't know if he gets it.

We're supposed to have a sit down meeting with the two of them and the two of us. Make sure they are clear about matters to us, the budget, and find out what sort of ideas they have for our tiny house. I talked to him Tuesday... I'm still waiting for him to get back to me with some meeting options.

My guess is we may have to meet with more than one builder, but we have to start somewhere, and this guy came highly recommended. Of course, I'm not patient, so waiting two days to get dates/times to even set a meeting seems crazy. I'll give it to Monday. Then it's time to call the next guy.

We're willing to take the time that's needed to do this right, but now doesn't seem like one of those stages I should be "waiting" at.

If only we were in Portland or Vancouver, where tiny houses are already much more popular, and builders with real life tiny house experience exist. If you know of someone in the vicinity of Minneapolis who could help us, please! Let us know.