Tiny house living is not for everyone so how can you ‘test’ out the lifestyle before committing to actually living there? These 5 tips help you be more certain about tiny house living.
If you are considering downsizing to a tiny home, it is a great idea to try one out first. There is much more opportunity to rent out a tiny home or small cabin then there was just a few years ago. This is a really great way to determine if tiny home living is for you, and it does not cost a fortune to rent out one of these tiny dwellings and try it on for size.
More and more mini cabins are popping up all over the country including in gorgeous areas like state and national parks. You can rent one or several tiny homes. You can even rent them for longer periods of time to truly get the full feel of what the tiny home lifestyle would be like. Some tiny home rentals can be up to six months long. Some longer length rentals will give you a better price for your extended stay.
You can find tiny homes or mini cabins to rent on nearly every rental site including the most popular rental sites of Airbnb or VRBO. These tiny homes can be in the form of a granny pod on someone’s property or can be remote and removed in a secluded and very quiet destination.
Here are some tips to help you discover if tiny home living really is great for you as well as some common etiquette for renting out another person’s property.
Read Every Detail
Each rental agreement is going to be different especially when you are renting from a site like VRBO and not a large rental company that owns several vacation properties. Make sure that you know each host’s requirements for staying at their property and make sure that it will fit into your travel plans as well as what you are expecting out of your stay. If you are hoping that certain amenities are included and they are not listed be sure to contact your host to ask about them. Do not just assume they will be provided. Read More: Financing a home in retirement (Tiny home)
Stick to Time Agreements
Hosts have their own plans and try to work their lives around accommodating your vacation rental stay. Be courteous and arrive as close to the beginning of your check in time window as possible. If a listing does not specify a certain time for a check in, contact the host in advance with your plans so that they can make your arrival as smooth as possible.
Tidy Up and Say Goodbye Well
At the end of your stay make sure to leave the space better than you found it. Small things like rinsing your toothpaste out of the sink and making the bed, or picking up garbage to ensure that the space was better or just as good as you left it will go a long way. In addition you can also leave a thank you note. The best thank you note for a vacation rental is to leave a great review on the website or a site like yelp to encourage other people to come and enjoy a stay there.
Additional: How to move into a tiny home with a big dog
Don’t Limit Your Tryout to Just One Stay
To get the best feel for tiny home or mini cabin living it is best to book more than one stay and at more than one type of property. We briefly touched on this above, but it is so important that it is worth noting again. Book several different stays in tiny homes and mini cabins to help you really get a feel for actually living in one full time. Make sure to book places in various types of locations and book various sizes of homes to determine what might be the best tiny living situation for you personally.
Read More: How much does it really cost to own a tiny house?
Make Sure to Book Different Floorplans
When it comes to vacation rentals some of them can tend to have similar floorplans to one another. To really know what type of tiny home or a mini cabin you may want to downsize to make sure to find properties that are much different from each other to help you get a feel of the flow and floor space of a smaller home that you would prefer.
A little research, trying out Air BnB properties and knowing what you’re getting into will help you make a more informed decision on owning and living in a tiny house.
