Building a home for less than the cost of many down payments may sound out of reach in today's housing market. Business Insider reported, however, that a 34-year-old homeowner said doing just that was difficult but gave her more financial breathing room.
What happened?
According to Business Insider, Margo Fairchild — a Virginia homeowner and co-host of HGTV's "Worst Yard on the Block" — devoted 15 months to constructing a 240-square-foot tiny home for herself. She began building in 2020 and was living in the home by 2022.
She ultimately spent $43,779 on the project, which was nearly double her original estimate.
The home sits on a small piece of land owned by her mother. Fairchild made modest rent payments while building and now pays her mother $500 a month to stay there.
After years of studying building science and teaching herself through what she described as "YouTube University," Fairchild told Business Insider she handled nearly all of the work herself.
"It wasn't like an HGTV show where you see the finished reveal 20 minutes later," she said. "I was in the weeds, working on it every single day."
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One of the biggest setbacks came when she hired out the plumbing. After a contractor tied the plumbing into her mother's septic setup, Fairchild said it malfunctioned and had to be repaired by a different company.
In the end, she had to put about $7,000 to $8,000 on a credit card.
Why does it matter?
In Fairchild's case, the lower living expenses have freed up money that she said can go toward retirement instead of a more traditional rent or mortgage payment.
Keeping monthly costs low depended partly on having access to family land. At the same time, the project itself required savings, surprise repair spending, and 14- to 18-hour stretches of work on top of her regular job, according to Business Insider.
Fairchild said the tradeoff has been worth it. While she misses having a separate space for an office, downsizing wasn't the end of the world.
"It was actually pretty therapeutic to start with a clean slate," she said.
Tiny homes can also potentially help people save a lot on energy use and utility bills. If that sounds like a big leap, even something like finding a local community solar program or using plug-in solar panels can make a difference.
What can I do?
If you're looking to build a tiny home of your own, Fairchild stressed the importance of learning from others.
"My advice to anyone who wants to build a tiny home is to find a support system," she stated.
Builders and architects online offered her advice online, and posting her build on social media eventually became its own income source.
And despite the setbacks, Fairchild said, "It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was also one of the most rewarding."
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