🏡 No Mortgage, No HOA, No Property Tax: On a Fixed Income

Brian and Dixie paid cash for their Clayton tiny home in Aubrey, Texas. No mortgage.

No HOA. No property tax. Just $850 a month in lot rent and $60 last month for electric. After eight years in a 3,500-home retirement community they were quietly pricing themselves out of, they moved to Liberty Tiny Home and haven’t looked back. From the front door, Brian can see straight down the hall to the bedroom, loft rails above, the whole house in one view. Liberty Tiny Home calls this one the Trendy and Tiny, and it earned the name.

The living room centers on two wall-hugger recliners and the entertainment center Brian found on Amazon after measuring every inch of available space. The soundbar fits. The subwoofer fits. The big TV from their previous house, sitting at eye level, fits. Dixie found the folding end tables, also from Amazon, and they slide right under the chairs when not in use. The kitchen is one of the larger ones you will find in a tiny home. Deep sink, full counter on both sides, full-size refrigerator and freezer, dishwasher, regular stovetop and oven with a convection microwave above, and cabinet space that holds everything Brian and Dixie kept after downsizing.

Brian’s rule: measure everything to a T before you go shopping. Just off the kitchen, the stacked washer and dryer fit with one inch to spare. Two small cabinets beside the unit hold laundry supplies and cleaning products. The pantry held more than Brian expected coming from a larger home. The built-in desk solved his computer setup: one hole saw through the desktop for the cables, printer hooks in clean. The main-floor queen bedroom was a deciding factor. No stairs at the end of the day. Standard queen, two end tables with lamps, and a closet that holds everything they kept, his on top and hers on the bottom. The split loft above has less steep stairs than most, with twin beds on both sides for the grandkids. The walk-in shower was redone by Liberty Tiny Home ownership after guest feedback, and it happened to be exactly what Dixie wanted.

Brian and Dixie paid for the door, which swings either direction. A hallway drawer handles what doesn’t fit in the bathroom. The screened porch is where Brian cooks, preps, and cleans. Counter, a no-lip sink that rinses straight out, and two Adirondack rockers facing the grass. Dixie screened it in the first chance she got.

THE DETAILS All-in cost: $150,000 Base price: $135,000 Add-ons: $15,000 (porch counter, built-in desk, stairs, underpinning, sales tax as a non-motorized RV) Builder: Clayton Model: Trendy and Tiny Community: Liberty Tiny Home, Aubrey, TX Lot type: Rented lot in community Square footage: [MISSING – confirm before publish] Lot rent: $850/month (fixed for two years) Electric: $60/month Insurance: $1,600/year Previous housing costs: $2,100/month mortgage, $4,500/year property taxes, $3,000 HOA every six months, plus gas, electric, and water/sewer HIS ADVICE “I’m not sure we could have done fixed income for both of us to live off of where we had before. Here I am positive that one of us could live off of it. So the difference is huge. That just gives you this peaceful feeling, like knowing that no matter what happens to your situation in life, that one or the other will be okay. Dixie said the other day, she says, you know what? We are happier in this tiny home than any other time. We get along so much better now than we did before. And it’s true. And I think a lot it has to do is because we don’t have all this stuff. We have this freedom. We have this peace. I think it’s all because of that. So think about that when you think about a tiny home.”

SHOT BY:   / brian_bear_butler   EDITED BY:   / filmbro_  

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Brian and Dixie share the practical realities of transitioning to a custom-built tiny home for financial reasons.

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