The Tiny Life crunched some numbers, and found that tiny houses are generally much more affordable than regular houses. The average regular-sized house has a $290,000 purchase price; but over 30 years, including the down payment, maintenance, and mortgage, a $290,000 house will end up costing a little more than $1 million. In contrast, The Tiny Life says that a tiny house costs between $10,000 and $40,000 over the same time span, on average.
In general, a tiny house is cheaper than the average home — but a small apartment in an affordable town could be comparable in cost.
Another large determining factor in the price of a tiny home is whether you choose to go DIY and build it yourself, or if you buy a “prefab” tiny house — which could easily make your home’s price higher than the $40,000 threshold.
