This choice is probably my last resort.

I am a person who likes space. I have never enjoyed apartment living. I do not like spaces where it is 3 steps from living room to bedroom, 2 steps from bedroom to kitchen, etc. I don't want to be able to cover my whole domain in 19 steps. 

As part of retirement preparation though, I have checked out the newer trend of tiny houses. 

The advantage of a tiny house over an apartment is it would be mine. If I want to paint it, I can. If I want to put a hole in the wall to hang something, I can. If I want to change the flooring I can. Additionally, there can be windows all around and no connected neighbors. 

To me, the advantage ends there. It is still tiny. Most tiny houses run from 400 sq. ft. to 800 sq. ft. Most of them are on wheels, although they can be converted to a more permanent installation once you have found your space. 

Here is the next issue - the space for them. Many localities have laws against tiny houses. You cannot just purchase a plot of land and park your tiny house like you would a mobile home. They are treated by the law more the way a camper or RV is treated. 

There are tiny home communities. Some of these are built on the same premise as RV parks. You rent a space, with electric and water hook-ups, on a monthly basis. Architect Magazine lists Texas as being one of the top five states for tiny houses. The other four are California, Florida, Oregon, and North Carolina. In Texas, many of the "communities" I've found are of this RV parking style community. It is expected that you keep your tiny home on its wheels, although a skirt can be used to hide the wheels and make it look permanent. You rent your space by the month, which may or may not include the cost of hook-ups. 

There are beginning to be more actual permanent tiny home communities springing up where a developer has negotiated all the zoning laws and found a way to allow people to have a permanent tiny home in a "neighborhood" of other tiny homes. One of the best I've seen is WatersEdge on Lake Conroe. You can purchase a permanent tiny home from their inventory. If you want to try out the lifestyle, you can rent one. Note - you cannot bring in your tiny home, buy a lot, and have a homestead there. 

Another one is Village Farms Austin. Less than 8 miles from downtown Austin, the amenities here revolve around the Austin lifestyle rather than the view. Again, you purchase your home and location from their inventory. I find the cost for this one prohibitive - if I'm going to spend $145,ooo I want more than 800 sq. ft. 

If I wanted to buy a tiny home, there are a lot of choices including container homes (think big ole rectangle). But once I buy it, I'd have to move it. Towing a tiny home is no harder than towing a camper, however depending on how far you are towing the thing you have to follow the same height and width regulations that a camper does so you can maneuver bridges and underpasses. Again - think tiny. 

I don't seea situation where this would be my choice, but I'm not totally cancelling it since it is a growing trend. Who knows? The view from a tiny house might cancel out my abhorrence of small living spaces. The right view might give me the feeling of openness that apartments never do. 

I think the cost and size factors put it way down the list.