Tiny House, Large Living: The Tiny House Movement

Living large doesn’t necessarily mean owning a mansion and filling it with an abundance of possessions. Just ask those who have joined the tiny house movement. You may be asking, what exactly is the tiny house movement? The latest trend involves homeowners downsizing to a home, generally measuring 400 square feet or less. Small, right? How can one live in such a small space? It’s definitely a lifestyle change and it’s not for everyone, but those who have joined this movement have benefited big time!

So why would someone choose this lifestyle? There are many benefits to going tiny. Affordability is a major factor; the cost of a tiny home is substantially cheaper than a normal-sized home. Typically, tiny homes can range from $10,000-$50,000 depending on the type of home, amenities and if you build it yourself or purchase a pre-built home. That is a fraction of the cost of an average house in the suburbs. The cost of upkeep of a tiny home tends to be less as well since there is less square footage to maintain.

Going tiny can also simplify your life. Since your home is smaller, there is less room for material items and possessions. Freedom from objects will allow you to focus on experiences and connecting with people and nature rather than focusing on “things”. The less time you spend focusing on things, the more time you can focus on yourself and finding activities that make you happy.

Another benefit of going tiny is being more mobile and not tied down to one location. Some tiny homes can be placed on a trailer bed and towed and some are fixed on wheels. Either option lets you travel often and experience adventures you may not have been able to if you were tied down with a non-mobile home or a large mortgage payment.

Sounds great so far, doesn’t it? While there are many advantages of a tiny home, they do have a few drawbacks as well. Some states and/or counties have their own set of strict rules regulating where owners can place/park their tiny homes, making it difficult to stay in one place for a long period of time. Their small size creates limited storage areas, so renting a storage unit may be an additional cost homeowners need to budget for. If you decide to grow your family and need to move out of your tiny home, there is a very small market for tiny home buyers, so selling could be an issue.

As mentioned before, tiny house living isn’t for everyone, but those who choose to live this lifestyle have the financial and personal freedom to live how they want and where they want.

Raquel Borras- Contributing to the Increase of Homeownership for Hispanics

 Raquel Borras recently joined the First Home Mortgage team with one main focus in mind- providing for the Hispanic community.  Being of Hispanic decent, she feels it is her obligation to help increase home purchases within the Hispanic population and help more Hispanic people build their career in the mortgage industry.  She firmly believes this community just wants to be treated with both understanding and respect; that they want to feel like they have the same opportunity as anyone else to buy a home.  Even if they are unable due to cash, credit issues, etc.,  Hispanic residents want someone to educate them on the home buying process so that they, too, can own their dream home.

For many years, the Hispanic community was targeted in a negative way.  Raquel wants to demolish that stigma and restore their faith.  According to the 2016 National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), Hispanics will account for 52% of new homeowners, with nearly six-in-ten categorized as Millennials or younger.  As a whole, hispanics are more youthful than any other U.S. demographic. Hispanics are projected to represent nearly 60% of homeownership gains in the next 15 years.  They have achieved a net gain of 1,103,000 homeowners, going from 6,198,000 in 2010 to 7,301,000 in 2016.   The number of total Hispanic households grew by 330,000 in 2016 which accounts for 38% of total U.S. household formation growth making them no longer a minority group.

Raquel lives by the golden rule: to always be kind.  In everything she does, she does it with honesty and integrity.  This is why she will make such a great asset to the First Home team.  Not only will she help increase homeownership in the Hispanic community, but she will help bring more diversity to the First Home Mortgage workplace.

For more information on the Hispanic community or to say, “welcome to the team!” see below:

Raquel Borras VP of Business Development- Emerging Markets
rborras@firsthome.com
NMLS ID: 1415097
O (703) 443 1150 ext. 3433
C (703) 434 0727
1602 Village Market Blvd. Suite 330, Leesburg, VA 20175

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