What if I build it & can't find a place to put it?

Finding a place to park my tiny house was a huge concern and finding the right place not just any place seemed daunting. They say location is everything. I needed more than just a parking spot I needed a place to call home. As you already know, the laws about this are varied. You can park in many places but living in your tiny house is another matter.

My Ynez all ready for delivery. The deck is tucked inside.

This was the most stressful part of the whole process. What if I built it and couldn't find a place to put it? Financially this could be a very big issue! I lost a lot of sleep thinking about it. I wanted a place that had: a nice view from the windows, was safe, not more than 1/2 hour from work, near my current location, where I could stay long-term and a place I could meet like minded people.

I talked to everyone I came in contact with: work associates, people at the farmers market, neighbors, bank tellers, grocery store clerks, everyone. I listed it on Craigslist. I made a flyer with a picture of a similar tiny house and handed them out. I also put some in mailboxes of homes in rural areas near where I was living. I framed another flyer and took it to a party. This all happened prior to the start of the "Tiny House Listings" site.

Some opportunities that came up were to live in the city and park it in driveways or backyards and one on a sliver of land between two very large homes with a beautiful ocean view. My fear in these locations were that I would get all settled in and then a neighbor would complain and I would have to quickly move off the site. For this reason I decided to go with the ranch. It had all my "Have To's" except one. It was not near my current location. 

The ranch has over 300 acres and a campground on the property. They were familiar with RV's, trailers, 5th wheels, coaches and park models but were not familiar with "tiny houses". So...I brought them up to speed. I spoke with the manager a few times, I brought up the plans for him to review and we went online to see the in-progress pictures the builder had posted (that was very helpful). I got the ok from the ranch and made the final arrangements with the builder.

Now if you are like me, you don't own a large truck to bring your cottage to it's final resting spot. I knew no one I trusted to bring my house to me.  I didn't want to rent a U-haul and try to drive it over Mt.Shasta (remember these houses are not aerodynamic) and the cost to rent a truck, take time off work and get a pet sitter made it impractical. So...I started calling RV dealers in the area and asked who they used to bring coaches and RV's from the manufacturers to the dealer locations. They all used the same people. Perfect! I called them to arrange for the pickup and delivery to the ranch. They also plated the tiny house and insured it! A huge plus.

Where are you parking your tiny cottage? And how did you find the location?