Tiny House Legalities and Toys

Macy M15 comments7811 views

I got a piece of mail the other day, it was from the assessor office.  I opened it and to my surprise my name was tied with James’s lot and there was a property value of $22,000 for my house.  I gave them a ring to figure out what this means, am I ‘legit’ now?  The gal was very nice and was familiar with my house, even referred to it as ‘the tiny house’.  She explained to me that since it was an unlicensed vehicle it was assessed and taxed as personal property.  I explained that it was infact licensed.  She said ‘cool’ send me the registration and we will take care of it.

I sent her the registration but it had expired in January.  I asked her if the RV registration needed to be updated every year because the DMV told me I only needed to re-register any time I was taking it on the road.  She told me that I could either re-register it every year with the DMV  or pay property taxes on it, she let me know that property taxes would be around $450.00 a year so that if it was cheaper to go through the DMV that that would work for them at this point.  So I went to the DMV, paid $45.00 and thought that the assessor lady was a really sweet gal for clearing that up and helping me out.   Just for reference, the DMV valued my house originally for $8,500, this year that went down to $6,500.  I think the assessors value is much closer at $22,000 but that would cover materials only in the real world.

So, moral of the story, I am once again legal :).

MiniM, whose name is already out of the bag (Hazel), and I have spent the day sporadically crying [her], eating, napping [her] and making some baby toys, you can see our progress below!  They aren’t the prettiest but they will do for now.

TinyHouse

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15 Comments

    1. Thanks Teri! They might look cooler than they actually turned out but she will play with them anyway 🙂 I actually am on my first week of cloth diapers, SO many packages of diapers were given to us that I felt bad wasting. We are JUST about to run out finally! I am, so far just using the diapers that my mom made for us (old school squares of fabric) and I just use a diaper cover over the top of them so there are no leaks. So far it’s working just great! She has even tested them a little :), no issues!

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  3. Thanks for sharing both! I wonder if that approach is pretty common in most states, or if you lucked out? As in, not having to pay regular property taxes on a tiny house if it’s a registered vehicle instead?

    And Hazel is adorable, thanks for sharing her name with us 🙂

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    1. Hi Jenni! From what I am understanding so far it is pretty typical, there are of course exceptions to the rule though, so far I am hearing that Iowa, Oklahoma and Michigan work differently than that… I’m sure there are subtle differences through each state… And thank you!

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  4. You, your offspring and your handiwork are all adorable! Thanks, too for the info. I will be seeing The Minimalists Wednesday and will share your info (re: legalities) if it comes up. Blessings.

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  5. Hazel is a GORGEOUS NAME.

    She is *edible.* If you ever get tired of your baby and/or dog, just let me know, I’ll borrow them. 😀

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    1. What a great site, thanks for sharing, I am impressed with your persistence it’s hard to get answers from city guys! Especially in Hawaii (I’v worked on projects there and they are very slow moving! great for vacations but it’s hared getting work done there! :)) We have a connection, another gal who built a tiny house in my town just got done building a tiny tree house in Hawaii! http://tinyhouseontheprairie.net/

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