6 Savvy Search Tips to help you find Land Rental for your Tiny House!

You love the idea of living tiny, you’re ok with reducing your possessions and you’ve figured out how you’ll finance your tiny house…

Excellent! You’re all set to go!

Or are you…?

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How does one find a land rental for a tiny house?

Savvy Search Tips To Help You Find Land Rental For Tiny House

There’s still one major hurdle to overcome that stops a lot of people from committing to tiny living here in Aus, and that’s finding a place to call home.

Whilst the specifics vary from council to council, with current legislation lagging (a tiny house on wheels (THOW) is currently considered a caravan here in Aus), in many locations the general rule is that you can’t legally live in your tiny house for more than 48 hours at a time without council approval (up to a total of 60 days per year). If somebody complains about you living in your tiny house outside of accepted caravan regulations, the council has the right to request that you move on — even if you own that land.

Understandably, this deters a lot of people from buying land to park their tiny houses on and so until things progress legislatively and become clearer and easier to navigate, many people are opting to not commit to land purchase, instead preferring land rental for their tiny homes. 

Finding a land rental is something that seems to scare a lot of people and yet as a renter you will be offering to pay your new landlord a designated weekly amount for which many people would be very grateful! Word on the street is that around $100/week is standard but it really depends on things like the location and inclusions (power, water etc)  and can therefore vary quite a bit.

An additional $100 week, roughly $400 a month for many families, for doing NOTHING would be very very welcome so try to keep that in mind as you begin your search. Yes, this will benefit you, but it will benefit others too (both financially and also perhaps in terms of security, company, house/land maintenance etc). Get your mindset sorted before you even begin your search and it’ll make your journey a whole lot easier. 

Savvy Search Tips To Help You Find Land Rental For Your Tiny House

1.Talk to your existing network

This is the obvious place to start and for good reason. Many people have backyards big enough to accommodate a tiny house and would love the extra rental income this setup provides. Be aware that there are certain things you’ll want to find in your ideal parking spot and so approach these conversations cautiously making it clear that you’re on the lookout but not ready to commit to anything just yet. 

If your own inner circle doesn’t yield any results, consider also asking your friends to ask their friends. You could even do a Facebook post or (gasp!) a paper flyer outlining what you’re looking for, how much you’re willing to pay, and ask your friends to share it around.

2. Post in local community Facebook groups AND in designated Tiny House spaces groups

Most areas and regions have an active presence on Facebook these days. Look for local groups in the suburbs where you’re interested in living.

Groups can often be found with the following search terms:

>Suburb Name< Buy Swap and Sell

>Suburb Name< Noticeboard

>Greater region name< Buy Swap and Sell

>Greater region name< Noticeboard

In areas with paddocks, consider also looking for groups that cater to horse owners and approaching them to ask if they’d be interested in agisting your tiny house!

(Thanks to Fred from Fred’s Tiny Houses for this great suggestion).

You can look for agistment groups on Facebook with the following terms:

>Suburb Name< agistment

• Tiny House Spaces Australia
• Australian Tiny Houses

The social media landscape is growing and evolving all the time, please share in the comments if you’re aware of new groups that may be helpful!

3. Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace

 You could try searching for any listings of land rental for tiny houses on Gumtree but these will be few and far between as most people with land to spare aren’t aware that leasing it out to tiny house owners is an option. You can also try Facebook Marketplace, in addition to the group types mentioned above.

The more proactive approach with this platform is to post an ad again stating what you’re looking for (consider specifying these things here), how much you’re willing to pay, and when you’re hoping to move in. Keep in mind that not everyone is aware of the tiny house movement so posting a picture of your house (or an illustration of how you expect it to turn out) can be really helpful in assisting people to understand exactly what you’re proposing. 

You could also do the same thing on the Facebook marketplace as a “wanted to buy” listing.

4. Letterbox drop!

Load up Microsoft Word or Google Docs, or even get a bit fancy with some free online editing software like Canva and make yourself a nice flyer.
As explained in the options above, it can be helpful to include the following to help get your message across:

– What you’re after
-How much you’re willing to pay
-An image of your house
-The words “Tiny House agistment”

Print off at least 50 flyers if not more and get moving! This is a numbers game after all. The more people you approach, the more opportunities you’re likely to receive and it can’t hurt to have more than one option when it comes to choosing your dream parking spot.

5. Scope out AirBnB and Holiday Rental sites

Scope out holiday rental sites for properties with a bit of land on them and then approach the owners to ask if they’d like to also agist your tiny house. People who are offering their houses on these sites are already looking to make money from their existing properties and would probably gladly welcome some additional income. In addition, you will provide an element of security to their property.

As a bonus, you might meet some fun characters on the weekends/during holiday periods but will likely most often have the place to yourself during the rest of the year. 

Websites that could be good to scope out include:

Airbnb.com.au

Stayz.com.au

6. Buy/Rent a house and then share the property

This strategy will likely take more work than the others and has potentially more downside if you get asked to move but on the plus side, you get more autonomy than the other situations, and potentially a better financial deal. 

With this strategy you literally buy or rent a property with a house on it, you rent the house out to other people, and you put your tiny in the backyard. Just remember, that even if you own the place, the council can still ask you to move on, so factor this possibility into any decisions you make. Keep in mind also that if you’re renting the property, not all properties can be sublet so find one that can. 

Conclusion

And there you have it, 6 strategies for finding land rental for your tiny house!

Want even more info on finding yourself a parking space!

For the last 2 years I’ve been helping clients to find Tiny Home parking spaces here in Aus. 

In that time I have learnt a lot about what works, and what doesn’t….

There are many places you can look for land rental, and actions you can take in searching for your new dream home and in my experience some are much, much more fruitful than others.

In this guide I share my experiences and lessons so that hopefully your own journey is that little bit easier. 

Happy hunting!