UPDATE: Brandi and Jon's Tiny Home Journey

We first introduced you to Brandi and Jon in December 2018.  They are on their journey to tiny house ownership, and it’s been about two months and we want to give you an update on where they are in their process.

When we last blogged about Brandi and Jon, they were scheduled to have a settlement on their 2000sq ft home on January 25th.  Just prior to this, they were informed that the buyer’s buyer had backed out of their offer on their home they were selling, and the buyers could no longer move forward with settlement on Brandi and Jon’s home.  This was a devastating blow to them both, as they all just took huge steps in this exciting yet scary process.  The family already paired down their large home, giving away almost all of their big furniture and many important items to family and friends, so now what?

In the meantime, they took their son, Nate, back to college in New York after winter break, and then the couple set off to their temporary home with only the belongings they will take with them into their new tiny house, eventually. With the threat of no buyers and no settlement glooming over, they realized this was going to affect the signing of the contract for their new tiny build when they found the right builder.  And finding a tiny home builder was proving to more difficult than expected.  After contacting four different tiny home builders and submitting for quotes, it became obvious that a tiny home being built and completed by their timeline of a May completion might not happen. To add to all the stress already taking place, it wasn’t pleasing to hear that builders were not going to be able to even begin building until mid to late summer, and not to mention that the quotes coming in were about $20,000 over budget. Frustration grew.

Son-Nate

That’s when Brandi walked into the TE office one morning and met Merlin and Tim from greenwood Tiny Homes in Leola, PA. After several hours of discussion and a meeting at their office, Jon and Brandi were pleased to finally find a tiny home builder within their budget and who can work within their timeline and have a house ready in May.  Now, one major issue has been resolved and checked off the list, just one more major hurdle to go.

On the morning of January 26^th, Brandi received a text message from her realtor and brother, Ryan. Within just 24 hours of receiving the bad news about the settlement cancellation, their buyer had to re-list their home and ended up with a brand new offer (they accepted) on their house and a new settlement date could be set for Brandi and Jon.  So now they are anxiously awaiting the new settlement date of February 28^th.

Nate's Room

With feelings of relief, they can now look forward to their build. A plus for Brandi and Jon contracting Greenwood Tiny Homes is that it is located nearby and they can watch the progress of their tiny home being built, and that makes them really happy. Greenwood Tiny Homes is rather new to the tiny home business but not to home building.  They have a beautiful home here on TE property that is an investor unit, and not yet ready for tours or stays.  The home is designed beautifully and shows great craftsmanship. We hope to see many more great homes and designs from them in the future. 

Right now, Brandi and Jon are both breathing breaths of relief and are also waiting to sign their contract with Greenwood soon and officially begin with their tiny build.  Brandi has told us that they have both experienced every emotion possible from one end to another in just in the first few months. She told us that clearing out their large family home was a lot of hard work but also very gratifying. She is excited to move forward but will be on pins and needles until all the paperwork is officially signed for both homes. She and Jon are ready to get off the emotional roller coaster to start collecting memories and no longer collect stuff.

The next time we check in on the couple, they will have had sold their home,  signed their tiny home build contract and we hope to share some good photos from the beginning stages of their build.  Stay tuned!