Every time I think about our tiny home in Golden British Columbia my entire heart smiles.
The Purcell mountains surround you, the air smells different & you know that being at the tiny means projects, lots of cooking & soaking in the evening full of stars. Not to mention...less iPad time, ZERO TV and no Uber Eats. Some may think that's a disappointment - but it was everything our family needed and wanted.
Golden British Columbia is a hidden gem, a highway town that most people just stop in and use it as a bathroom 😆.
It gets lost between Revelstoke & trips to the Kelowna BC area. But for our family Golden - is the place that combines peace and adventure together. It's a true to it's roots mountain town.
How did we start finding land for our tiny house:
When choosing a property the first thing we did was think about where we would really want to be. What do we want life to look like.
Fernie, BC came up - and I totally know some of you are going to leave some comments saying "not true" but when I looked at Fernie I saw another Calgary. Another little city and I wanted something more true to it's roots. Not full of chain restaurants or stores. Not full of people who just came into the town for a quick escape. I wanted to be in a place that reminded me to respect nature & enjoy it, to learn from it.
Settling on Golden wasn't hard - a 40 acre parcel of land came up for a pretty incredible price (it was not listed) so we jumped in. It took all of our savings, years of paying off other things, and then visiting a completely vacant property feeling like maybe we made a mistake! There was no driveway, no electricity, no water, no flat plot for a house -- it seemed quite overwhelming for years. But still I came out here almost every weekend with the kids and dogs.
What an adventure. A few years later... there is a road put in, some shares were sold off so that we could actually invest in the tiny home, we started a new corporation, trees were cut down to make room for said tiny home.
Trenches were dug for electricity and water lines, tons of money was spent….and a Tiny house was put on the property. And just when Covid-19 decided to take over the world...the tiny home was delivered, school was cancelled and I moved out here with the kids by myself to homeschool, work the business and create a piece of land that I'd eventually call home.
One of the most common questions I get on my Instagram account ,"Is how did you find land for your tiny home- there is not a lot of great properties and places available?"
Once again, I admit maybe I fell into it, or maybe it's a series of praying and God showing up. My now ex-husband and I met in the land development world. We both worked for a land development company in Calgary, Alberta & we were constantly being introducing to people and opportunities. So when we started to think of building and where we wanted to be - we just started to ASK anyone and everyone we knew if they had any leads on properties. The thing we came to discover was that a lot of people in rural areas don't LIST their properties they sit on them and wait for people to ask them if they'd like to sell. Or they just don't even think of selling.
Which is why so many of you are asking - there isn't a lot listed, and if they are right now in 2021 the prices are astronomical.
BUT if you find a community or area you enjoy visit there often and talk to the locals - they always know who is going to or who has their property up for sale.
4 ways to find land fo your tiny home:
- Visit the area often, I don't mean 1-2, start to actually connect with people in the area. Restaurants, gas stations, maybe join a team (post covid of course) and ask around.
- Connect with a realtor who is local to the area - they WILL contact you if they have a lead because they will also ASK people they know if they are interested in selling because they have a BUYER who is looking in the area.
- Post about it on social platforms - don't be shy - people sometimes have old family parcels, or are waiting for an opportunity to sell. When we were looking for shareholders - I posted about it on my business page, private pages and Instagram accounts and had TONS of interest.
- Think about the LONG term. Do you really want 100 acres? 40 acres? Are you thinking of sub-dividing in the future? Do you want to maybe LEASE a property to see if tiny living and property management is for you?
It took nearly 5 years to move from vacant piece of land to the process of putting the tiny on.
Nothing should be rushed - you have a beautiful dream. Let it come together. And if you are every in the Golden, Bc come say hello we love visitors!
