The tiny house movement is taking the world by storm all over the place, thanks to rising costs on real estate in cities large and small. Americans is general are known for having extremely large homes. Some estimates suggest that the average American has a home twice the size as British, Italian, or Japanese houses, and three times larger than those in Russia or China. Now however, more people are leaning towards sustainability and choosing homes  that tap out around 500 square feet, which is less than one quarter of the size of the average new house in the country.

The interesting thing about these tiny houses, is that they can be put up in a lot more places than a normal house would, and some of them are portable. This means that residents might not have to pay a mortgage on them (because they are cheap enough to purchase outright), and some of them are even portable so if people want to pick up and move they always have the option without going through an entire home selling and buying again process.

One version of the tiny house is from the company Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. They have four basic house models, all of which have wood exteriors and range in size from 117 to 221 square feet. They are all mounted on trailers so that they can be towed.

Another type that are a bit larger at 240 or 336 square feet are Tiny Texas Houses. These homes are made out of salvaged materials and are shipped to the location and then put together.

The Shipping Container Homes also use salvaged materials, since they used to be used for a different purpose of shipping before they retire and become homes. It generally isn’t cost effective to ship shipping containers back to their original location after they have made a delivery, so turning them into a home is a great way to use the ample resource. Multiple shipping containers can be fashioned together to build a more complex floor plan.

For people who want a little more luxury built in, Tiny Luxury Homes might be the way to go. These homes are more expensive but they are still cheaper than buying a lot of cars. They offer add on such as home automation, surround sound, radiant in-floor heat, and even tiny hot tubs.

Micro apartments are another option, which are generally around 400 square feet large. Since they are an apartment set up, they might even feature a shared common area sort of like how dorm rooms are set up. These are not always a great option for the long term, but it is a good option for people who are new to a city and want to get to know the area without having to put down a lot of roots at first, and of course they are more sustainable than a lot of larger apartments so it can really help with the carbon footprint when that is a personal interest of someone when choosing places to live.