Advice Needed: Using a Tiny Home as Collateral for Real Estate Investment

[Justin H Harstvedt]

Hey everyone,

I recently finished renovating a 2007 Tiny Home (Park Model Home) located near 30A in Florida on a family lot. I put all of my savings into the renovation, including a new roof, completely gutting the interior and redoing it, and adding new flooring throughout the home. It looks really good and would be ideal for a snowbird looking for a cozy vacation home.

Originally, I planned to sell the home on completion, but that has proven to be much more difficult than I anticipated. So I'm thinking of changing plans. I need the home to start producing, whether that's through renting it out or finding other ways to generate income from it.

My question is, has anyone had experience getting a loan from a bank using a tiny home as collateral? If not, would a hard money lender be more likely to consider backing this project since I have an asset to use as collateral? I don't have the capital to buy land, so I'm exploring my options.

In terms of the location, I have experience working with Walton County, and their philosophy is "The answer is NO, how can we help you." Therefore, I'm considering relocating to a county that is tiny home friendly but still a great vacation market. I've heard that basically, any county in Alabama is easy to work with so I'm considering the Alabama gulf coast. I'm curious about your thoughts on this, especially when it comes to generating income from a vacation home. Would it be smarter to purchase the land or lease the land? What are the pros and cons of each option?

Thank you in advance for any feedback and advice you can provide. This was my first attempt at real estate investing, and I'm learning a lot along the way.