I'm fascinated with the idea of tiny homes/smaller homes (300-700ish sqft) for short term and possible long term rentals.

That went really well but didn't last long as this is a small town with a tiny college.

Since you said tiny homes, this is probably not an option.  

Sharing the tiny kitchen wasn’t such a big deal because we cooked together and got along.

Most of them are going to lose money or with a tiny profit from I can see.eg. lot aqiuisition at $250k, 4000 sqft of house will be $800k to build.

No other industry in existence in U.S. operates with such a tiny margin that isn't gargantuan in it's corporate size and volume.

I also wondered about if it makes sense to tear down and build a pergola and nice retreat style area for family events and then put a tiny house there.

So those are great points when out there chasing NPN or super high discount yield notes.. they are not just that easy to get takes a lot of money to even find them in direct marketing etc.. wereas when the investor hooks up with the right company that's all done for them and 100% the return goes to them minus a tiny amount for servicing but they spend Zero money on finding the dog gone things .. which as you state is a real challenge in todays highly competitive world of trying to find discounted owner carry back owner occ notes..

Not to mention tiny bedrooms where its hardly a bedroom at all..Hope this helps!

I recently dealt with sugar ants (tiny light-brown ants) which had found their way into the plastic bags in which I put my food in the pantry in an effort to discourage them.