Steve Perlstein and Jennifer Block moved to New Zealand from the US two years ago. Photo / Supplied
Steve Perlstein and Jennifer Block moved to New Zealand from the US two years ago. Photo / Supplied
An Auckland couple is ditching life as they know it and moving into a tiny home, they just need to find a place to put it first.
Steve Perlstein and Jennifer Block are getting ready to move from a two-bedroom rental in Waterview to a 10m x 6m tiny home and have put the call out on Facebook for some new neighbours.
They need a patch of land big enough to put their home and to build a garden.
The house is fully self-contained; they just need access to water and power.
"We've had four different houses over the course of 27 years in the US," Perlstein said.
"This is really going to be the first place we've had that we've been able to really have total control over, deciding the layout, the colours, the materials. It's going to be exactly what we wanted."
Perlstein was against tiny homes when his wife floated it by him while they were still in the US.
"My wife was interested in tiny houses since we were in the States, and I was resistant.
"You have an idea in your brain, like a caravan, really. It's not that at all. I wrapped my brain around the fact that it was really a nice house. We have a full size kitchen and a full size bathroom and a washer and dryer.
The kitchen in their new home will be even bigger than the one in their current house, he said.
It will have a four-burner hob, a wall oven, small dishwasher and a large sink.
"We're not going to be living like backpackers."
The 10m x 6m footprint includes a deck.
"It's going to be not a downgrade, at all. In a lot of ways, it's going to be an upgrade for us."
The couple paid in the realm of $150,000 for the home, what some people would pay as a down payment for a full size house, he said.
They will save between $1800-2000 a month in living costs in their tiny home, he said.
"[House prices] are exorbitant here. I can think of one or two places in the States that are comparable to here. San Francisco, New York City, maybe Los Angeles, but besides that, [all states are] cheaper than here.
"We like the idea of being able to live in a really nice place, that's really efficient and we don't need a lot of stuff. We like the idea of being able to afford it, that's a big plus," he said.
The plan for the couple's new tiny home. Photo / Supplied
"It is as much of a lifestyle choice as it is an affordability choice. But the affordability aspect of it is undeniable. We're going to spend a lot less on housing."
Block said their new lifestyle is about living with just what you need.
"It makes you think about the excesses that you can easily live without. I'm excited about a life base around using fewer resources."
Perlstein said he'll never be able to go back to his old life, but it took him a while to get into the right mindset.
"How many years ago, if you would have said to me, I could simplify and get rid of so much stuff and be really happy with it, I would've thought that was nuts."
