I was cleaning up my inbox this morning and came across an email from mid March of this year from a producer at Pie Town Productions:

Hi Greg!

I hope this email finds you well.

I am a show producer for HGTV’s Tiny House Hunters and would love to chat with you

about taking a homebuyer on a tour through one of your homes on either Apr. 7 or 8.

It would be a one day film shoot with a crew of just four people, two home buyers, and a real estate agent. We’d light it well, would be sure to treat it with respect, and would be done in 8 hours of shooting. The purpose of this tour is just to highlight the features and benefits of the house, and compare how it fits with our home buyer’s wishlist (she is looking for a tiny house with rustic elements).

Her budget is under $25K, so I was hoping you might know of a Durango model we could film (it looks, on your website, like this may be the lowest priced of your houses – yes?).

I would love to chat with you today if you have even just a moment.

She also followed up with a phone call during which time I learned that the homebuyer had already bought a house and they basically wanted to try and recreate the whole process just to get something good on film I respectfully replied back:

Hi,

Don’t think I’ll be able to help you. We are currently building a spec house but it won’t be complete by then. Furthermore, it would be more in the $35k range and I would not mislead viewers into thinking they could get something like that for $25k.

Thanks for reaching out,
Greg

Thanks for your reply. Your houses really are beautiful – I can imagine they wouldn’t fall into such a low budget range.

Would you happen to have a line on any houses which might fall somewhere close to this budget line?

They can be located in CO, AZ, CA, or OR.

Or do you happen to know of anyone who might own one of your houses, valued at around this price range, who might be open to letting us film a tour of it inside the home? Shoot date would be either Apr. 7 or 8, and we can compensate house owner for time and transport of house.

It was really an innocent enough request, but for some reason it pushed me the wrong way and I wrote her back:

Hello again,

My houses typically are at the lower end of pricing, at least for a new house. Do some research and you will see that 30-40k is very reasonable for a tiny house. The norm is closer to 50k. People have a very skewed reality regarding this. Material costs alone can run $25k. The only way you are going to find a house that cheap is used, and probably not very interesting. Try looking at tinyhouselistings.com. I would never ask any of my current customers to do what you are asking unless they were actually trying to sell their house. The “fakeness” of these reality shows is really not a good thing for the movement and I would encourage your network to move more in the direction of true reality rather than prioritizing entertainment.

Best regards,
Greg

I suppose what led to my little rant was the high number of TV producers contacting me asking if I had a house they could use in their show for a completely fabricated false scenario. Not only was the scenario false, they were trying to portray custom built tiny houses as units that only cost $25k to purchase. Sure, one can build a tiny house for that much or less, but a decent sized, quality built, custom tiny house constructed by a tiny house company is going to cost more. There’s no way around it. It is shows like this that have people calling me up asking for a top of the line 30′ house for $30,000 and asking if they can have it in a month. I try to be nice about it, but when folks just can’t accept the reality of the situation I have to hit the delete button and move on.

I’m undecided whether all these new tiny house TV shows have been a good or bad thing for the movement. Myself, having been on TV, I have a whole different perspective on these shows. While the storyline of our build was more or less accurate, there were a lot of little things thrown in for effect. Some of those scenes were not organic at all. Some took 4-6 shoots before the producer was happy. This is just the nature of the business. Overall my experience was positive, but I wouldn’t do it again. I tell people that it’s not what it’s cut out to be., and this is the honest truth.

As for the “Tiny House Nation” show, they paint extremely unrealistic pictures. Granted, there are some really cool ideas and solutions that they come up with, but the plot is just so predictable.  The crew shows up to tiny house build in progress. The customer is in over their head. They need the house finished in two weeks. They need these super cool expensive features in order to meet their needs. Their budget is a completely unattainable $30,000.  Trucks get stuck, storms roll in, vendors miss deliveries, old wood bridges threaten to fall into the river, the house tries to roll off a cliff…Somehow in the end it all comes together and the people are left with their dream tiny house. Folks, this just isn’t how it works. Perhaps if you somehow find your way on that show, but chances are you won’t. If you do agree to do the show, you might wish you hadn’t. Don’t take my word though, go ahead and see for yourself.

Great design, great craftsmanship, and great tiny houses take time. They also take money if you plan to hire a builder. Even if you decide to build it yourself, how much is your time worth? Even if you are planning to find and use as much reclaimed material as possible, how much time will it take to find it and make it suitable for use in a tiny house? Short of receiving materials as gifts, you are going to pay for them with money or time.

To wrap this rant up, I guess an important point I am trying to make is that my business is devoted to crafting amazing tiny houses and focusing on our customers, not trying to score TV gigs and please producers. If you are a TV producer reading this wanting me to host a show or use one of my houses for some new spinoff, please take note. Don’t call me. I’m too busy on the phone with my customer, drawing plans, or swinging a hammer. Also, like I told the producer above, please put more emphasis on the reality of tiny houses and less on entertainment.

This morning, I would like to share a note that a good friend sent me last week. I met this woman while backpacking the Sawtooth Wilderness a few summers back while in search of tiny house inspiration. It was right before the business started picking up steam. Her words not only left me warm and fuzzy, but I felt would be inspiring to others seeking out their tiny house dreams.

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Greg,
I want to take a minute to tell you about my day and how you inspire me. It’s been a wild/life changing few months of twists and turns. It’s been my time to break out of the traditional public school setting and find my brave new life. I had an interview today with a group of pioneers who are starting their own co-op school that I want to be a part of it. The school is not only looking for their first teacher, but also someone who will fit into their community- add to their co-op. So it’s an untraditional setting to say the least. While I was trying to explain who I am, I began talking about the possibility of me buying a tiny house to live in the area. We talked at length about finding your calling and doing what’s right and finding fulfillment in that. I told them your story about how you had a dream and turned it into reality with your bare hands, your brain, and your heart. When I was done talking, the women were mesmerized not only by your story, but by my telling of it. They said, ” wow, harness that energy you just had there, when you were telling that story, your face lit up and your voice got softer, we really just saw the true you.”
So, thank you for inspiring me by letting my light shine through your story.
~(really pretty woman)
PS. I’ll be putting in an order for a Stanley.

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It has not been easy building this business from the ground up. I have sacrificed much. Little tidbits of love like this make me realize it was all worth it. I wish my Idaho friend the best of luck in her brave new journey and hope her story can serve as inspiration for others in search of their calling.