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Tiny Houses are an atractive way to invest in eco-friendly real estate with minimal environmental impact and land footprint. In this post we collaborated with Serena.House who brings an interesting option for investors looking to invest in tiny houses in Europe.

Guest post by Manfred from the Happiness Ride blog

It has been discussed in various articles on this blog: we are quickly reaching a critical point on Earth. The sole focus on economic growth without carefully considering natural resources will lead to disaster.

Taking care of the planet is everybody’s job. After all, it’s what we all call ‘home’. This can take various forms, one of which is Impact Investing. The objective of Impact Investing is to create sustainable and responsible investment instruments with a positive impact on society and the environment while having the health of our planet on top of mind.

A perfect example of such an instrument is tiny houses. Tiny houses are a philosophy for sustainable investing and living. In this article, we explain what the tiny house philosophy means, how it has a positive impact on society, the environment, and ecology. We will introduce a concrete tiny house network investment project that is not only eco-friendly but delivers very attractive 9% annual returns as well as the possibility to spend time in incredibly beautiful locations. We will also present the story of the Spanish startup Serena.House who created this project as well as the people behind it.

What Is the Tiny House Philosophy?

At the epicenter of the tiny house philosophy is of course the physical tiny house, which is typically the size of about 180 square feet (=17 square meters – as per the European standards). But the philosophy goes far beyond that. The real purpose is to find happiness by embracing freedom and minimalism and living in harmony with nature.

People who decide to live the tiny house lifestyle highly optimize their small interior space and leverage the environment around the tiny house to increase the living area. Tiny houses are typically set up remotely at incredibly beautiful places in the mountains, forest, coast, etc.

This lifestyle is centered around having more freedom and time, living more adventures, simplifying and reducing consumption and waste, reconnecting to nature, and especially reducing one’s environmental footprint

This eco-consciousness also influences the way tiny houses are created. Organic and locally sourced materials are normally used. Proponents of the tiny house philosophy understand that our planet is a complex system. Inputs from us trigger reactions and feedback loops. If we want to live longer on a healthy planet we better make sure our inputs are sustainable. This view gave rise to the notion of the Living Planet.

Pairing Tiny House Lifestyle With the Living Planet Concept

The Living Planet model describes our Earth as a complex geomechanical machine where everything is connected. The philosopher, and author Charles Eisenstein suggests that in order to save our planet we all should follow four principles:

1. Protect what’s still undamaged.
2. Repair what can still be repaired (eg, protect the ocean and fauna).
3. Stop poisoning with toxic waste (plastic etc.).
4. Reduce the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

This is a holistic model where the four principles are not seen in isolation but as an interconnected set of tactics. It’s like in Einstein’s quote above: We need to find ways to widen our circles and embrace the whole of our planet in its unity.

In line with this view, Buckminster Fuller – an early thought leader of sustainability of the twentieth century – suggested the vision to “make the world work for 100% of humanity without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” According to Fuller, if we start changing our attitude and behavior there would be enough for everyone – enough food, energy, and resources – and we would not kill our planet.

Now tiny houses are not the answer to all our planet’s problems. But they are a damn good start.

If you consider the tiny house lifestyle carefully, you can see that it follows all of Eisenstein’s four principles. It may be a small contribution but every little step helps, and the power of the crowds can lead to a tipping point.

Some examples of sustainable living as encouraged by the tiny house philosophy include the usage of renewable energy. Access to electricity is often achieved autonomously via solar panels and powerful batteries for energy storage. Water is often sourced from an owned well or by collecting rainwater, or purification. Cooking is pretty much back to basics: a stove or a fireplace.

The cost of building and living comes down substantially in a tiny house. Substantially fewer materials are used. It’s a much smaller space that needs to be heated. There is a lot less to maintain and there is a lot less waste.

This way of often frugal living – back to the basics, in harmony with nature – is a lot more energy aware, efficient, cheaper, and hence, more eco-friendly, green, and sustainable.

Now we have covered the impact that the tiny house philosophy has on sustainable and responsible living with the health of our planet on top of mind. But how can this idea be leveraged as an investment instrument with a positive impact on society and the environment while also providing attractive returns – thus leading to a win-win?

Let’s find out.

High Returns From Eco-Friendly Impact Investing

Like with everything in investing, the only limit is the investor’s creativity. One such creative approach is the eco-friendly tiny house network investment project that was created by the Spanish startup Serena.House close to Barcelona, Catalonia.

This project brings together a range of stakeholders where the sum of the result clearly delivers more value than its individual parts. Serena.House builds and manages a network of tiny houses all over Europe which can be rented by anyone for staycations in breathtaking locations. The tiny houses are set up on lands owned by small businesses like vineyards that can treat the guests to local cuisine and specialties.

What’s in it for the investor? 

1. Portfolio Diversification With Sustainable Investments

The tiny house network investment project is a perfect example of an impact investment instrument. Eco-conscious investors can leverage this to diversify their portfolios with ethical and sustainable investments to support the health of our planet. The Serena.House tiny houses are all built using ecological local products & entirely designed and built by the company employees, in their own dedicated workshop

2. Breathtaking Getaways In Unique Locations

Everyone who decides to invest in a tiny house as part of that network is the full owner of that tiny house but also gets access to other houses of that network. This allows every investor to have the security to physically own an asset and to be able to choose from flexible getaways in unique locations.

3. Attractive Returns Via Monthly Rental Income

The tiny houses of the network are rented and investors get the majority of the rental income. This translates to a realistic annual return rate of 9% (in the best case scenario up to 18%). The renting and guest management is operated by Serena.House. Investors don’t need to do anything except receive their monthly rental income.

The Serena.House Story

Serena.House is a story of commitment, passion, and love for people and our planet. At its core is the tiny house concept. Since 2017, Serena.House has designed unique tiny house models, created its production line, and hosted hundreds of guests all while financially supporting small local producers.

Serena.House is more than a company. The people engaging with Serena.House describe themselves as a “collective oriented towards nature”. Living in harmony with nature in an environmentally friendly habitat is one of their core values. They prioritize the optimal use of renewable energies for a modern living comfort responding to the needs of a respectful society. This philosophy is manifested in all tiny house projects that this company has been creating since the beginning of the adventure.

Behind all of this is Antoine Grillon, the founder of Serena.House. Antoine is a true environmentalist entrepreneur who is not only convinced about the tiny house philosophy but is in fact, actively involved in shaping and growing this movement. Tiny houses have been the main component of his life for the last five years and he has organically turned this focus into a resilient entrepreneurial project, for years to come. The tiny house network investment project is one of the components of the long-term ecological mission of this project.

Invest in Tiny Houses and Support the Health of Our Planet

We only have one planet. We better take care of it. Impact investing is a particularly effective and attractive way to support the health of our planet.

In this article, we presented tiny houses as a philosophy for sustainable investing and living. We discussed how tiny houses are in line with the principles of the Living Planet concept and thus can contribute to preserving the beauty that we call home.

For eco-conscious investors who are eager to leverage impact investment instruments to diversify their portfolios, we presented the tiny house network investment project by Serena.House. It not only delivers attractive annual return rates of 9% but allows investors to choose from flexible getaways in unique locations.

Please find out all the details about the tiny house network investment project on the website of Serena.House.

Manfred’s Bio

Manfred is a creator, entrepreneur, investor, and above all free spirit. He is constantly chasing things that support health and freedom to maximize the happiness of himself and the people around him. He loves to lift heavy things. He loves to cook and eat well. He loves to read and learn. And he loves to share. He invests in stock, crypto, P2P, as an Angel, and most importantly in a lot of really alternative stuff like cattle, farmland, solar, wine, or tiny houses like we covered in this article. Manfred holds a .D.Ph.D. and an MBA.

Here is what he is doing now.

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