Geoff Daigle and Candace bought this ESCAPE eONE in November 2024 as a rental in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. They’re fans of tiny-home efficiency. On Airbnb and VRBO it went to traveling professionals who preferred it over hotels, and to snowbirds who stayed a month at a time.
The RV park is no longer allowing rentals, so they are selling. The house is 408 square feet, fully furnished, and listed at $85,000. You can move it — or move into the Florida site at $575/month plus electricity.
Right after readers ask whether they can legally live in a tiny house in Florida, they ask the follow-up that decides whether any of it is possible: can I actually finance one?
Yes. But almost certainly not with a mortgage, and that surprises people. The financing world splits tiny houses along exactly the same line Florida law does, and which side you land on changes your interest rate, your loan term, your monthly payment, your tax treatment, and whether the home builds equity or loses value the moment you take delivery.
Here is how tiny house lending actually works in Florida in 2026, what the numbers look like, and the Florida-specific costs that never show up in a builder’s quote.
The short answer
On a permanent foundation: It is real property. Conventional, FHA, USDA, and VA mortgages are all possible. The obstacle is not the loan program, it is finding an appraiser who can locate comparable sales.
On wheels: It is personal property. You are looking at an RV loan, a chattel loan, or a personal loan. Rates run higher than a mortgage, terms are shorter, and the home depreciates rather than appreciates.
It is the first question almost every Florida reader asks us, and it is the one with the most bad information floating around it: can you legally live in a tiny house in Florida?
The honest answer is yes, thousands of people already do. But Florida does not have one tiny house law. It has two completely separate legal tracks, and which one you land on is decided by a single thing: whether your tiny house has wheels under it. Get that distinction right and the rest of the process is manageable. Get it wrong and you can spend $80,000 on a beautiful home that your county will not let you sleep in.
This guide walks through both tracks, the specific building code Florida has already adopted for tiny houses, what actually happened to the tiny home and ADU bills in Tallahassee, and the four legal paths people are using right now.
The short answer
Tiny house on a permanent foundation: Legal statewide as a dwelling. Florida has adopted Appendix Q, the tiny house building code. Your real obstacle is local zoning, especially minimum house size and minimum lot size rules.
Tiny house on wheels: Legal to own and park, but Florida classifies it as a recreational vehicle or park trailer, not a dwelling. In most residential zones it cannot be your permanent, full-time residence. It belongs in an RV park, a park model community, or a tiny house community.
Update: Palm Court Lot-28 has been sold. This tour stays up as a detailed look at how the Escape N2 layout lives day to day, and as a snapshot of the kind of home that comes up for sale at Escape Tampa Bay. At the time of this update, a pre-owned Traveler XLS Wide at The Village (Lot-3) is the community’s featured home, reduced to under $90,000 with more than $60,000 in upgrades. For what is available right now, see the Escape Tampa Bay available units page.
This beautifully furnished, all-electric Escape N2 sits in the peaceful Palm Court neighborhood of the gated Escape Tampa Bay community in Florida. Inspired by timeless mid-century design and built for effortless Florida living, the N2 pairs a bright, open one-bedroom interior with a screened Florida room spanning nearly 300 square feet, so the living space flows right out into the tropical outdoors. Lot-28 has since found its buyer, but it remains one of the clearest examples of just how much home this layout can deliver in a compact footprint.
Photos courtesy of Escape Tampa Bay
The Surya is the top of Simplify Further Tiny Homes’ lineup — the one built less like a tiny house and more like a small, single-level home. At 32 feet long (in an 8- or 10-foot width) it stretches to 256 square feet with no loft to climb to: instead, a main-floor queen bedroom with sliding glass doors, an open living room, a full kitchen with a real range and a stackable washer/dryer, and a spa-style bathroom all sit on one level. Built near Lake Butler in North Central Florida and pitched as “a comfortable and luxurious design, perfect for long-term living or a gorgeous short-term rental,” it sleeps two to four and starts around $75,000. Let’s take the tour.
The Goa is Simplify Further Tiny Homes’ answer to a simple question: how close can a tiny house get to a real home without the mortgage? Built near Lake Butler in North Central Florida, this 24-foot tiny house on wheels packs 252 square feet, two queen sleeping lofts, a genuinely large kitchen with a full-size range and a washer/dryer, and a full bathroom with the option of a soaking tub. The company pitches it as “a custom-built, luxurious-feeling home, without the mortgage,” and the bright-blue cabinetry and warm pine finishes here back that up — it sleeps four to five and works for full-time living or as a standout rental. Starting around $65,000, let’s take the tour.
The Prana is what happens when Simplify Further Tiny Homes takes its popular two-loft layout and gives it room to breathe. Built near Lake Butler in North Central Florida, this 24-foot tiny house on wheels stretches to 266 square feet — about 42 more than its sibling the Rasa — and spends that extra space on what the company calls the largest living room of any model in its lineup: a sunny 7-by-7-foot nook tucked beneath the lofts. With a master loft on open stairs, a second loft by ladder, a full kitchen, and a full bathroom with a soaking tub, it sleeps four to six and works just as well as a guest house, an Airbnb, or a full-time home. Starting around $60,000, let’s take the tour.
If Tulsi adds a loft to the formula, the Leela doubles down with two. Built by Simplify Further Tiny Homes near Lake Butler in North Central Florida, this 20-foot tiny house on wheels uses a pair of sleeping lofts — a master with open stairs and a second reached by ladder — to sleep four within roughly 288 square feet of livable space, while keeping a full kitchen, a full bathroom, and a cozy window-side living nook below. The company calls it “a cozy two-loft tiny home, perfect for a short-term rental or long-term living,” and the lived-in, bohemian styling here shows exactly how warm that simple, minimalist footprint can feel. Starting around $50,000, let’s take the tour.
If the Shanti is Simplify Further Tiny Homes’ economical starter model, the Tulsi is the version with room for one more. Built by the same family-run company near Lake Butler in North Central Florida, this 20-foot tiny house on wheels packs 161 square feet, a ground-level queen bedroom, a single sleeping loft, a real kitchen, and a full tiled bathroom into a footprint the builder pitches as “the perfect guest house or mother-in-law suite.” It sleeps up to three, works equally well as a backyard suite, a rental, or a first home, and starts around $35,000 — and the styled build you see here shows just how warm a small space can feel. Let’s take the tour.
