Tiny houses are the epitome of cute and affordable when it comes to a roof over your head. But they also come with a big question: Can you really get in there and be happy?
For Jacqueline Urick, who lives in a 540-square-foot home in Sturtevant, WI, with her beloved dog, Spice, the answer is a resounding yes.
“I had never stayed in a tiny house before I bought mine,” she says. “But I’ve always been drawn to unique and unusual properties.”
And her home is definitely one of a kind: The Quonset hut was originally built as a storage unit for the military during World War II. Today, only a handful of shacks remain and have been moved to the 2800 block of 97th Street, where they have been converted into residential apartments.
When Urick, who heads Organic Growth at Realtor.com®, first saw the tiny two-bedroom, one-bathroom home on a tenth of an acre, she was intrigued — especially since its price was only $35,000.
But she also saw that the property had remained on the market, dilapidated and in need of one LOT of work.
“My father really didn’t want me to buy this house,” she admits. “But as I looked at other, more traditional houses in the area, I kept coming back to it.”
As someone who travels frequently for work, she says, “a smaller house seemed like a logical choice. I don’t need a lot of space.”
So she decided to go with her gut and in March 2023, she moved.
Advantages and disadvantages of living in a tiny house
Urick moved to Sturtevant from St. Louis. Paul, MN, where she owned a 1,000 square foot loft in Lowertown. She was relieved to find that living in half that square footage wasn’t a difficult adjustment. In fact, she immediately noticed some significant benefits.
“The biggest advantage of living in a small space is that it’s not a lot to clean and maintain,” she says.
Another big plus? It’s easier on the wallet when it comes time to pay your monthly bills.
“There’s not a lot of space to heat and cool, so utilities are very reasonable,” says Urick.
Reducing its carbon footprint wasn’t in mind, but it’s been a nice side benefit.
However, there have been some downsides.
“I don’t have all my art and other sentimental items on display, especially because the Quonset has curved walls,” she says. “So those items are in storage.”
Entertaining guests is also a challenge.
“More than three people in, it starts to feel a little claustrophobic,” she says. “It’s nice to have someone over for dinner or lunch. But if I’m having fun, we should go out.”
Urick also found that clutter adds up quickly, which has forced her to change her shopping habits.
“I definitely stopped shopping for things related to the house,” she explains. “I’ve run into a lot of ‘Oooh, I like this, but I have nowhere to put it.'” situations.
Her closet is so small, she says, that if she buys a new outfit, she has to get rid of something first to make it fit.
This helps her be more fiscally responsible, she says. “It keeps me from buying too many things.”
How much her tiny house cost – along with renovations
Another benefit of this tiny house was its low cost. At $35,000, the property costs less than a new car.
“I paid money for this house,” she says. “It is not so easy to finance a non-traditional house. But if I had it to do over again, I would have taken out a loan to have the money to renovate it immediately.”
She didn’t realize at the time that most lenders make you wait six months before you can get a home equity loan for renovations. When she finally started the renovation, she was shocked at the cost.
“It’s more money than you think it will be,” she says.
Urick spent about $110,000 in total renovating her tiny home, including the following costs:
- Foundation work: $35,000
- Exterior: $25,000
- Plumbing: $13,000
- Electric: $13,000
- Acrylic kitchen cabinets and counters: $20,000
It’s not necessarily cheaper to remodel a small house than a larger one, she found.
“The renovation cost per square meter tends to be higher because labor costs don’t go down significantly because the space is smaller,” she explains.
For example, foundation work required digging a trench on three sides of her house. However, she says, “the cost to get the equipment to the property and all the preparation for the dig doesn’t change much whether they dig 60 feet or 200 feet.
“The cost to deliver the kitchen cabinets is the same regardless [of] whether I order five cabinets or 50,” she continued. “It’s the same size truck that’s delivering them.”
Another challenge was finding contractors willing to work on a tiny house.
“Only a small number of contractors want the challenge of working on something unusual,” she says. “I remember a contractor coming in, taking one look at the curved interior walls and saying ‘sorry, no.’ Another issue I ran into was contractors not wanting to take the job because they didn’t think it was worth the investment the money in the property.”
After finally finding contractors who were on board, she hired them to fix her home’s myriad problems—which included mold and asbestos remediation, foundation work, plumbing, electrical, and installing kitchen cabinets, walls, and more. shower, drywall and more.
“The windows in the place were all those aluminum storm windows you’d find in an old mobile home. They were very thin and scratchy,” she recalls. “Plus, whoever installed them didn’t install them properly, so that leaked between the interior and exterior walls. This caused a lot of mold and wood rot.”
The full body and rehabilitation of the Quonset took a year and a half and was money well spent, according to Urick. Her home is estimated to be worth between $150,000 and $180,000 now.
Plans for the future
Throughout this process, Urick has embraced tiny house living.
“Overall, I think it’s great that people have so many options when it comes to housing that fits their values and lifestyle,” she says. “I have nothing against people who have big houses. A big house is just too much for me to carry.”
However, she does not see herself living here forever. But she also has no plans to give up her tiny house.
“Property taxes and maintenance are low, and there’s a little peace of mind knowing that I have this place to come back to no matter what,” she says.
Check out the incredible before and after photos of Urick’s tiny house renovation below.
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Image Source : nypost.com