I live in a tiny converted military storage building — my micro house may be tight, but its helping me save big money

Tiny houses are nan epitome of tiny and affordable erstwhile it comes to a tile complete your head. But they besides travel pinch a immense question: Can you really compression successful location and beryllium happy?

For Jacqueline Urick, who lives successful a 540-square-foot location in Sturtevant, WI, pinch her beloved dog, Spice, nan reply is simply a resounding yes.

“I had ne'er stayed successful a mini location earlier I bought mine,” she says. “But I person ever been attracted to unsocial and different properties.”

And her location is decidedly 1 of a kind: The Quonset hut was primitively built arsenic a retention portion for nan subject during World War II. Today, only a fistful of huts stay and person been moved to nan 2800 artifact of 97th Street, wherever they were converted to residential housing.

When Urick, who is caput of Organic Growth astatine Realtor.com®, first saw nan two-bedroom, one-bath mini location perched connected a tenth of an acre, she was intrigued—particularly since it was priced astatine a specified $35,000.

But she besides saw that nan spot had been lingering connected nan market, run-down and successful request of a lot of work.

“My dada really did not want maine to bargain this house,” she admits. “But arsenic I looked astatine different much accepted homes successful nan area, I kept coming backmost to it.”

As a personification who travels often for work, she says “a smaller location seemed for illustration a logical choice. I don’t request a batch of space.”

So she decided to spell pinch her gut, and successful March 2023, she moved in.

The benefits and drawbacks of surviving successful a mini house

Urick relocated to Sturtevant from St. Paul, MN, wherever she owned a 1,000-square-foot loft successful Lowertown. She was relieved to observe that surviving successful half that quadrate footage wasn’t a difficult adjustment. In fact, she instantly noticed immoderate important benefits.

“The biggest advantage of surviving successful a mini abstraction is that it’s not a batch to cleanable and maintain,” she says.

Another immense plus? It’s easier connected nan wallet erstwhile it comes clip to salary monthly bills.

“It’s not a batch of abstraction to power and cool, truthful nan utilities are very reasonable,” says Urick.

Reducing her c footprint wasn’t apical of mind, but it has been a bully broadside benefit.

However, location person been immoderate downsides.

“I don’t person each my creation and different sentimental objects connected display, particularly because nan Quonset has curved walls,” she says. “So those items are successful storage.”

Entertaining guests is besides a challenge.

“More than 3 group inside, it starts to consciousness a small claustrophobic,” she says. “It’s awesome to person 1 personification complete for meal aliases lunch. But if I’m entertaining, we person to spell outside.”

Urick besides recovered that clutter collects fast, which has forced her to alteration her shopping habits.

“I decidedly person stopped shopping for home-related things,” she explains. “I tally into galore ‘Oooh, I for illustration this, but I person obscurity to put it’ situations.”

Her closet is truthful small, she says, that if she buys a caller article of clothing, she needs to get free of thing first for everything to fit.

This helps her beryllium much fiscally responsible, she says. “It prevents maine from buying a batch of stuff.”

How overmuch her mini location cost—along pinch renovations

Another use of this mini location was its mini cost. At $35,000, nan spot costs little than a caller car.

“I paid rate for this home,” she says. “It’s not arsenic easy to finance a nontraditional home. But if I had to do it over, I would person taken retired a indebtedness successful bid to person nan rate to renovate it correct away.”

She didn’t recognize astatine nan clip that astir lenders make you hold six months earlier taking retired a home equity loan for renovations. When she yet did commencement renovating, she was shocked by nan cost.

“It’s much rate upfront than you deliberation it’s going to be,” she says.

Urick spent astir $110,000 full for renovations to her mini home, including nan pursuing costs:

• Foundation work: $35,000
• Exterior: $25,000
• Plumbing: $13,000
• Electrical: $13,000
• Acrylic room cabinets and countertop: $20,000

It’s not needfully cheaper to remodel a mini location alternatively than a bigger one, she discovered.

“The renewal costs per quadrate ft tends to beryllium higher because nan labour costs don’t alteration importantly because nan abstraction is smaller,” she explains.

For example, nan instauration activity required digging a trench connected 3 sides of her house. However, she says, “the costs to get nan instrumentality to nan spot and each nan prep for nan digging doesn’t alteration overmuch if they are digging 60 feet aliases 200 feet.

“The costs to person nan room cabinets delivered is nan aforesaid sloppy [of] if I bid 5 cabinets aliases 50,” she continues. “It’s nan aforesaid size motortruck that is delivering them.”

Another situation was uncovering contractors consenting to activity connected a mini home.

“Only a mini number of contractors want nan situation of moving connected thing unusual,” she says. “I retrieve 1 contractor coming in, taking 1 look astatine nan curved interior walls, and was for illustration ‘sorry, nope.’ Another rumor I ran into was contractors who didn’t want to return nan occupation because they felt it wasn’t worthy investing nan money into nan property.”

Once she yet recovered contractors who were connected board, she hired them to hole her home’s myriad problems—which included mold and asbestos remediation, instauration work, plumbing, electrical, and installation of nan room cabinets, nan ablution walls, drywall, and more.

“The windows successful nan spot were each those aluminum large wind windows that you’d find successful an older mobile home. They were very bladed and drafty,” she recalls. “Additionally, whoever installed them did not instal them correctly, truthful they were leaking successful betwixt nan interior and exterior walls. This caused a batch of mold and wood rot.”

The full gut and rehab of nan Quonset took a twelvemonth and a half, and nan money was good spent, according to Urick. Her location is estimated to beryllium worthy betwixt $150,000 and $180,000 now.

Plans for nan future

Throughout this process, Urick has embraced tiny-house living.

“Overall, I deliberation it’s awesome that group person truthful galore options erstwhile it comes to lodging that fits their values and lifestyle,” she says. “I don’t person thing against group who person ample homes. A ample location is conscionable excessively overmuch for maine to maintain.”

Even so, she doesn’t spot herself surviving present permanently. But she besides has nary plans to fto spell of her mini home.

“The spot taxes and upkeep is low-cost, and location is immoderate bid of mind successful knowing I person this spot to autumn backmost connected nary matter what,” she says.

Check retired nan unthinkable before-and-after shots of Urick’s tiny-home renewal below.