Woman, 26, lives completely rent free after building ‘luxury tiny home’ in back garden
Posted February 27, 2023 by: Admin
Precious Price, a 26-year-old homeowner from Atlanta, Georgia, came up with a clever plan to avoid paying rent or a mortgage during the pandemic by building a “luxury tiny home” in her backyard. After the pandemic hit, the bookings for the spare rooms she would usually rent out dried up, so she decided to fully rent out her main home and build a tiny home for herself.
Precious purchased a prefabricated shed and hired a contracting team to lay a concrete foundation. She then painted the walls a light blue and added rustic touches to create a light and airy feel. Inside, the tiny home features a queen-sized mattress in the loft, a daybed that doubles as a couch on the main floor, a full bathroom, kitchen, and breakfast nook.
To build the tiny home, Precious applied for all the necessary permits, including building, electrical, and plumbing. She rented out her main home during the build and rented a room in her neighbor’s home to save as much money as possible. Once the tiny home was complete, she initially rented it out on Airbnb to start paying off the costs before moving in permanently at the start of 2022.
According to Precious, she spent about $35,000 on the project, which included structural and material costs, labor, and the prefabricated shed structure. Rather than taking out a bank loan, she put $20,000 on credit cards and cashed out $8,500 in stocks. Her income from the main house allowed her to pay off the debt in 2022.
Today, Precious is able to bring in almost $32,000 in gross rental income by charging between $89 and $129 per night and $1,300 for monthly leases. She claims the tiny home has given her a “ton of real estate options,” including rental income and backup housing for herself and family members.
Although living in a tiny home has required Precious to downsize her wardrobe and shoe collection, she still stores some of her clothes at a friend’s house for a wardrobe swap every few weeks. Precious reports that all of her monthly associated costs for both homes total $1,580, which is covered by the $2,725 she makes from renting out the main house, enabling her to live in her tiny home for free.
