San Antonio tiny homeowners enjoy comfort and security

The saying goes that everything is bigger in Texas – except when it’s not. Sometimes the best things come in small packages and one of the smallest is taking the San Antonio area by storm. Small houses.

“(Tiny homes) are great, especially for people who are trying to downsize. People are trying to follow this new trend right now of ‘owning less,'” said Callie Revell Wood, a real estate agent with Real Broker, LLC.

Having been in the real estate business for nearly 10 years, Wood has sold a lot of homes. However, she recently saw a change in her resume when she sold her first tiny house. It was an easy sale to a client who hadn’t even walked in the door before purchasing the 600+ square foot property.

“She was hesitant (at first),” Wood said. “She was like, ‘I don’t know.’ She’s like, ‘Let’s go see her.’ It might be worth it.’ “I went and videotaped it and sent her the video and pictures, and I fell in love with it.”

Her 23-year-old client, who was interested in owning her own home, purchased a two-story tiny house that had a living area large enough for a number of chairs, a very small bench, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Upstairs there was an open concept bedroom with bathroom.

By the time Wood’s client purchased the tiny house, there was only one house left that fit her needs and time frame. With a tiny house sale now under her belt, Wood hopes that more tiny home communities will be built to meet the growing demand for the latest housing trends.

While some people move into communities, others build and design their own. Before building the tiny house of her dreams, Brooke Burnett was living it big. However, a major change in her life pushed her in a different direction causing her to move her family to a campervan in Canyon Lake.

“I have three kids, and I was running a business… I was living on five acres, but I was part of a bigger property with a bigger house, and it was just too much. I couldn’t keep up and felt like I was drowning all the time with the constant cleaning and maintenance, so I decided we were going to give the camper life a try,” Burnett told MySA. “We really loved it. It was just a great freedom from the responsibility and obligation of just not having things.”

When it came time to build the tiny house of her dreams, Burnett ordered a shed from a company that would soon become the structure for her livable space. Equipped with only exterior trim, windows and insulation, Burnett spent eight months repairing the 600-square-foot shed using used materials or reusing existing ones. Burnett converted the space to fit two bedrooms, a bathroom, and an attic space for her son equipped with an ark for a bed.

“(Home) is much easier to deal with because I’m not spending every moment of my day cleaning or having to constantly move around even with three kids. I’m not spending most of my day doing the housework that I used to do,” Burnett said. “It’s very low maintenance, and I think that’s the best part, even with it being so small.”

Burnett loves her home so much that she’s building a house next door for another single mother. Together they created a small home community to raise their children together and live a small domestic life.

Cy Claharne had a different approach to young life. She and her husband purchased a house in San Antonio with the intention of living there. However, with a separate structure in the backyard, the couple decided to move into the main house and rent it out.

“We wanted to buy a house, but we also needed to make sure we could rent something,” Claharn told MySA. “The tiny house became popular. I’d seen them on HGTV and other TV shows on Hulu, and it was like, ‘Hey, why don’t we live in a smaller house and then rent out the main house to make more money?’

The couple spent $20,000 renovating the house, which included larger ceilings. The 400-square-foot house originally had three bedrooms but was downsized and replaced with a kitchen.

For Clahern, it was all about saving money. By renting the larger house, they had enough money to pay the mortgage, even make money on the property, and barely had an electric bill. The cheapest bill I got was $16.

Ultimately, living in a tiny house wasn’t right for her and her husband, and the couple moved out after a year and a half. The experience still leaves a huge impression and Claharn highly recommends giving it a try.

“(Living in a tiny house) is something you should consider trying at least once in your life. “Living in a tiny house saves a lot of (money) and helps the world be greener, and you don’t really need the space,” Claharn explained. “People have to adjust a little bit because everything is bigger in Texas. If you have a chance to try it, I recommend it.”