Tiny homes were not a new invention of 2022, but they picked up a lot of momentum.
Whether you're a millennial or Gen Z buyer facing record-high prices, a current homeowner looking to live with less, or a city dweller whose lifestyle shifted during the pandemic, tiny homes can be filled with promise.
Elon Musk uses a Boxabl tiny home as a guest house near his Texas home. Boxabl cofounder Galiano Tiramani even shared a video on Twitter of a Tesla hauling a 15,000-pound tiny home.
Gimmicks aside, tiny homes are being used as solutions to housing crises in cities like Chicago or Bridgeton, New Jersey — where tiny homes are being used to house former inmates for free after their release. Albuquerque, New Mexico, created Tiny Home Village, which has 30 120-square-foot homes, and is being used as transitional housing and is providing shelter for people without housing.
The often-modular approach of tiny homes can help reduce construction costs and make housing cheaper. From all-electric homes to optimizing backyards in the Bay area, the future of housing may look smaller.
Tiny homes can range in price and aesthetics, but typically remain under 600 square feet. The median square footage of single-family units in America through the first three quarters of 2022 was 2,294 square feet, according to the Census Bureau.
They can also be money makers. Petite, picturesque Airbnbs are popular with Instagram-savvy travelers. In states like California, homeowners are tapping companies that plop prefabricated structures down in their backyards. In one model, a startup collects rent from the tenants of the accessory dwelling units, or ADUs — and pays out a portion to the homeowner.
We've compiled a list of the hottest tiny-home companies to look out for in 2023, all shaking up real estate in different ways. Here they are, presented in alphabetical order.