Tiny-house living isn’t without challenges | South Salem Real Estate

Last year, 66-year-old Lauren Knoblauch sold or donated nearly everything she owned, from her two-bedroom home on a suburban Seattle lake to her furniture and many of her clothes. She moved everything else, two small carloads’ worth, into her new home: a downtown apartment that, at less than 150 sq. ft., is smaller than the average U.S. master bedroom.

The move came as Knoblauch, who works in inmate rehabilitation, pondered her impending retirement. “I started thinking about what I was passionate about,” she said. “I wanted to see opera in Europe, to spend money on what was exciting to me.”

Her new apartment, which costs $575 a month — less than half the $1,400 average for a Seattle one-bedroom — puts her about 20 minutes from Symphony Hall by foot and a short bus ride from the Opera House. With new financial flexibility, she’s traveled to Germany and Ireland to see opera performances. “I’m loving it,” she says.

The burgeoning tiny house and micro-apartment movements, which generally describe accommodations smaller than about 400 sq. ft., are sometimes seen as young person’s trends, with budget- and environmentally conscious millennials and Gen Xers seeking to slash living costs while lessening their environmental footprints. Some familiar with the industry, however, say they are increasingly of interest to older people at or nearing retirement age.

About 10,000 people live in tiny houses in the U.S. — the Pacific Northwest, Colorado and the Carolinas are particularly popular areas — though just a fraction are older; many more people, especially those in expensive cities, live in micro-apartments, according to Ryan Mitchell, owner of the website TheTinyLife. Their numbers are growing, he says, as modifications that make the homes more accessible to older residents, such as staircases rather than ladders and designs that keep everything easily reachable, become more commonplace.

While their appeal is varied, the principal attraction is price. Smaller homes can give seniors “more disposable income and the ability for many to comfortably survive within their Social Security means and/or part time work,” says consultant Erik Blair, a tiny house advocate. “The number one reason to get into a tiny house: You can save 70% or more of your recurring cost of living.”

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-you-might-retire-to-a-tiny-house-by-choice-2015-12-14