Daring burglars are targeting small homes – stealing the whole house

In November, Monica Badzinski drove to the plot of land where she had built a tiny house and discovered her house was gone.

Thieves had entered her lot, tied the house to a vehicle and removed everything under the cover of the night.

Fortunately, Badzinski was not living at the Sapulpa, OK, property at the time of the theft. Disputes over zoning and home security had forced him out earlier this year. But a neighbor caught the crime on video.

“He has cameras. He says he saw four men in a UTV and a pickup,” she told Fox 23. “They came to my gate, they had some kind of saw, [and] they sawed off my lock. … They came down here, cut the belts in the house and cut the electricity.â€

Badzinski has offered a $500 reward for information about the theft.

While there are no specific statistics on tiny home burglaries, Badzinski’s is one of several tiny homes that have been burglarized in recent months.

A host of petty thefts at home

On TikTok, @TheBennettGang is a family of five who have been traveling the country and documenting their lives in a tiny house for the past few years.

In November, the family traveled from Ohio to Utah. When they stopped to celebrate one of their children’s birthday, a thief lifted their custom-built tiny house from their car and made off with it.

The family dog ​​happened to be home at the time, and the Bennetts were able to use the dog’s GPS tracking collar to locate the stolen home.

Unfortunately, the home sustained thousands of dollars in damage while in the hands of the thieves.

In August, Karin Potter of Spokane, WA, had her home stolen from a warehouse. Security cameras captured footage of a gold truck driving away with the house. The house was found a few days later.

“It’s built through community,” she told KXLY News. “I lived in him in the community, and now, he was lost and found through the community. That’s really moving, that’s powerful.”

But one single mom in Mason County, WA, wasn’t so lucky. In November, the local sheriff’s department reported that the unidentified woman’s 224-square-foot home had been burglarized.

“This family lost not only clothing and essentials, but precious, irreplaceable items, including the ashes of their mother’s late father,” the Mason County Sheriff’s Department said in a social media post.

Why more people are choosing “small living”.

The tiny house market has exploded in the last decade and is expected to grow over the next eight years. According to data from market research firm Data Bridge, the global tiny house market is currently valued at $5.61 billion and is expected to grow to $7.31 billion by 2031.

A 2024 survey by IBX 1031 of more than 1,000 Americans found the following:

• 73% of people would choose to live in a tiny house
• 65% said the current unaffordability of the housing market — with a median home listing price of $416,880 — has made the small life more attractive
• 52% said high interest rates – currently under 7% – make small houses look more attractive

There is no doubt that the small life costs less. According to Bankrate, the typical tiny house costs between $20,000 and $50,000. And because they are smaller, utilities are more affordable.

Plus, they’re a great alternative for people who want to live on the road, a lifestyle that’s becoming increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of remote work.

But if you’re considering buying a tiny house, there are a few things you should know. Tiny home owners will need to factor in the cost of buying or leasing land to lower their tiny home and the property taxes on that land.

If you’re building a tiny home, you’ll also need to understand local zoning and building laws. Badzinski was not living in her tiny home when it was stolen because she had failed a security inspection.

Financing can also be a pain. Most mortgage lenders do not offer mortgages on homes that are not built on foundations or that are 400 square feet or less. And many lenders require you to borrow a minimum of $50,000, which, in many cases, exceeds the cost of a tiny house.

Many tiny house enthusiasts reported using personal or private loans to finance their purchases.

How homeowners can protect their small properties

While there are many benefits to living small, potential tiny home owners should also go in with their eyes open.

Those who take their tiny homes on the road will need to be aware of where and when they can park their homes (to avoid expensive parking tickets and towing).

Ryan Meagher, who works in business development at tiny house builder Tinybox Systems, says mobile home owners should invest in wheel locks.

“It’s very important to lock in the mechanical features of the tiny house,” he says. “You can install the wheel locks yourself and you can buy them from any major auto retail store.”

Meagher also suggests using a trailer hitch lock, an anti-theft mechanism that ensures no one can make off with your tiny home.

“There are many ways to accomplish this and many different solutions, but as long as no one can properly connect to your trailer system without a key or a way to unlock the trailer receiver, then you shouldn’t be dealing with any thefts in the future”, he explains.