Tiny House Sells for $1M, and It Is Really Tiny

328 square feet, to be exact, smack in the middle of Santa Cruz, Calif.
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 3, 2021 9:09 AM CDT
Updated Nov 6, 2021 6:30 AM CDT
Tiny California House Sells for Not-So-Tiny Price
Pic of the tiny but coveted home.   (Realtor.com)

What would you pony up for a one-bedroom, one-bath tiny house? If your answer stretches into the seven figures, you would've been a good candidate for an abode in California's Santa Cruz that did not come with a tiny price tag. The Sacramento Bee notes that, per Home Advisor calculations, the average tiny house commands about $150 per square foot—which would equate to a normal selling price of slightly less than $50,000 for the 328-square-foot home that sold last month in the Seabright neighborhood. Instead, that 1948 "vintage bungalow," as it's described, was scooped up for $1,025,000 (or about $3,125 for square foot), a cost that KSBW notes is nearly $400,000 less than the typical price for California residences.

The listed square footage is somewhat deceptive: SFGate notes the garage, which was converted to a bonus room and bathroom, wasn't revamped with permits, so it can't technically be included in the home's square footage. And the listing notes the house comes with a nearly 4,000-square-foot lot, which KSBW calls its "biggest selling point." The home also has a deck that oversees a "spacious and inviting backyard," a storage shed, and that more intangible "location location location" factor, in proximity to a local beach, restaurants and a brewery, downtown Santa Cruz, and the city's boardwalk.

The home was most recently listed for just under $990,000 in September, and five bids came in with all-cash offers. It was last purchased 22 years ago for $250,000. Listing agent Walter Stauss tells SFGate that the home is "close to a bunch of stuff and ... has a bunch of character," though he concedes it needs quite a bit of work. That last part doesn't seem to have been a factor in this home's purchase. "Silicon Valley is a huge job market," continues Stauss. "The fact that people don't have to commute anymore and can enjoy the Santa Cruz lifestyle is a big deal. I don't see that changing at all." (More home sales stories.)

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