Tiny Homes Have Become Big Targets for Thieves Who Are Stealing Entire Houses

In November, Monica Badzinski drove to the plot of land where she’d built a tiny home and found that her home had vanished. Thieves had broken into her lot, hitched the home to a vehicle, and removed the entire thing under the cloak of night.

Thankfully, Badzinski hadn’t been living in the Sapulpa, OK, property at the time of the theft. Disputes over the zoning and safety of the home had forced her to move out earlier in the year. But a neighbor caught the crime on video.

“He has cameras. He says he saw four men in a UTV and a pickup truck,” she told Fox 23. “They came to my gate, they had some kind of saw, [and] they sawed through my lock. … They came down here, they cut the straps to the home, and they cut the electrical.”

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

While there aren’t specific statistics on tiny-home theft, Badzinski’s is one of several tiny homes that have been stolen in recent months.

A rash of tiny-home thefts

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

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

The family’s dog happened to be in the 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 incurred thousands of dollars of damage while in the thieves’ possession.

In August, Karin Potter of Spokane, WA, had her home stolen from a storage facility. Security cameras recorded footage of a gold pickup truck driving off with the home. The home was found a few days later.

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

But a single mother in Mason County, WA, wasn’t so lucky. In November, the local sheriff’s department reported that the unnamed woman’s 224-square-foot home had been stolen.

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

Why more people are choosing ‘tiny living’

The tiny-home market has exploded in the past decade, and it’s expected to grow over the next eight years. According to data from market research firm Data Bridge, the global tiny-home 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 opt to live in a tiny home
• 65% said the current unaffordability of the housing market—with a median home listing price of $416,880—has made tiny living more attractive
• 52% said high interest rates—currently hovering just below 7%—made tiny homes seem more appealing

There’s no doubt tiny living costs less. According to Bankrate, the typical tiny home costs between $20,000 and $50,000. And because they’re smaller, the utilities are more affordable.

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

But if you’re thinking of buying a tiny home, there are a few things you should know. Owners of stationary tiny homes will need to factor in the cost of buying or leasing land for their tiny home to sit upon and the attendant property taxes for that land.

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

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

Many tiny-home enthusiasts reported using personal or private loans to fund their purchases.

How homeowners can protect their tiny properties

While there are plenty of benefits to living small, potential owners of tiny homes should also go in with their eyes wide open.

Those taking their tiny homes on the road will need to be mindful 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-home builder Tinybox Systems, says homeowners with mobile units should invest in wheel locks.

“It is super important to lock up the mechanical features of the tiny home,” he says. “You can put a wheel lock on by yourself, and can buy them from any large auto retail store.”

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

“There are many ways to complete this and many different solutions, but as long as no one can properly hook up 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.