Tiny homes have been enjoying their time in the spotlight for a while now as they are championed for solving many issues associated with purchasing a home in today’s world. They offer many of the benefits of owning a traditional home while being much more affordable, easier to maintain, and also for offering an alternative to paying ever-increasing monthly rent. But not all is peachy in the world of tiny homes.
Many tiny homes offer portability, something potential buyers like. They can be hooked up to the back of a truck or placed on a flatbed and moved wherever the owner desires. But, as Casey Friday, a software engineer who spent $35,000 and two years building the tiny home he always wanted in Spring Branch, Texas, learned, tiny homes bring some pretty big and unique risks along with them.
As realtor.com reports, one day in 2013, Friday discovered his home had been burglarized. He didn’t rush home to find his tiny home cleaned out of all his possessions; instead, he rushed home to find an empty lot. The entire house was gone.
Sure, a portable home is great because it makes it easy to move and take with you, but something many people may not have thought of, it makes it very easy for someone else to take it, as well.
Fortunately, the house was recovered, but that didn’t put Friday’s mind at ease; the tiny house now resides securely in storage. As Friday said, he wants to get a dog, but if he needed to go run errands, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from thinking someone could be stealing his entire home again, with the dog inside. In short, Friday’s tiny house dream had been shattered.
There are precautions that can be taken to attempt to prevent something like this form happening. The wheels can be removed, but for anyone who wants to keep their house mobile, that isn’t really a possibility. In that case, individual wheel locks and a tongue lock, which would prevent the trailer from being attached to a trailer, can be purchased.
Part of the problem is not that tiny homes are easier to break into than a more traditional home, but because of their size, potential burglars perceive them to be more accessible and, therefore, may target them. Like with any home, security needs to be a major focus and all doors and windows should have good, strong locks.
