Las Vegas Tiny Home Draws More than 100 Rental Inquiries

A Las Vegas home has been listed at half the area’s average rental price. According to its owner, it has already attracted more than 113 inquiries despite the fact that it’s basically a toolshed he built in his backyard.

“[My phone] keeps ringing on wanting to rent it,” the man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told KVVU-TV/Las Vegas. “It’s definitely in people’s heart to want to save some money right now.”

Home Petit Home

Known as a tiny home, which is an actual thing, the 160-square-foot rental includes a tiny kitchen, tiny bathroom, and tiny loft bed, all for $950 a month, including furniture, utilities, WiFi, a washer and dryer, and a tiny yard.

Look around town now and, you really, it’s hard to find a studio at that price point,” said the owner, to claims to also have built a dozen other tiny homes.

He said he built it, at a cost of about $22K in materials and labor, because “this economy’s tough, and [I’m] just doing my share on trying to help someone out.”

“I, of course, I can’t help 113 people,” the owner added, though he found some of the inquiries necessary to disqualify right off the bat.

“A family of four inquired if they can come,” he said, and “three people reached out and said ‘I have two kids, plus a dog.’”

The Problem

The average rent in Las Vegas has increased 40% since 2019, according to a recent Zillow report, to $1,745 per month. Using the 30% rule — the real-estate standard dictating that rent not consume more than 30% of one’s income — people need to earn at least $70K a year to afford that.

Tiny homes are one solution to the resort capital’s housing crisis. In 2021, Nevada’s state legislature passed a law requiring cities with populations of more than 150K to create specific zoning laws for them by this year.

The success of this listing could also suggest another answer. It could be read as a sign that Las Vegas casinos need to increase the wages of the lowest-earning among its estimated 400K employees.