AUSTIN, Texas — Housing costs in Austin make it hard for many people to make ends meet.
That's the case for one single mom who said she can no longer afford her tiny home.
When Elizabeth Illing saw the Casata micro-home community in South Austin, she saw living in the community as a way of knowing your neighborhood and keeping Austin affordable.
"I grew up in a small town," Illing said. "I wanted to be able to let my kid go outside and play."
She moved into the community in February 2022, paying $1,340 for rent including internet, with her utilities set at $150. But now she said she's paying almost $1,700 in rent alone. The cost of her utilities is also making it harder for her to make ends meet.
"It's just really sad because I saw myself being here long term," Illing said. "I didn't want to uproot my daughter. I wanted us to be here, and now I can't afford to live here anymore. I've gotten help from churches, I've gotten help from family members. I've actually had unforeseen extra expenses in my own personal life recently ... It's a struggle monthly."
But Casata CEO Aaron Levy said the community's rates are directly comparable to rent for apartments in their area.
"We know that in the first year of our operation, we were actually running at a loss because we were giving away a lot to the resident," Levy said. "But cost of living ... unfortunately is what it is. If you lived in a tiny home and were expecting to pay tiny rent, where are you located and what kind of amenities do you get with that?"
It's an affordability crisis weighing heavily on both of them.
"It's very challenging to keep true affordability and attainability and get all the benefits of all the things that you see around you that you want," Levy said.
The real estate website Rent Café shows that a rent of $1,500 in Austin can get an apartment of about 700 square feet. In San Antonio, a similar rent can score an apartment of about 1,000 square feet.
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