In Longmont, Colorado, a developer has found the sweet spot between tiny and conventional. Boulder Creek Neighborhoods is building a community of “wee-Cottages”, standalone groundbound homes that will range from 894 to 1354 square feet. As described in this Daily Camera article, more than 400 potential buyers have already joined the waitlist, even though the homes haven’t been built yet and sales don’t open until next month. A similar development in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood went on sale last year and had over 1000 buyers on the list for 30-odd homes.

The houses look charming and have great efficient layouts with an open floor plan below, bedrooms upstairs, a detached garage and a property manager taking care of the grounds. But I think the biggest draw here is the price tag. Metro Denver’s growth rate peaked in 2015, with a 2.8% population increase that year, but newcomers continue to pour in and real estate prices have skyrocketed accordingly. A traditional 2000-square-foot Denver bungalow on a tenth-acre lot goes for $600K to $800K these days, and that’s how a detached condo smaller than 1000 square feet seems like a great deal at $400K.

First floor plan.

Show unit in Stapleton.

The Longmont development is located near the Longmont Recreation Center with easy access to highways and bike paths. 27 of the 102 homes will be fixed in the mid $200Ks for buyers who meet certain income restrictions; the rest will be sold at market rate which might mean bidding wars given their popularity. Condo maintenance fees are unknown.

Thanks to Brett Silverstein.