RALEIGH – Zachary Milburn remembers when he first suggested the idea of living in a tiny home to Wake County leaders.
Around 2014, he estimates he spent about $24,000 on a tiny home and piece of land near Lake Wheeler Park. The home required heavy-duty upkeep, including repairing a septic tank and well.
“I took it [to the county] for approval and they laughed at me when I turned in my first plan,” Milburn said. “I had a loft and a ladder to go to the loft where we would sleep, and they were like … [They] basically shook their head at me like, ‘This is crazy [and] completely illegal, basically.’”
Milburn, now 31, said that as a graduate student in entrepreneurial studies at North Carolina State University and a participant in the now-defunct ThinkHouse NC accelerator in Raleigh, he knew he wanted to own a home but could not qualify for a loan because he had no income history.
“I didn’t have W-2 income because, as an entrepreneur, you typically don’t starting out,” he said.
Then and now
Years later, Milburn founded Nomad Nation, which is a self-described “all-inclusive ecosystem for digital nomads and remote workers.” Milburn has plans to develop Raleigh’s first tiny home village at 3708 Rock Quarry Road. The concept is also known as a “cottage court.”
“You have a court in the middle,” Milburn said. “I really love that idea just in terms of, sort of, the quality of life that it could offer to people to walk out into a little park, and you have neighbors that you can interact with.
“I think it solves a lot of community problems that modern generations are having. I just love the idea. You don’t need to spend a ton of money on parking garages.”
Milburn said his plan is to build a co-living and co-working mansion in the center of the court for cottage residents to use.
In December 2021, Raleigh City Council approved a measure that allows developers to build tiny homes on undeveloped lots, not just as an accessory to an existing structure. The city’s decision comes as several tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Meta and Google have announced plans for developments throughout the Triangle. Those developments will bring new residents to the City of Oaks, many of whom may be willing to pay more for housing, stretching an already-limited inventory of residential homes and rental units.
Redfin: People moving to NC are looking to spend more on housing
Working remotely and modern living
Lauren Wingard, 33, of Raleigh is a program manager in leadership development for Red Hat Software. She’s worked for the company for the past 10 years.
“It was very much butts in seats every day before COVID,” Wingard said of her company.
Milburn’s idea builds on how companies like Red Hat, and other companies with Triangle offices, have revised and updated their policies, some with changes they’ve called permanent to allow for employees to choose their work location.
“I know so many people who had to come to the office just two years ago, and now, their companies, they have shut down their offices,” Milburn said. “They don’t care what state you’re in. Some companies don’t even care what country you’re working from.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Wingard to work remotely, she put most of her belongings in a storage unit. In the summer of 2021, she decided to travel to different parts of Montana, including Missoula, Boseman, Glacier National Park and Whitefish. She also saw different parts of Utah near Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park like the city of St. George.
“Doing that type of moving around a lot, it’s so fun,” Wingard said. “You get to experience so much of the natural beauty, but sometimes it is harder to connect with people. It can feel a little isolating, and for most of that trip, I was traveling alone.”
Wingard said she used Airbnb to book her lodging out West. It’s not just Wingard, heading west, that was seeking short-term lodging. Airbnb properties in North Carolina grossed the sixth-most of any U.S. state in 2021, according to the company’s report released earlier this year.
Mixed experiences
“I had a very in-depth experience with Airbnb [last] summer,” Wingard said. “Oh my gosh, it ranges so much. I had some great experiences and some really, really crappy ones.
“And, it’s so hard to tell from just photos and reviews what you’re actually going to get.”
During Wingard’s stay in Montana, she said she experienced problems with bugs and signs of rodents at one of the properties although the listing had high-quality photos, descriptions and guest reviews.
Since her return to North Carolina, Wingard has been leasing a room from a friend in east Raleigh. Five years ago, her sister connected her with Milburn when she was looking for housing. Wingard and Milburn reconnected when she saw news about his tiny cottage proposal.
“It’s so timely, the idea, especially in this post-COVID world where it opens up opportunities for more remote working and travel,” Wingard said.
Triangle’s apartment crunch worsens – vacancy down, and price of rent jumps 20%
Tiny homes in Durham
Coram Homes founder Topher Thomas built his first tiny house in 2019, which is when the city of Durham began allowing homes on lots as small as 2,000 square feet. He’s completed building three tiny homes since then, three others are nearing completion and seven others are in the permitting stage.
“They’re kind of popping up all over the place,” Thomas said.
The city allows property owners to build one accessory dwelling unit in a backyard.
“It’s an extra house that can go behind the main house,” Thomas said of ADUs. “It has to be smaller than the main house.”
About six months ago, Thomas came to an agreement with a property owner in east Durham to subdivide the lot and build two tiny homes—a 460-square-foot unit and a 160-square-foot unit—next to the property’s main home. Thomas said his company was the lender and builder of the two units. He wants to have the two tiny homes finished by the end of July.
“This is meant to be permanent housing, not a short-term rental, and a lot of it has to do with just the gentrification that’s been going on in the area and the lack of affordability,” Thomas said. “And so, to create some housing stock that is just naturally going to be affordable, that’s the point of it.”
Coram Homes founder Topher Thomas is in the process of building two tiny homes on a lot in east Durham. He hopes to have them finished by the end of July.
Life-changing
Thomas said he’s built an ADU in the backyard of his own home.
“I saw it change my family’s life,” Thomas said. “We were able to refinance [our mortgage], our property value was worth more, we have this steady income coming in every month, and we were helping someone in the community [by providing them a place to stay].”
The latest reports from Triangle Multiple Listing Service, TMLS, show that the region’s housing affordability index, a measure of home affordability that tracks, over time, the affordability of buying a home at the median home sale price at prevailing mortgage interest rates, is again at an all-time low, despite some signs that median home sale prices in the region have decreased month-over-month.
And prior WRAL TechWire reporting has tracked how permitting and zoning changes could relieve pressure on skyrocketing home sale prices.
Wake County real estate market sees a price pause – agents still predict prices will rise
Nomad Nation’s proposals in Raleigh
In February, public records show Milburn’s company purchased a 2.35-acre property on Rock Quarry Road for $750,000. County records show the property has a total assessed value of $97,000, and it is zoned for mixed-use with a three-story height limit.
“We got a blank slate,” Milburn said. “It looks like a park right now. The perimeter is surrounded by trees and the center is grass.”
Milburn said he considered buying two other Raleigh properties for his tiny home cottage concept: 6355 Fayetteville Road and 5301 Yates Mill Pond Road.
6355 Fayetteville Road, Raleigh, NC 27603
- Acreage: 38.07 acres at the entrance, but the property is 300-plus acres overall
- Land sale price: $1,400,000 on Jan. 11, 2017
- Total value assessed: $1,492,496
- Zoning: TND
Milburn said he reached out to Jim Anthony, who owned the property at 3655 Fayetteville Road.
“I initially pitched the concept of turning the assemblage into a small town with a train station, since the tracks lead through Dorthea Dix Park and the Warehouse District downtown,” Milburn said. “The project was too big for a first installation, so we began looking at much smaller residential lots to build a prototype development.
Raleigh, Charlotte homes among most ‘overvalued’ in U.S., report finds
A happy medium
5301 Yates Mill Pond Road, Raleigh, NC 27606
- Acreage: 4.79 acres
- Package sale price: $295,000 on Aug. 6, 2021
- Total value assessed: $252,990
- Zoning: R-40W
Milburn said the 5301 Yates Mill Pond Road property was too small for his concept. He said the Rock Quarry Road property is a happy medium.
If the city of Raleigh approves Milburn’s concept, he said Nomad Nation plans to own the property listed as one parcel with tenants signing a lease. According to Milburn, a property manager would operate the logistics.
Thinking about buying a house? Do it now as costs keep soaring, economist says
There’s a niche to be filled
Having undergone a similar approval process in Durham, Thomas offered Milburn the following advice as he seeks approval from the city of Raleigh.
“Relationships are vital,” Thomas said. “I mean, get to know the people in government, and know that the government is not against you.”
Milburn said his property is zoned for up to 64 units, but he has a grander vision.
“I think, Zach, he saw a need of like digital nomads, and he’s like, ‘Oh, there are people who need these like really short-term leases and need a place to crash,’” Thomas said of Milburn’s idea. “It can just be something really simple, really basic and then they want to go up to the next spot … I think that that’s so cool.
“Like, I think that’s a niche that needs to be filled, and he’s going to fill it.”
Cost-of-living ‘crisis’: 25% struggle to find, afford homes in Wake County
Why Raleigh is a great fit for a tiny home cottage
Milburn explained that Nomad Nation plans to compete with existing short-term rental platforms liked Airbnb and VRBO, in addition to more traditional landlords.
“We are really catered to remote workers, so our amenities will be … fiber internet, co-working in the community house and multiple office spaces within your own unit,” Milburn said.
Milburn said he envisions Nomad Nation offering a consistent, practical housing model, whereas logistics and amenities vary on short-term rental sites like Airbnb.
“There’s no real consistency across the product,” Milburn said of the lodging offered on short-term rental sites.
Based on Wingard’s experience, she believes Nomad Nation’s target demographic would be different than someone using a short-term rental or signing a high-priced, short-term lease.
“For me, being in corporate America, having a steady income … pricing as low as it can be would be great, but it’s not this huge barrier to entry for me,” Wingard said. “I would pay the same amount to … live there monthly, if it was a monthly thing … as I would to live somewhere in like an apartment downtown because I think it’s such a richer experience to live in the community he’s talking about than to live in this standard apartment downtown that’s the same thing that it’s always been.”
Milburn is a Salt Lake City native, but has called Raleigh home since 2009.
Study: Raleigh ranks 12th, Durham 25th, among 1,000+ cities as a best place to live
Raleigh is home
“I’ve gone everywhere, and I’ve chosen to stay in Raleigh because I really do believe it’s one of the best places to live on Earth,” Milburn said.
Wingard echoed Milburn’s sentiments about the City of Oaks.
“Something I’ve discovered for me is Raleigh is a great home base, like a launchpad,” Wingard said.
Milburn said he gets into debates with people he’s met around the world about Raleigh’s merits.
“It is not New York or [Los Angeles] or Miami, but it does have enough of … the flavor from those sorts of places and action and outdoorsy stuff,” Milburn said of Raleigh. “This is a place for those that love to move.”
The median sales price of residential property in Wake County rose from $385,000 in April 2021 to $485,000 in April 2022, and remained at $485,000 in May 2022, according to monthly reports from the Triangle Multiple Listing Service. The April 2021 to April 2022 change is $100,000, or 26%.
And while the median price in April 2022 measured $485,000, there’s a wide range of what that price point got the homebuyers, as 10 properties closed at a sale price of $485,000, according to TMLS data obtained by WRAL TechWire.
Those 10 homes that sold for $485,000 in April 2022 ranged 1,661-2,580 square feet, with an average size of 2,192 square feet.
In comparison, Milburn said he plans to build his homes at about 500 square feet.
Vacant homes are rare in Triangle, across NC – and most are owned by investors
Housing inventory remains low
Supply and demand have factored into the increased prices too. MLS Data shows Wake County had 1,051 homes available as of April 2022, which is less than one-month supply of inventory. In April 2019, the data shows Wake County had 2.2 months supply of housing of inventory.
In the next 20 years or so, area leaders anticipate that the Triangle will add about 750,000 people and another 700,000 more cars on the road too. And an executive at the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center said earlier this year that the state projects to have a housing shortage of 900,000 housing units by 2030.
“I don’t know if housing is going to get any more affordable,” Milburn said. “I think there really needs to be some really radical solutions, and I do think it starts at the municipal level.”
What’s next for Nomad Nation
Milburn and Nomad Nation still need to receive several approvals from the city of Raleigh. The company remains in the concept phase, and has submitted a sketch-plan review to the city.
“My biggest fear is that it just essentially turns into a housing complex that makes decent returns on investment,” Milburn said. “If that was our goal, we’d be building apartments.”
Milburn said if Nomad Nation is successful in Raleigh, he plans to replicate the concept in Miami and Salt Lake City. Other cities the company could consider are Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Nashville and Seattle with the idea of having a consistent living and working space for “digital nomads,” Milburn said.
Milburn said he plans to work with Raleigh leaders on his concept.
“We want to be insanely flexible and real estate, this whole entire industry, is insanely inflexible,” Milburn said. “They’re notoriously hesitant and slow to change and there’s a lot of red tape.
“There are laws everywhere about everything, so it does take … it almost takes like 100% of the focus of us as a company to come up with a model that is flexible, and then checks all the boxes for being safe, legal [and] insured.”
Milburn hopes to receive city approvals this year with plans to begin construction in 2023.
– WRAL TechWire reporter Jason Parker contributed to this story.
North Carolina faces shortage of 900,000 housing units by 2030, exec warns
