Take a look at a new 28-unit tiny home community near Austin where rent for a 2-bedroom is $1,375 a month

These 28 822-square-foot tiny homes are being rented for $1,375 a month. All of the units were claimed within two weeks, Joseph Claypool, the cofounder of the Mustard Seed Community, said.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

• A 28-unit tiny home community is now open near Austin, Texas with a monthly rent of $1,375.
• Its founder said all of the 822-square-foot homes were claimed within two weeks.
• Tiny homes are increasingly used as an alternative to traditional housing.

A city about 20 minutes north of Austin, Texas opened a new tiny home community in June. But unlike some of the pricey ones that have recently popped up, rent for these 28 units is capped at $1,375 a month.

As big tech companies like Apple and Tesla have flooded into the city, so have its high-earning employees. This gentrification has made Austin one of the least affordable cities in the US with the median home price doubling from 2011 to 2021.

In an effort to combat this booming housing cost, a local husband and wife decided to build what they say is Round Rock, Texas' first affordable tiny home community. Within two weeks of its completion, all 28 units were claimed.

Using tiny homes to shelter people who maybe can’t afford traditional housing is becoming an increasingly popular concept.

Brittany Chang/Insider

In cities like Los Angeles and Seattle, nonprofits have been building prefabricated tiny home villages like the one shown above to use as transitional shelters in lieu of traditional congregate shelters.

But Round Rock’s new Mustard Seed Community isn’t meant to be temporary housing — its residents have signed off on 12-month leases.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

"I've already had people in the community tell me they never want to move," Joseph Claypool, the cofounder of the Mustard Seed, told Insider.

Claypool is the police lieutenant at the Rock Rock Police Department while his wife and cofounder Stephanie is a local teacher. Both have experience in flipping homes.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

With this mutual connection to the Texas city, building Mustard Seed was the couple's way of "giving back," Claypool said, noting that Round Rock does not have "a lot of affordable housing."

To fund this project, Claypool reached out to six major financial institutions.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

After being repeatedly rejected, Texas-based Amplify Credit Union finally offered him the loan and logistical help needed to build this community.

While Claypool and Amplify Credit Union call these “tiny homes,” the two-story 28 dwellings aren't actually that small.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

The 822-square-foot accommodations all have two bedrooms and one bathroom. This square footage is over double the size of most of the tiny homes at Escape Homes' community near Tampa, Florida but still significantly smaller than the median US home size, 2,191 square feet.

Besides its size, the way these accommodations were built is one of the biggest differentiators between Mustard Seed and other similar communities.

Escape Tampa Bay The Oaks

Some tiny homes — like the one in Escape Homes' neighborhood shown above — are built on frames with wheels and legally considered RVs, simplifying the setup, moving, and permitting process.

But the lodging at Mustard Seed is built like traditional housing: on concrete slabs.

These 28 822-square-foot tiny homes are being rented for $1,375 a month. All of the units were claimed within two weeks, Joseph Claypool, the cofounder of the Mustard Seed Community, said.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

"The people that run Round Rock were not that fond of putting a trailer park here," Claypool said. "I got the hint that the city wanted something nice and permanent because there's a lot of talk about more of this coming here.

Because of this, these residences have the comforts of traditional apartments like full-size water heaters and appliances, and central air conditioning and heating.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

Inside, there are living rooms, ceiling fans, and granite countertop-lined kitchens with dishwashers.

The laundry facility is located in a separate building.

The median rent in Round Rock is $2,100, according to data from Zillow.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

Here, these two-bedroom homes are $1,375 per month. Claypool wants this to be "the most affordable in Round Rock."

Despite any stereotypes people may have about affordable housing or tiny homes, this neighborhood looks like the average slice of suburbia.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

Mats that say "welcome" line the front doors, people sit on their decorated porches drinking coffee, and neighbors play cornhole together. Nearby, there's a small park and fire pit too.

Before these two acres were developed, the land was home to old barns, a chicken coop, “donkeys running around, and who knows what other critters in the grass.”

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

He then tapped a contractor to help build these homes.

However, he won’t divulge how much it cost to build each unit “because I don’t think the average person would be able to build them for that [low of an] amount.”

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

He also leases part of the property to Thrive Girls Ranch and Home, a Christian girls boarding school that sits among these apartments. Some of its alumni now live there as well.

Despite their petite sizes, some tiny homes aren't cheap.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

Looking back at Escape Homes, those units started at $95,000 while its most expensive was $250,000 and 540 square feet.

An over 800-square-foot two-bedroom home with affordable rent is hard to pass up.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

So it's no surprise that within two weeks of completing the project, all of the units had been called for, Claypool said.

Rene Flores, Amplify’s commercial loan officer on this project, recalls “getting anywhere from five to six phone calls a week” from interested renters.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

Some of the units were claimed before the community had opened. The rest were taken as fast as Claypool could answer his calls and emails, he recalled.

Now, local teachers, nurses, 911 dispatchers, and restaurant service workers call Mustard Seed their home.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

Most of the residents share their home with another person, whether it be a partner, a single parent with a child, or a college roommate.

While these residents are now settled in, this might not be the end of Claypool’s tiny home journey.

Joseph Claypool, Mustard Seed Community

"My heart's in it. I would like to do more," he said. "I just don't know when and where yet."

When he's ready to, Flores says Amplify will be too: "We hope Joseph considers us for his next project. And we would want to be part of early conversations with other Josephs out there who want to do similar projects."

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