Meet the grandmother residing out of a 400-ft ‘granny pod’ to economize and assist with baby care

“The primary reason why I relocated here was because I had a granddaughter, and I now have a second granddaughter who’s four months old,” Martin tells Fortune. Luckily her son-in-law, Bijan Taherkhan, simply so occurred to personal his personal micro-home enterprise: Spindrift Tiny Homes. And with sufficient room on the household’s property in Bend, Oregon to suit one other construction, Taherkhan constructed her a customized mannequin suited to her wants: a 10-by-10 foot loft the place she sleeps, hovering above a 300-square-foot residing house. 

Courtesy of Larry Bull of LB Real Estate Photography, Redmond, Oregon

Martin says it took lower than three months to construct her granny pod, which set her again lower than $200,000. It took her six months to regulate to residing in such a small house—however Martin believes it’s price it to stay close to her household and avoid wasting coin within the meantime.

“There was room to put one on the property for me, and that enabled me to be close to the grandchildren, help out the family when needed, [and] just participate in all the things that go on on this property, and live very comfortably at the same time,” Martin says. 

While grandparents like Martin get a way of independence whereas nonetheless with the ability to join with their households, there’s additionally one other enormous perk to tiny properties: a decrease price of residing. 

Jason Waugh, president of world actual property brokerage Coldwell Banker Affiliates, tells Fortune that he’s witnessed an inflow of granny pod requests as households are attempting to scrape by. He says multigenerational residing is on the rise largely out of “economic necessity.”

“Whether it’s a tiny home or a granny pod, it’s a growing trend because of affordability issues and economic uncertainty that we’ve navigated over the last three years,” Waugh explains, pointing to “mortgage interest rates, or just overall economic conditions and shortage of [housing] inventory.”

Courtesy of Larry Bull of LB Real Estate Photography, Redmond, Oregon

Why retirees like Martin are investing in ‘granny pods’ over homes

Martin moved from Arizona into her Oregon granny pod again in December 2024. Spindrift Homes, which manufactures tiny properties for sometimes beneath $160,000, assembled the unit—flush with a deck—inside a matter of months. She says it was a reasonably painless course of: there was no allowing or DMV registration required. It took her half a yr to lastly get used to her 400 square-foot micro residing association. 

Martin says she needed to radically downsize all of her materials belongings—particularly garments. But the troublesome adjustment taught her that she doesn’t want every little thing that she as soon as thought she wanted. 

And the upsides have been simple. Martin says quite than choosing cheaper compact housing like a motor residence or RV, tiny properties are precise homes with insulation and furnishing: one of the simplest ways to downsize whereas retaining some normalcy. 

Courtesy of Larry Bull of LB Real Estate Photography, Redmond, Oregon

Plus, residing out in her granny pod is “absolutely cheaper” than being full-time at her Arizona home, which she moonlights two months a yr. Martin explains that she makes use of minimal utilities, and the price of her construct was only a fraction of what a daily home prices. After all, the median gross sales value of a U.S. house is $410,800, according to the Fed. 

“They’re extremely affordable, everything is included,” Martin continues, including actually the one factor she pays for is gasoline, which powers most of her home equipment. “I have a washer and dryer combo unit. I have a gas stove, gas water heater, so that just runs off of propane tanks I go and get once a month for $35.”

But the actual purpose she’s uprooted her life to stay in a granny pod isn’t cash, it’s household. And her baby care help goes a good distance to assist her daughter, Sarah Taherkhan: a working mother who additionally holds a job as Spindrift Tiny Homes’ workplace assistant. Martin helps drop her grandkids up at preschool and choose them up, is accessible for babysitting within the night, and may cowl if their dad and mom must go on trip. 

Even simply dropping in to carry the newborn so her daughter can take a one-hour nap goes a good distance.

Courtesy of Larry Bull of LB Real Estate Photography, Redmond, Oregon

The resurgence of granny pods: an financial comfort to sort out prices

America’s retirees are being dragged again into the workforce to make hire in a cost-of-living disaster. Around 20% of Americans aged 65 and older are employed—practically double the share of those that have been working 35 years in the past—in line with a 2024 evaluation from Pew Research Center. And amongst Americans who do keep retired, two in 5 fear their financial savings received’t cowl their very best retirement, in line with a 2025 survey from funding banking agency D.A. Davidson, affecting tens of millions of child boomers and Gen Xers.

“All [micro house trends] bubble up to what the overall real estate market’s major headwind has been—and that’s affordability,” Waugh explains. “These senior lifestyle communities are getting more and more expensive, especially the more services that they provide. So it makes better sense to come together and share those household costs.”

The actual property professional additionally says that with grandma and grandpa round, the multigenerational “granny pod” setup eases the burden of kid care prices. And it’s a welcome aid when the sum of money it takes to boost a child has surpassed rent in dozens of U.S. cities; relying on the place a child is raised, baby care prices averages at $297,674, however can hit as excessive as $362,891 over the span of 18 years, in line with a 2025 analysis from LendingTree. 

“Look at the cost of child care: that is growing, and really expensive. So if you’ve got multiple children that need that, is it better to have grandma or grandma, or niece or nephew, coexist on this property?” Waugh explains. “It’s economic necessity, convenience, and care. I think those are the three main drivers.”