Post #13 Towards More Affordable Housing (Small Prefab Homes?)

I don’t know the location of the small homes (community?) in this picture, & they look interesting.

I am not in the construction industry. I offer my own personal consumer ideas here after reviewing some research; my thoughts might save you some time and/or point you in a starting direction.

Another more affordable option: prefabricated (manufactured off site) homes. Might be able to get a brand new build delivered within 12 weeks of ordering/paying; or even sooner. Also need to buy or lease land to put the home on. I looked at some starting ideas in my area of Canada. Yes, prefab might be a more affordable type of new home & some designs have definitely modernized.

It makes more sense to me to purchase land if/when possible, because I saw some lot rental prices of $700-$1000/month (that expense every month would get old pretty quickly for me). Might have to buy more affordable and/or unserviced land far from a city centre & transit. Might like to choose a less expensive wilderness location (little cabin in the piney woods or on a lakefront, anyone?) that requires creating a septic field and/or sourcing water. This type of location appeals to some. Might require a reliable vehicle then.

On websites offering prefab homes, pricing (per square foot or for a specific design model) varies, as does exactly what is included in the price. Maybe CDN$100-150 per sq. ft. for a basic & somewhat unfinished abode. Last Summer it was reported that Boxabl company was creating a 375-square-foot prefab Casita home for less than USD$50K (50,000. Plus delivery costs?). And I saw a 200 sq. foot “move-in ready” studio abode with some extras included for CDN $110K. Opting for a standardized design of the builder (no customization) generally leads to their lowest build price. Always need to check carefully what finishing will still need to be added, & add land costs. My suggestion here: take the time to think it through & ask lots of questions.

These are intriguing possibilities to think through & research. I could suggest to start by checking for prefab home builders near where you want to live (likelier to be built for your local weather), & checking land costs there too.

Kellie

Kellie tries to improve quality of life, while lowering cost & simplifying ['mostly: let's Not do expensive rocket science every day']. So: high quality @ lower cost & simplified when possible. Some experiments work better than others; I plan to share how the experiments go in my blog(s).