This probably means that the cost of space is way lower where you are. That drives all sorts of decisions, such as probably being able to pay people reasonable prices to do the building if you cate about living in something more solid than a mobile home.
I would also not buy this, but on the other hand, it's something that could fit on my property as a place for aging parents without showing callous disregard for my neighbors. The same is not true of the mobile home, as far as I've seen. And that's without talking about tornadoes...
My entering argument is that someone thinks this will sell to someone, somewhere, or it wouldn't have been listed.
You're saying it's crazy where you are. It's crazy where I am. The easier dimension of figuring how the value proposition gets from where we are to where it makes sense is that getting framing done could be very expensive, and this Home Depot kit would presumably take less labor, time, or expertise.
The other dimension is that different things make sense in different places because of how intensively the land is used. When I lived a half mile from the beach in San Diego, people on tiny lots had incredible gardens and sitting areas in their small outdoor spaces. You would almost never see such nice gardens and sitting areas in places where the lots are larger, even at houses owned by much richer places (or by people with more free time, if you prefer.)
If you have a large, low-value lot, mobile homes and broken down cars are understandable things to have in the yard. But you won't see them in expensive places. And you won't see nice campers and luxury cars parked in the yard either. Using outdoor space in high-cost areas is like raising bonsai trees: it looks ridiculous how fussy it is, but it also produces a pretty impressive outcome.
> The issue is not the total space, but the price for the size.
This is my main gripe with tiny homes. It’s not that they are small, but that their price per square foot is so high.
I’m not sure if the costs are truly that high or there’s just a lot of profit because of the trend. Similar for ISU homes. They seem cool, but not when they cost the same or more than traditional construction.
This thing is $80/square foot before assembly and final prep.
Ehh most relative valuation metrics only really stand up when you are talking about good comparables (Like to like)
But, It’s just a fixed variable cost issue with tiny homes for the most part. E.g. the $10k for appliances/mechanical would be pretty similar for 250sqft home and a 1000sqft, but all of a sudden they cost either ~$40sqft or ~$10sqft
I wouldn’t expect most appliances to be in this price. And things like hvac and water heater should definitely be much cheaper in a 500sqft tiny house than a 2000 square foot fixed house.
It's not even a complete "house", it's just the frame!
For that price you can get a 1000 sqft. mobile home, probably furnished too.
If you want to live in a shed, you can get a 1000 sqft. frame for $4k, not sure why this is $44k.