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It seems like the biggest innovation here would be bringing down the price of building a standalone studio apartment. These units probably cost cost $120k+ to b

It seems like the biggest innovation here would be bringing down the price of building a standalone studio apartment. These units probably cost cost $120k+ to build/install? It would be neat if there was a (high quality) $50k kit homeowners could buy and assemble themselves, almost like IKEA furniture.

whymsicalburito 7y ago
There's actually lots of companies that sell these. Google "kit homes"
- staunch 7y ago
  The fact that there are many players may indicate that none are good enough to be dominant. I added the "high quality" qualifier because I kind of assumed existing kits are not great, based on some previous searching. What's the best kit home in the U.S.?
  - saalweachter 7y ago
    What's the best type of house in the US?
cik 7y ago
This is already a thing. Look up 'kit homes'. You can get the entire thing done, with an electrical hookup for ~30K here.
davidf560 7y ago
Interestingly, long before the internet the Sears Catalog used to sell mail-order kit houses.
stcredzero 7y ago
It would be neat if there was a (high quality) $50k kit homeowners could buy and assemble themselves, almost like IKEA furniture. There was a New England company that sold complete kits for small houses with pier and beam foundations, designed to be constructed by two fit adults, including the fasteners! I think they went out of business in the 2000's. EDIT: I just found another company doing almost the same thing: https://www.shelterkit.com/gallery.html https://www.shelterkit.com/gallery.html
- staunch 7y ago
  All the companies doing this seem to be small/unsuccessful/brand new. Maybe there's some fundamental problem with the business or maybe no one has nailed it yet?
  - stcredzero 7y ago
    What if an Amazon company started putting together such kits? Perhaps there would be a way this could be done for small margins, sort of as a no-loss-leader to generate more Amazon customers?
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - sjg007 7y ago
    Hard to sell and get a mortgage on a homeowner built house. It’s doable with licensed subcontractors in some places. It would take a lot of political lobbying to get something like that approved and standardized.
  - sburl 7y ago
    A couple of people actually do sell kits on Amazon for ~$10-50k (https://www.amazon.com/Jackson-275-119-Sq-Ft-Tiny/dp/B07SPTW3PF/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=tiny+house&qid=1563517430&s=gateway&sr=8-18 https://www.amazon.com/Jackson-275-119-Sq-Ft-Tiny/dp/B07SPTW...) I can't speak to other kits -- some of the shipping container ones actually seem like they might work for some people (https://simpleterra.com/ https://simpleterra.com/) but we looked into working with Amazon kits and it's really tough. The two main issues are on-site work and bringing the kit up to a livable standard. On-site work is expensive -- think $50-80k depending on the site to secure a building permit, level the ground, and pour a foundation. There are some new types of low impact foundations (closer to $15k + $20-30k for permits) we've seen and are exploring but I don't know we could do that with a kit. The main issue is with turning the kit into something livable. Kits are usually difficult (and loud) to assemble, the wood needs to be finished so it doesn't rot, they usually aren't designed to accommodate plumbing, gas, and electrical lines, and unless you want to spend hundreds of hours of your own time to learn those skills, you'll need to manage and hire 5-10 professionals which quickly eliminates the initial cost savings.
bbakerma 7y ago
Hi there -- this is Brian from Rent the Backyard. These kit homes definitely exist -- the big problem is that the site work is often 50%+ of the actual costs of installing the unit. We definitely intend on bringing down site costs as we make our units lower impact on the property on which we build.

whymsicalburito 7y ago

There's actually lots of companies that sell these. Google "kit homes"

staunch 7y ago
The fact that there are many players may indicate that none are good enough to be dominant. I added the "high quality" qualifier because I kind of assumed existing kits are not great, based on some previous searching. What's the best kit home in the U.S.?
- saalweachter 7y ago
  What's the best type of house in the US?

cik 7y ago

This is already a thing. Look up 'kit homes'. You can get the entire thing done, with an electrical hookup for ~30K here.

davidf560 7y ago

Interestingly, long before the internet the Sears Catalog used to sell mail-order kit houses.

stcredzero 7y ago

It would be neat if there was a (high quality) $50k kit homeowners could buy and assemble themselves, almost like IKEA furniture. There was a New England company that sold complete kits for small houses with pier and beam foundations, designed to be constructed by two fit adults, including the fasteners! I think they went out of business in the 2000's. EDIT: I just found another company doing almost the same thing: https://www.shelterkit.com/gallery.html https://www.shelterkit.com/gallery.html

staunch 7y ago
All the companies doing this seem to be small/unsuccessful/brand new. Maybe there's some fundamental problem with the business or maybe no one has nailed it yet?
- stcredzero 7y ago
  What if an Amazon company started putting together such kits? Perhaps there would be a way this could be done for small margins, sort of as a no-loss-leader to generate more Amazon customers?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- sjg007 7y ago
  Hard to sell and get a mortgage on a homeowner built house. It’s doable with licensed subcontractors in some places. It would take a lot of political lobbying to get something like that approved and standardized.
- sburl 7y ago
  A couple of people actually do sell kits on Amazon for ~$10-50k (https://www.amazon.com/Jackson-275-119-Sq-Ft-Tiny/dp/B07SPTW3PF/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=tiny+house&qid=1563517430&s=gateway&sr=8-18 https://www.amazon.com/Jackson-275-119-Sq-Ft-Tiny/dp/B07SPTW...) I can't speak to other kits -- some of the shipping container ones actually seem like they might work for some people (https://simpleterra.com/ https://simpleterra.com/) but we looked into working with Amazon kits and it's really tough. The two main issues are on-site work and bringing the kit up to a livable standard. On-site work is expensive -- think $50-80k depending on the site to secure a building permit, level the ground, and pour a foundation. There are some new types of low impact foundations (closer to $15k + $20-30k for permits) we've seen and are exploring but I don't know we could do that with a kit. The main issue is with turning the kit into something livable. Kits are usually difficult (and loud) to assemble, the wood needs to be finished so it doesn't rot, they usually aren't designed to accommodate plumbing, gas, and electrical lines, and unless you want to spend hundreds of hours of your own time to learn those skills, you'll need to manage and hire 5-10 professionals which quickly eliminates the initial cost savings.

bbakerma 7y ago

Hi there -- this is Brian from Rent the Backyard. These kit homes definitely exist -- the big problem is that the site work is often 50%+ of the actual costs of installing the unit. We definitely intend on bringing down site costs as we make our units lower impact on the property on which we build.