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Modular Homes for Under $50k

boxabl.com

61–70 of 343 posts

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was wondering that myself. I fantasize about plopping a house down out in the desert, but their video shows a crane used to unfold it. By the time you get all the heavy machinery out there to prep the land and assemble the structure you're most of the way to just building something unique.

Once you have found the contractor to do all that, you’re all the way…and off the end of the runway with two points of failure and no single responsibility when things don’t line up. And the contractor is only making overhead and profit on half the work of a tiny budget which means that you are not a priority…even if the construction cycle was flat which it isn’t. The efficiency of the market is why people don’t buil…

After they move in to their modular home and have sex a few times they will invent distance education.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#62

This house is 375 sq ft and uses low end materials, and it doesn't include setup, so it's going to cost ~$100k, or $266 / sq ft. Most new home construction is more like $150 / sq ft. And with this system, you're very limited in what you can build. Who's the target customer for this?

Since they're very up front about referring to them as Accessory Dwelling units, the primary market is likely people who want to quickly put an ADU in place alongside a traditional single-family home for extra living space or rental income.

About one-third of the cost of new multifamily development is typically tied up in zoning/permitting/planning processes. Against that backdrop, ADUs -- particularly if the city pre-approves designs, which seems like something this product would be ideal for -- are a growing part of housing inventory and housing affordability in many cities.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (wo)man 'Person' is the non-gendered word that goes here.

But with ‘son’ in the word doesn’t it’s usage continue to promote the patriarchy?

No, “Son” as in “male child” is derived from Porto-Germanic “Sunnus”, “person” as in “human being” is derived from Latin “persona”. It’s just a coincidence that in modern English we write them with the same characters.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#64
post #46

This house is 375 sq ft and uses low end materials, and it doesn't include setup, so it's going to cost ~$100k, or $266 / sq ft. Most new home construction is more like $150 / sq ft. And with this system, you're very limited in what you can build. Who's the target customer for this?

A boom town where labour is really expensive and there is an acute housing shortage ?? Or someone who thinks it's the future and love telling his or her guests about it. Or someone who's fascinated by IKEA furniture.

Interestingly IKEA has been building homes for a while in Scandinavian countries: https://www.boklok.com/

They also seem to be getting into the tiny house game: https://dornob.com/flat-pack-ikea-house-built-shipped-for-un...

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#65
post #27
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

please do tell which contractor charges $250-300sq/ft?! I've contacted at least 10 different contractors and they're all in the 400-500 range

These are numbers from 5 years ago. I didn't increase them to be conservative. 400-500 today wouldn't surprise me.

A friend is getting a master bathroom redone. $100k.

The bay area is insane.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#66
post #39

Surprised no one here has mentioned that Elon Musk is living in a Boxabl house in Austin, TX. This has totally perplexed the people who follow his every move. https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/elon-musk-texas-hou... I think that he might possibly be doing his homework. Can you imagine a Boxabl house outfitted with a solar roof, a Tesla battery and a Starlink dish? I could see people having a remote cottage not…

"I think that he might possibly be doing his homework."

I believe you're dead on, this guy's an absolute baller of a CEO (running 3 totally game-changing startups) and completely immerses himself in his work and research.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#67

This house is 375 sq ft and uses low end materials, and it doesn't include setup, so it's going to cost ~$100k, or $266 / sq ft. Most new home construction is more like $150 / sq ft. And with this system, you're very limited in what you can build. Who's the target customer for this?

> Who's the target customer for this? People who fall for stuff like Hyperloop. The biggest problem with housing is not the building itself, its the land and the scarcity of it. This is yet another tech 'solution' in search of a problem. And that problem is political, not technical. INB4: but we're gonna deploy these on Mars!!

Land is not scarce. We literally make as much of it as we want. What makes it scarce is legislation and zoning.

Look at Manhattan or Hong Kong. You just stack the homes and offices and stores on top of each other.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Who's the target customer for this? People who fall for stuff like Hyperloop. The biggest problem with housing is not the building itself, its the land and the scarcity of it. This is yet another tech 'solution' in search of a problem. And that problem is political, not technical. INB4: but we're gonna deploy these on Mars!!

Land is not scarce. We literally make as much of it as we want. What makes it scarce is legislation and zoning. Look at Manhattan or Hong Kong. You just stack the homes and offices and stores on top of each other.

Allow me to rephrase: space in desirable urban areas. Land is too specific.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#69
post #39

Surprised no one here has mentioned that Elon Musk is living in a Boxabl house in Austin, TX. This has totally perplexed the people who follow his every move. https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/elon-musk-texas-hou... I think that he might possibly be doing his homework. Can you imagine a Boxabl house outfitted with a solar roof, a Tesla battery and a Starlink dish? I could see people having a remote cottage not…

"I think that he might possibly be doing his homework." I believe you're dead on, this guy's an absolute baller of a CEO (running 3 totally game-changing startups) and completely immerses himself in his work and research.

“The coronavirus panic is dumb” -Elon Musk (March 6th 2020)

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#70
post #37

I wish some of these interior designers would check out European or Japanese apartments for the layout. You could do a lot better (and I would never want to have to use the sink proposed in that clip on a day-to-day basis). That A/C location is just plain wrong (the kitchen is where you'll spend the least time). And that shelf splitting the living room + the bedroom? What? Meanwhile you have like... storage for plate…

Similar concept in Norway with better interior design I think. Some pictures if you scroll a bit down. https://www.lampholmen.no/rom-for-a-leve/lampholmen--mikrohu...
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