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Modular Homes for Under $50k

boxabl.com

151–160 of 343 posts

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#151

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?

The construction prices you quoted are not correct at least in the Bay Area. And I am guessing $150/sq ft achievable at scale. Pricing ADUs is tricky because the some of things in a house cost same for a small to medium size home. For example, the costs of plumbing, electrical, kitchen, bathroom, etc are more of less the same between a 500 sq.ft. house and a 1000 sq. ft house.

> the costs of plumbing, electrical, kitchen, bathroom, etc are more of less the same between a 500 sq.ft. house and a 1000 sq. ft house.

Don't larger houses have multiple bathrooms, thus not the same cost for plumbing? At least when I watched Selling sunset, it seemed it's about having at least 3-4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms in a house...

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Transportation, assembly, foundation, utilities, sewage. Ive looked at similar systems myself. EDIT: They also state this in their FAQ ( https://www.boxabl.com/faq/ ): - Transportation = $2-$4 per mile from las vegas - Assembly = "Boxabl only sells room modules. We will connect you with a Boxabl certified and state licensed installer in your area." - The rest = "Whats not included in that price is your land and site…

> They also state this in their FAQ $5k to $50k is a big range. In the video on the article about Musk's unit[1] they state they're initially targeting Accessory Dwelling Units, and specifically California's recently relaxed laws regarding them. I'm not sure the laws specifically regarding those (but there's info here[2]), but I suspect it's a lot cheaper when you're allowed to hook up to the existing house's sewer a…

yeah, its a big range, depending on if most of that stuff is already in place - in which case it has (mostly) already been paid for.

As for the target audience, i think it is people who want a building within a few days.

As I mentioned, I looked at a number of similar systems myself (we have a number of providers of modular or flat-pack buildings in Europe).

I decided against modular, and had a custom built 6x12m 1.5-story log-build. The pricing was similar - but it took months to complete.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#154

That's a contrived example. I assume someone rich would hire a construction firm to make a fancy treehouse. The target audience for these are squeezed between owners of trailer parks and cheap shacks. https://www.advancedmd.run/

Why is there a link to AdvancedMD in this comment? Also, it's a copy/paste of an older comment, just spam.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#155

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?

The target customer is people with extra land who would like to put up an ADU on their land to make extra revenue from AirBNB. It could probably pay for itself within a year.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#156
post #141
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think new home construction is $150 / sq ft. (in the US), you haven't been keeping up with the times. It was $220 / sq ft. before COVID, now its $300+ for stick built. Modulars are $200-$250. When material prices tripled, the cost got offloaded to the customer, and given the demand hasn't changed.. it probably isn't going to regress to the mean anytime soon.

Are you quoting prices including the cost of the land? Around here there's plenty of new construction being sold at well under $200/sq. ft., and even a fair amount at or under $150 / sq. ft. This is even when you include the price of the land.

Maybe $200. I’d be shocked if there’s still any new builds going for $150. Don’t just trust the “sticker price”. You’re almost always going to pay 25%-50% higher than what the builder advertises.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#157

I imagine the margin isn't there for it, but I wish someone would target the I'd have to guess the market just isn't there for it, maybe everyone else just doesn't mind dealing with the building codes and permit requirements for larger units?

The problem is your assumption that "it doesn't need to pass any code".

It varies with location but in general you first need a Building Permit, then a Certificate of Occupancy" before you can live in it.

And of course for either, the dwelling has to meet local codes.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

In old English man was gender neutral. Wer, as in werewolf, was the masculine. World comes from Wor-old, or literally, age of males.

Pedant comes from French or Italian and meant teacher or schoolmaster.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#159

And then $80k to install between new electrical box, getting raked over the coals by your local water/sewer district, having to build a foundation, stairs from door, etc., etc. And your property taxes will go up.

Your estimate is way too high. At least in most parts of the country. I know because I’m building right now in a mid-priced coastal metro.

A small monolithic slab foundation is maybe $8k at most. Running buried electric on a 20 foot setback is $2k. Water and sewer lines are $3k. The municipal water and sewer tap are $5k total. And the county capacity fee is $4k. Altogether these ancillary “hookup” costs are $20k, and that’s for a “get it done fast” job at a period of labor and material shortages.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#160
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the same way a lot of products have become cheaper because of some process optimization (packaged more compactly to reduce transportation costs), I'm excited to see modular homes/home 3d-printing etc. play out and become cheaper over time until they are more affordable than convention home construction or somehow unique and better in ways that conventionally constructed homes cannot be. To answer your question, on…

The substack Construction Physics has an excellent overview of the now 100 year failed promise of modular building and the eternal cycles of the exact same value props being pitched in ambitious efforts to reform construction and why conventional construction has refused to be disrupted. Some great posts are: https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/building-componen... https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/op…

Thanks for sharing these links! I was looking for an analysis of B-Core from Broad and I finally found one.

Although I don't quite understand why they initially excited about B-Core but later call it poorly thought out. Is it because of the cost of stainless steel?

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