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Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

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Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#121

Post by komali2 »

brudgers wrote: post #111
lefstathiou wrote: post #89

My dad owns a few trailer parks. Great investment but not for the faint of heart. From our experience, you're not going to want to live in any neighborhood that allows this kind of housing and as a result, it wont be available for long in any neighborhood you're trying to address. Many trailer parks are trashy (literally trash everywhere) with a highly uneducated and unstable demographic. Its the suburban equivalent…

There were (and are) very well maintained mobile home parks. It's more a matter of market segmentation (e.g. college students or retirees or vacationers (and hence location)) than the form factor. Ownership pattern also plays a big role. Resident owned trailer parks are often very well maintained. For example: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/The-Village...

I used to live in The Franciscan Park in Colma/Daly City. It barely felt like a trailer park at all. It was resident-owned trailers, sort of. You had to pay a fee for the land. Don't know much more about the details, we were renting.

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#122

Post by komali2 »

liseman wrote: post #10
cbr wrote: post #4

How are you going to deal with zoning? Generally the big problem with tiny houses is that while they're relatively cheap to make they're not allowed by existing zoning.

IMHO, zoning is is one of the biggest challenges facing anybody who wants to do something interesting in real estate. CA actually is forcing cities to make it easier to build ADUs: http://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-research/docs/17Jan30-ADU-TA-Me... . Worst case, we put wheels on them and have license plates to avoid having to comply with building regulations;)

I hate to be that guy but "putting wheels on them" is not a simple solution at all... it will take a lot more than that to make your cargo containers street-legal.

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#123

Post by salimmadjd »

I love the vision and audacity to tackle this rent problem.

That said, help me understand who your GTM target is.

1 - Is it basically SV, young tech guys who want a cheaper and a unique place to live? This is what I'm taking away reading your post. 2 - Is it migratory/seasonal workers who work on a farms during harvest season? 3 - Is it people who want to live off-grid, and plan on buying a lot and just want to drop a house there for cheap?

Some of my initial thoughts:

A - As someone commented, the images don't really connect to any of the segments above. I can see the photographer is going for a certain magazine look. But it doesn't do a real good job of telling a story about these units and your target market.

B - Again as others have commented on regulatory issues both for fire safety and also city regulations. That last part might cause issues with your original vision of lower rent alternatives.

C - Financial model. It seems to me if you are going the rent-share service route and you'll need to put down $40-50K for each unit, you will need a lot of capital as you scale. I'm guessing it will take 3-5 years to recover the cost of each unit (rent-dependent). Which creates a lot of challenges, unless you setup some kind of a partnership scheme. Either individual partners, who will put the money down to help renters finance this as part of revenue share scheme. Or large banking institution who will help underwrite each units.

D - Pricing. As others have pointed out, the pricing once you get to $50k is close to a decent used RV house. And the interiors don't look that great. I'm curious what the cost will be once you put some type of economics of scales into this. Given all the dimensions are set. Can't you just have a shop in China produce all these parts? Is there an opportunity to partner with Lowes or some large retailer who buys in bulk?

Good luck! I'm very impressed you guys have taken it this far and hope it'll succeed.

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#124

Post by pipio21 »

I want to give you brutally honest feedback, please do not take it personally.

I looked for something similar in Spain, a house in a rail wagon, something like this:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nEZddcafnkk/SAoPN_PCK_I/AAAAAAAAAk...

http://vilssa.com/aprovecha-un-vagon-de-tren-para-hacer-tu-c...

https://decoracion.trendencias.com/casas/casas-poco-convenci...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXbBXpruaW0

Some of them were extremely cheap and simple but they had lots of charm and taste.

Your houses look totally ugly to me, cold. Humans not allowed kind of feeling.

You probably need to learn some design. Even when people will tell you the only thing they care is price, it is extremely depressing expending long hours in an ugly place.

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#125

Post by dragonwriter »

> We're particularly interested in using containers as a tool to increase density and affordability; among other things, we're going to deploy containers to people's yards for free, sharing the rent revenue with them.

Seems to me that the barrier to people turning their yards into what amounts to trailer parks or micro-apartment compelexes has always been zoning regulations, hability regulations, and building codes, not getting the housing units built or delivered.

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#126

Post by dragonwriter »

liseman wrote: post #10
cbr wrote: post #4

How are you going to deal with zoning? Generally the big problem with tiny houses is that while they're relatively cheap to make they're not allowed by existing zoning.

IMHO, zoning is is one of the biggest challenges facing anybody who wants to do something interesting in real estate. CA actually is forcing cities to make it easier to build ADUs: http://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-research/docs/17Jan30-ADU-TA-Me... . Worst case, we put wheels on them and have license plates to avoid having to comply with building regulations;)

> Worst case, we put wheels on them and have license plates to avoid having to comply with building regulations;)

Once they are vehicles, it's much easier for them to be impounded for violating parking and other vehicle-related regulations, which the proposed uses seem as likely to break as building regulations.

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#127

Post by fudged71 »

I wonder if you could have a successful partnership with DIRTT to parametrically design your interiors and automate the construction process. Check them out: https://www.dirtt.net/

Also there has got to be a B2B market for these. I know in the Alberta Oil Sands there are lots of camps for employees. Maybe you can provide a better product.

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#128

Post by dragonwriter »

beaconstudios wrote: post #20

I really don't understand the appeal of this. Are people really so desperate to live in an expensive city that they'd be willing to live in a box? Also, how do you plan to get away from the image of metal box houses being tied to shanty-towns and favelas?

> Are people really so desperate to live in an expensive city that they'd be willing to live in a box?

Certainly, but the thing with expensive cities is that the hard part of that is finding the space and meeting the legal requirements, not getting the box.

That's also the problem in suburbs (though the space problem might be a little easier, legal requirements are at least as much of an issue.)

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#129

Post by git-pull »

Luke and Heather, I love it. Here are some requests:

- USB Wall outlets

- A panel system around the house to keep cords organized

- More pics

- Info on how much weight can the bed / tables hold

As for questions, how much does would that Solar power (1kw) on the Boxhouse Deluxe power? Could it handle a Macbook Pro playing video games, a 4k tv screen, a heater running 16 hours a day?

Re: Launch HN: Boxouse (YC W17) – Shipping-container homes

#130

Post by bsquared »

Getting people excited about living smaller is a big task! (sorry, couldn't help myself) My friend started a tiny home company[0] and I've spoken with him a lot about this space. I think there are a couple of major obstacles to mass tiny home adoption and it seems like your home doesn't solve many of them currently. To start:

1. Legality - Most tiny homes aren't legal to put on a slab or connect to utilities in jurisdictions around the US. This is getting better over time with people lobbying to allow smaller homes as "accessory dwelling units".

2. People don't want to feel like they're downgrading - looking at your pictures, Boxouse looks pretty low quality, similar to a hostel or dorm room. While that may appeal to some, most consumers wouldn't choose to live or stay in a home like that. Instead, I think tiny home builders need to concentrate on making more beautiful and functional spaces.

I'd love to chat more with Boxouse (or anyone) about tiny homes and/or connect you with my friend's company. You can find my email in my profile.

[0] https://boxedhaus.com

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