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Why The Shipping Container Home Movement Is Getting So Big

Forbes Biz Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Elizabeth Ann Stribling-Kivlan

Does it seem strange that you can order your very own tiny house on Amazon just like you can order your groceries or a pair of wireless headphones? If history shows us anything, the pre-fab house being sold direct-to-consumer is not a new, outlandish idea.

Just look at the Sears Roebuck catalogs of the early 1900s — DIY home kits were a bestseller. There are at least 75,000 Sears homes across the country, and according to a piece in CBS News, “Sears would mail it to you in 30,000 pieces. The kit included 750 pounds of nails, 27 gallons of paint and varnish, 10 pounds of wood putty, 460 pounds of window weight, 27 windows, 25 doors and a 75-page instruction book.”

I’m not certain this was the easiest way to go about making a home for oneself, but I do know that these order-by-mail homes created access for many people who otherwise might not have been able to achieve the great American Dream of homeownership.

The same is true today with the tiny house movement, especially as it relates to shipping containers. These homes are made to order, relatively cheap to produce and completely customizable. In a world consumed by social media and modern amenities, we are returning to a movement that was essentially started by our grandparents and great grandparents.

I was curious to find out why the tiny house movement is gaining such traction. Is it a direct reformation of the McMansion movement? Is it a conservation issue? Or, is this just a passing fad?

Here are four reasons why I think the shipping container house movement is here to stay:

Combat Against Rising Costs

In the United States, the median sales price for an existing home is $245,100, according to the National Association of Realtors. Buying a new home is even more expensive, with an average sales price of $385,200, according to the Census Bureau. That’s a pretty expensive prospect for most people, especially now that banks have tightened lending restrictions.

Shipping container homes, for example, offer a much cheaper solution. Depending on the size, a shipping container in good condition costs anywhere from $1,400 to $4,500. There are also a growing number of manufacturers that are designing prefabricated shipping container houses for $15,000 and up.

That’s a pretty large price gap, and with the tiny shipping container homes, you can add as many bells and whistles as you would like, at cost. But that’s likely far less expensive than renovating, reinventing or even tearing down a home.

It’s Cool To Conserve

Tiny homes are intended to be minimalist. You must decide what’s important to you in order to make the space work. In the past decade, we saw the emergence of the McMansion — a fully customizable cookie-cutter palace that was created for maximum space and ornate finishes. While tiny homes can be customized in much the same way, albeit on a smaller scale, they require far less maintenance and are less taxing on the environment. There are no massive spaces to heat or cool, no gargantuan rooms that must be powered by electricity. Tiny homes are function over fashion, but they can be quite aesthetically innovative. With the conservation movement growing among the world’s wealthy (think Tesla), the notion that bigger is better is waning. Being ostentatious is no longer the status symbol it once was.

Mobility

As the world gets increasingly interconnected, people find themselves on the move for reasons like work, family, and change of scenery. A shipping container home can essentially ship itself since its primary function is transport. The ability to pack up your home and move on a moment’s notice is becoming increasingly attractive to people in today’s fast-paced market.

Choice Is Everything

When you buy a home already on the market, you are buying someone else’s vision. With a tiny, customizable home, you are calling the shots. You can add as many built-ins or solar panels as you want from the start. You have the freedom to move a shipping container to any part of the country so long as you abide by local housing codes. This is 100% your baby. The freedom to choose is a really powerful selling point.

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At the heart of the matter — and why I think the tiny house movement is here to stay — is that it’s the very embodiment of what it means to be an American. Freedom to choose, freedom to build, freedom to move, freedom to live. The fact that you can build your dream house through the click of a button online is an amazing prospect. As I mentioned previously, the idea of fast access to your dream home isn’t a new idea. But today’s technology has made it easier than ever to build your version of the American dream; the next challenge — will we be able to order with free two-day shipping?