Jan. 06, 2025
There&#;s a new trend in affordable housing. Creative individuals looking for a unique place to stay are repurposing shipping containers into metal houses. Some people are turning these containers into tiny homes, while other buyers are stacking and connecting multiple containers to create large houses.
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There are many reasons why people are building shipping container homes. They offer a unique style and bold architecture that appeals to young Americans. They are more affordable than traditional homes and they offer more flexibility in where they are located.
How much does one of these shipping containers cost? And what does the process look like to turn a used shipping container into a home? Learn about the cost to build a container home and the different options that buyers face.
Shipping container homes range in size and cost. The average cost to build a shipping container home is around $10,000 to $35,000, while larger homes can cost up to $175,000. The cost of building a container home will also increase based on your desired amenities and materials used. The more features you want, the more your container home will cost.
While the cost to build a container home is low if you plan to keep the structure small, you still need to consider where you place it. Unlike a tiny home, which can reside on a trailer and move to different parks and campsites, a container home will remain in place. This means you need to own the land that you place the container on.
According to the USDA, the average cost for an acre of farmland in was $3,160. However, this number increases significantly once you start to look at land parcels in popular metro areas. You may discover that the cost to buy the land takes up a large portion of your overall home building budget.
Keep in mind that there are also different types of land to buy. Raw land lacks amenities like roads, sewer systems, and connections to the electrical grid. Improved land has these amenities and is ready to build on. You will also need to make sure your parcel is zoned for residential living and not commercial structures or farmland.
Once you have your land, you can start to lay the foundation for the shipping container. A trench foundation is one of the more affordable options, where the concrete is poured into a shallow hole in the ground. A slab foundation is used when the ground is soft and the shipping container needs added reinforcement.
There is another foundation option for shipping containers. A pier foundation uses a series of cylindrical columns to support the structure that is placed on it. This elevates the home a few feet off the ground while the columns prevent the shipping container from sinking into the dirt.
Your foundation options will depend on your home design plans and the type of soil on your land. However, you can expect to spend about $5,000 on this process.
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The next step is to find your exact container. You have two options: a new container or a used one. A new container is considered a &#;one-trip&#; container because it makes only one trip to your property. A used container may have been in service for a few months up to a few years.
You can secure a used container for around $2,000 on average. Some people report spending closer to $1,500 while others spent more. New container costs can range up to $8,000. The average size of a shipping container is 20 feet by 8 feet.
Some builders stack multiple containers against each other. You may be able to buy two to six containers at once if you plan to create a larger structure with your units.
Just because you buy a shipping container home doesn&#;t mean you are making a positive environmental impact. When you buy a container that is used, you are repurposing the container and reducing waste. If you buy it new, the unit was created just for your home and likely has the same environmental impact as a tiny home.
With your shipping container placed firmly on your foundation, you can start to work on the structure to make it livable. One of the biggest myths of living in a container home is that you don&#;t need to insulate it. However, the insulation will help you control the climate in your home no matter where you live.
Without insulation, your container home will feel like an icebox in the winter and a sauna in the summer. This will also drive up your heating and cooling costs. You can invest in spray, foam, or blanket insulation to protect your interior. These range in price from $0.50 to $2 per square foot.
Once everything is in place, you can move forward with the amenities in your home. The amenities are where the cost to build a container home start to vary. While you can estimate the cost of land in your area and the going rate of a shipping container, there are dozens of amenities to include. A few popular features of most shipping container homes include:
With these features, your shipping container is just like any other home. You can opt for an affordable ductless air conditioning unit or install a full-size HVAC system. You can install laminate flooring that pops in or consider more expensive options. You can set your budget based on your home design goals.
There is good news for fans of container homes who don&#;t know how to turn a shipping container into a fully functioning house. There are companies that specialize in buying used shipping containers and reselling them to customers as completed homes. You can look at their designs online and find a container home that matches your size and budget.
These container homes start around $30,000. They include amenities like kitchens, bedroom spaces, and rooftop patios. Many companies offer several models to choose from based on your design preferences.
While buying pre-made is an easy way to get a move-in-ready container home, you will still need to budget for interior design upgrades (like paint colors) and furniture.
One way to avoid the cost to build a container home is to buy an existing one. These shipping containers are meant to last up to 25 years. However, they can last longer with the right care. Look for a home without rust, with added siding, and a built-on roof for added insulation and protection.
Before you look at container homes, you need to know whether you can actually afford to own one. Mortgage payments are generally higher than rent in most states. And even when the prices are close, there are other costs associated with owning your home instead of renting.
Your property taxes will be added to your monthly mortgage payment. And if you put down less than 20% for a down payment, your lender will probably require you to pay for private mortgage insurance (PMI) as well.
You&#;ll also have to pay some costs that you might not have had to pay while renting: utilities, cable, garbage pickup, and any necessary repairs.
Make sure you can comfortably afford not just your mortgage but also any additional expenses before buying your first home.
If you&#;ve run the numbers and decided that yes, you can afford homeownership, your next step is to meet with a mortgage lender. You can discuss the different types of mortgages and decide which would be best for you. You&#;ll also want to be pre-approved for a mortgage before you begin house-hunting.
To get pre-approved for a mortgage, you&#;ll have to share your financial and employment information with the lender. They&#;ll require documentation such as tax forms, pay stubs, and more. Once they review and verify your information, they&#;ll determine whether to approve you for a mortgage. If they do, they&#;ll let you know your mortgage options and terms.
The lender will also issue a pre-approval letter. You can show this to sellers when you&#;re looking at homes, to let them know that you&#;re able to secure financing.
Above all, remember that your Realtor should be there to aid in your home buying process, whether you want a shipping container or a more traditional home. Helping you avoid the wrong time to buy, the wrong location or the wrong house for your budget can all go a long, long way in making sure that you&#;re happy with the end result. Beyond that, realtors aren&#;t all the same, and you will need to find one that gels with your interest as a home buyer before choosing to go the length of the field with them.
UpNest, which is owned by parent company Realtor.com, uses a proprietary agent matching system that considers closed listings, location of listing, and other factors to provide the customer with 3-5 individual proposals.
The proposal includes commission information, marketing techniques, a Q&A about the agents, local trends, reviews, and more. Once agents start using UpNest&#;s platform, the matching system evaluates their performance with UpNest, including conversion rates and response time.
UpNest is a no-cost service for home sellers and buyers to find the best real estate agents locally. The UpNest platform allows you to compare multiple agents in your area so you can compare reviews, commission rates, previous sales, and more.
Our network agents have been carefully vetted and often offer competitive, lower than average commission rates to UpNest customers. There is no obligation to sign up with one of our network Realtors, but when you can potentially save thousands on commission &#; why wouldn&#;t you? If you&#;re ready to get started, just enter your zipcode below!
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Is it cheaper to build a container home?Shipping container houses are significantly cheaper to build than regular homes. They are very resource efficient and can be made to look like regular houses. You will need a building permit to build or install a container house, and you&#;ll likely need a site plan in order to obtain the building permit.
Do container homes hold value?According to some estimates, container homes maintain a very high resale value (100 percent and up) and being able to load them on a truck and deliver them anywhere makes them very attractive.
By Luke Hunter ,
Rise Writer
For more information, please visit Folding Container House Customized.
Last Updated: Aug 23,
Container homes are exactly what they sound like; homes made from the steel shipping containers that you see carrying goods everywhere on trains, trucks, and ships. From these giant Lego blocks, people are building homes of all shapes and sizes.
Shipping containers are generally available in 10ft, 20ft, and 40ft. The smallest shipping container can provide about 100 square feet of floor space for a shipping container home. Eight larger containers together can make a two-story house at about square feet. Hundreds of container micro-apartments together can make a huge apartment building.
Shipping Container Home, Costa Rica. Photo Credit: Benjamin Garcia Saxe
Why are shipping containers being used to make homes, studios, cabins, and offices? Well, with about 14 million &#;out-of-service&#; containers in the world, there are lots of them available. And playing with giant blocks has a definite appeal!
Besides trendiness, interest in container homes is also part of a wider interest in saving money with prefabricated and modular homes. Many potential homeowners are looking for lower construction and maintenance costs. There is also a perception that container homes are contributing to recycling.
Container Home. Photo Credit: Patrick Bradley Architects
Could a container home be a good choice for you? Here are some pros and cons to consider.
Many shipping container homes are available as prefabricated modular homes, making construction time shorter. Some companies advertise delivery within 10 weeks! Most of the building code inspections are done at the factory, which makes things simpler and quicker. Or if you are designing a custom home or building a do-it-yourself project, the container gives you a fun prebuilt structure to work with.
A worldwide system exists for moving containers around. Once they reach your site, they are relatively simple to set in place on a prepared foundation.
Most of the work is completed on a factory floor for a fixed price. Delivery to the site, site preparation, foundation, assembly and utility connections are the only variable costs. That said, container homes are not always less expensive. Estimates vary, and some put the savings at 5-10%, depending on what you&#;re comparing against.
The environmental appeal of a container home is the idea that you are re-using a leftover product of the shipping industry to make a home. This can be a good thing, but as we will see, it&#;s not always true or the best thing.
Some of the advantages, like short construction time and predictable pricing, are the same for all prefabricated and modular homes, not just those made with shipping containers. But container homes benefit uniquely from the worldwide infrastructure built to move shipping containers. Even container home skeptics admit they can be useful where local building expertise is lacking or for emergency shelters that can be moved easily. In these scenarios, the versatility of container transport is a huge advantage.
Catskills Container Home. Photo Credit: Porter Fox
Container homes are often marketed as being environmentally friendly because they are said to be made from used containers, thus conserving metal resources. There are lots of old shipping containers out there, no longer in circulation, and repurposing them into homes has a strong appeal. But is a container home really the best use of a container, from a sustainability perspective? Many would disagree.
Most factory-built container homes are built from &#;one-use&#; containers that have only had a single trip. These containers tend to be in good shape, without dents or rust, so they are nice for building with, instead of containers that have gone &#;out-of-service&#; and may be damaged from years of use. Taking a box with lots of shipping life out of service after a single use isn&#;t effective recycling. And there is way more steel in a container than you need to build a house - if recycled as steel, it could make enough steel studs for 14 framed houses the same size.
A shipping container is very strong at the corners, but the roof is not that strong, so typically you need to build another roof over it, especially where there will be snow. Also, the corrugated steel walls are essential to the strength of the structure. This means anywhere you cut out a large window, or door opening requires new reinforcement. And when they are stacked together to make larger homes, welded (expensive) reinforcement is needed wherever two containers join at a spot that is not a corner. Any later renovations require significant engineering and welding.
It&#;s often not possible to know what has been shipped in a used container &#; anything from harmless consumer goods to hazardous industrial materials &#; or what the container has been through. The paints and finishes used on containers are industrial and intended for shipping across the ocean, not residential homes, so that they could contain lead and toxic pesticides.
The size of shipping containers is quite limiting and can quickly be consumed by plumbing, HVAC, insulation, and other systems. A container was designed to fit on a train, which means it&#;s narrow, and ordinary furniture doesn&#;t fit right. A standard container is also only 8ft wide and 8 ft 6 in high, which doesn&#;t leave much headroom after insulation and wiring are installed.
The narrow shape of a shipping container doesn&#;t lend itself to insulating the exterior very well. To avoid using up interior space, a relatively thin layer of insulation with a high R-value per inch, such as polyurethane spray foam, is often used. Although spray foam is an effective and airtight insulator, the blowing agents used in many brands of spray foam are powerful greenhouse gases.
While shipping containers are reinforced at the corners, the existing roof may lack structural integrity. Those looking for container homes capable of support weight, such as weather, should consider if building a roof is right for them. A roof can also provide aesthetic and architectural flair that is common amongst homes in North America. While there are multiple styles of roofs that can be used for a shipping container home, flat roofs, pitched roofs, roof terraces, and living roofs are the most common.
Making a poor insulation decision can have a negative impact on climate change than other kinds of insulation. To construct a well-insulated wall, it would be better to build outward for more wall thickness and use a more environmentally sustainable type of insulation. But then what use is a heavy, corrugated steel exterior if it&#;s buried in insulation?
Buddina Beach Box. Photo Credit: OGE architects
As container homes continue to rise in popularity, so do requests for homeowners to build homes with them. Repurposed shipping containers are even popping up as markets, hotels, fairs, and mobile shops at local events. Even with the increasing popularity, your ability to build a home with shipping containers relies heavily on zoning regulations and building codes set forth by the local government. It's essential to do your research, understand zoning and building codes, and speak with the proper housing authorities if anything is unclear.
Suburban and rural areas tend to be more open to shipping container homes; however, some states are visibly more open to alternative living. Texas, California, Tennessee, Louisiana, Missouri, Oregon, and Alaska are among the more progressive states that have, to some level, opened their doors to shipping container homes. Texas already plays host to many container homes. Even though California is known for its red tape, it has been open to container homes and hybrid container homes. Louisana and Tennessee experience some of the most lenient and forward-thinking zoning regulations in the United States. As alternative living options continue to grow, it's only a matter of time before more states in the country begin to allow shipping container homes in designated areas.
So what will a shipping container home cost? Smaller, more basic container homes can range between $10,000 to $35,000. Large homes built with multiple shipping containers and amenities can range in price from $100,000 to $175,000. Shipping container homes, in some cases, can cost half as much per square foot than traditional stick building. However, it isn't easy to compare apples to apples, and there are many factors to consider.
So what can increase the cost? While land costs and climate requirements are significant considerations, it can also depend on many factors, including:
There is a report of a simple shipping container home self-built by an engineer in Canada for only $20,000. But a pre-manufactured container home has a price tag that looks more like a regular home.
Shipping container homes should last at least 25 years but will last much longer if they are well maintained or if you use siding to protect the exterior. Rust is the single most common issue that can reduce the lifespan of a shipping container home. It's important to inspect your shipping container home and look for rust spots. Any problematic areas should be treated and repaired to reduce the chance of rust spreading.
Since shipping container homes are made out of metal, there is the possibility that they may rust. Some shipping containers are initially manufactured with alloys, a process commonly referred to as weathering steel or corten steel, which helps to form a surface level of rust that mitigates further corrosion. The climate where the container is located factors into whether a shipping container home will rust as wet and dry climates affect shipping containers differently.
A well-maintained shipping container home can retain its resale value much like a traditional home. They're relatively easy to resell since they can be loaded onto a truck and shipped almost anywhere. Before purchasing, you may want to inquire as to whether the shipping container home was manufactured for your climate and, if not, inquire as to the modifications you may need to make so that it's appropriate for its intended location.
Image courtesy of Honomobo
Here is one example. Honomobo is a builder of pre-designed, factory-built container homes based in Edmonton, Canada. They create homes using one to eight containers with high-quality finishes. Their largest model, HO8, is a two-story home with just over square feet of floor area.
NOTES: All prices are approximate, based on available data. The land is not included in this comparison and is assumed to be the same for both. *Posted price from Honomobo. **Estimated $220 per square foot construction cost in Canada, not including land or foundation. ***Estimated $1.30 per km per container for shipping, considering Edmonton (Canada) to Winnipeg (Canada) ( km).
Image courtesy of Honomobo.
You might love to have a container home because you like the idea, the look, the chance to play with blocks in a DIY design, or the quick delivery time for a manufactured model. But don&#;t assume it will cost less or that it&#;s necessarily more environmentally sustainable.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute a product endorsement however Rise does reserve the right to recommend relevant products based on the articles content to provide a more comprehensive experience for the reader.
Last Modified: -08-23T12:45:59+
Article by:
Luke Hunter
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