Home-ownership has always been and always will be part of the American dream. It is often though of the foundation to starting a family, and something that most Americans with any sort of ambition strive for. However, buying a home is not a guarantee by any means given how expensive homes have become since the last recession. In fact, many millennials in particular are being priced out of the housing market due to these exorbitant prices. This age group in particular is the very one that is looking to start families in new homes, which makes the situation all the more devastating. However, there is a way for many of these millennials (and other home-buyers in general) to work around the high-cost of home ownership and that is with shipping container homes.
Shipping container homes are exactly what they sound like – homes made out of shipping containers. These shipping containers often come from overseas and are the type of containers that are literally shipped from places such as China to the United States. And while you might be laughing about the thought of living in a shipping container, rest assured that with a little bit of work, these containers can make absolutely functional and beautiful homes.
What’s great about them is that most of the infrastructure is already in place as soon as the container arrives to your plot of land. The main things you need to focus on from a functional standpoint are installing adequate flooring, as well as plumbing and electricity. The flooring is necessary to give you a nice homey feeling rather than feeling like you are living inside of a grimy shipping container, and the plumbing and electricity are obviously essential to live like you would in any other typical house.
Now the one thing to keep in mind is that space will definitely be limited. Even if you order the largest shipping container around, there is only so much you can cram into that space. It is important to be deliberate with the limited space you have, making sure to use every square inch. One common example of this practice is to put storage space under your bed, or to even have your bed fold up when you aren’t using it so that space can be used for other things during the day. If you really want more space, which is especially true of people who are planning to house large families, then you can even combine multiple shipping containers to effectively create a larger home. Just note that this will require a lot more planning and actual work to physically connect the separate containers.
Shipping container homes are not for everyone. If you are claustrophobic, then it is definitely not a good idea to live in one. And even if you aren’t claustrophobic but simply want more open space in your home to actually live in, then finding an adequate solution via shipping containers will be fairly difficult. However, if you are strapped for cash and desperately want to own a home of your own, buying undeveloped land and building your own shipping container home may very well be the best option for you to realize your dream of home ownership!