In the early 20th century, you could buy a house from Sears. The materials would arrive on a truck and you would build it yourself or hire a contractor.
Now, Amazon is getting into home sales, marketing a line of “tiny” houses it’s promoting as a possible answer to the housing affordability crisis. The smallest unit sells for just under $11,000.
The homes are produced by Generic Modular Tiny Homes and, like the Sears houses in the past, are prefabricated for assembly at the site.
“Our modular folded homes offer unparalleled space flexibility, allowing you to easily expand or collapse the structure to meet your living needs, making it perfect for both temporary and permanent residences,” Amazon said on its website. The company provided the image below of its lowest-price model.
The company says that when compared to traditional construction methods, the tiny homes are not just affordable to build but also cost less to maintain. However, there may be additional hurdles that must be faced.
Additional challenges
Local zoning can make it difficult to obtain land on which to erect the home. Many subdivisions with homeowners associations have covenants that mandate minimum square footage greater than the size of most tiny houses.
In addition, eight states – Alaska, Iowa, Louisiana, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin and West Virginia – have laws banning tiny homes as permanent residences. Even states that allow tiny houses may require minimum square footage and a minimum ceiling height.
Tiny houses may be most practical in rural areas, where zoning laws might not be as strict and where a building lot that is not part of a residential neighborhood can be found. But, in those cases sewer and water facilities may not be available, requiring a septic field and well. The costs of those two items could cost a lot more than the house itself.