You Can Buy a Home on Amazon for Under $10,000
Interest rates and a seller's market make it tough for a lot of people to buy a starter home, but now you can buy an actual house on Amazon for under $10,000.
The idea of buying a prefab tiny home on Amazon has drawn news coverage from outlets like People Magazine, which described one tiny home as having "a modern-luxury aesthetic with clean lines and can be customized to fit up to six bedrooms." Prices vary, and that house was selling for less than $26,000.
According to Travel + Leisure, "innovative solutions like Amazon’s prefab tiny homes are reshaping the way people think about affordable living." There are even Reddit threads devoted to the concept, where some people refer to them as "kit houses." According to ABC 27, "These aren’t flimsy sheds or glorified storage units. They’re fully prefabricated houses with kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, and, in some cases, multiple stories." They look like homes, just really small.
Realtor.com offers a list of tips for people interested in tiny homes, including a warning to read the fine print and research what you're buying. Utilities and zoning requirements are other considerations. "Are you buying a complete tiny house that comes fully built, transported and rolled/craned into your backyard—or are you buying a bunch of parts that need to be assembled?" Paul Dashevsky, co-CEO of Maxable, told Realtor.com. "If assembly is required, make sure you first speak to a local contractor and determine the price of assembly."
Amazon Is Selling Several 'Portable' Tiny Homes
A search for "Amazon home" brings up multiple options. There's a "Foldable Modular House with 2-3 Bedrooms, Kitchen and Bathroom" selling for just over $9,000, and a "40ft Expandable Container House Steel Portable Prefabricated Villa Tiny Home to Live in for Adults with 2-3 Bedrooms, 1 Full Equipped Bathroom and Kitchen" for $9,900.
A page for a $9,800 "container" home reads, "Our expandable container house is engineered for versatility. It effortlessly transforms into a productive Backyard Office, a private Guest Suite, a serene Vacation Cabin, or a full-time Primary Residence." Again, research before buying to make sure you're getting what you're really after, as the above mentions are not endorsements.
How hard are the tiny homes to construct? "Thanks to the house’s expandable design, there’s no drilling or cutting required to start living in your new cabin-style oasis. Simply fold out the pre-existing structure and furnish as you wish," wrote Travel + Leisure of the home in its article.
Some of the tiny homes are more elaborate, such as this home with a porch.
The views on Reddit were mixed, with some people urging the original poster to purchase land and an RV instead. YouTube influencers have posted videos showing their experiences with the prefab homes, not all of which were positive.
"I see no reason to believe this is not the future housing. Lower cost, less people having kids energy cause even space," a person wrote on a Garage Journal forum. "I was somewhat fascinated by the whole tiny house things for a while. I knew something like that would never work for us but I still gave it considerable thought," another person wrote. Added another, "I couldn't live in one long term, but it could be a reasonably cheap vacation cabin."