Yeah, that was Sears Roebuck's wheelhouse for some time. They actually looked pretty good in the catalogs; though I'm not aware of having been in one knowingly. Though I wouldn't be surprised if I have been in one.
I live in a Sears house from 1912. My house was rebuilt 10 years ago though and an extra floor added. All my neighbors have pretty much the original design though. They are pretty sweet little houses with a tiny drive way. Maybe a Model T could have fit down it - but no modern car can.
I lived in Sears house for about a year in the 1990s. It seemed like a fine house. It turned into a punk house at that point and the plumbing couldn't hold up to that but I suspect with normal use it would have been fine for a while longer.
The shipping price was incorporated into the main price. The kit doesn't include most of the things (like windows, doors, electric installation, plumbing etc) and it's just walls, it's actually quite expensive for what it is.
"DOES NOT INCLUDE WINDOWS, DOORS, PLUMBING, ELECTRICAL, ENGINEERING, FIXTURES. IT IS NOT A STOCK MODEL AND IS MADE TO ORDER. PLEASE NOTE THAT AMAZON's MAX HANDLING TIME IN THE SYSTEM IS 30 DAYS BUT YOU MUST ALLOW 120 DAYS AFTER ORDERING FOR DELIVERY."
At $150,000, how does this compare to building a house from scratch given all that's left out? Seems expensive to me for just walls, floors and a roof.
the difference in cost between a plot with and without a house is not an honest way to gauge BOM cost; there is value in the effort, permitting, and planning.
Yep but you have to pay for the labour from the many inspectors who have to verify it's correctness and the legal cost for properly filing all the paperwork to legally allow the structure to stand.
Where I live that would go for around 400k. I’m about level to LV prices. At 150k you have a pretty strong budget for the land. Don’t know what the plumbing and electrical would run though.
Edit-Ok after looking at the photos I could see that going for more toward the 500k line. That’s a very nice home.
Check out menards or a local lumber package.. 2 carpenters can frame a house pretty quick so.. I would say until we get ikea modular houses pre wired and plumbed that this isn’t worth it.
One of my clients was a modular architecture firm. They had a nice set of contemporary designs of varying square footage. Most were in the 2500-3500 sq foot range and went from 225K and up.
They said their main problem was people asking for a 6,000 sq ft modular home for under 200K. They were under the impression modular homes should be cheaper and you should get tons more square footage. Nope, most of the same rules applies to modular homes. It's the process that's faster and which makes it less expensive; but not 300K less expensive.
It is pretty expensive considering the cost of those items are pretty dang high, especially windows and doors of which numerous windows are custom shapes. Not to mention the labor costs of it all which are not included and are going to cost atleast as much as the materials. So it is closer to 300K for just the framework. I also don't see other things mentioned like roofing material or insulation and the whole thing needs to be painted or finished. The foundation is also a large cost.
Yes. The other replies are missing the distinction. A manufactured home is traditionally a mobile home. There is a wide range of sizes (single wide, double wide, triple wide) with a range in quality/price. These are the ones you see cut in half on a truck trailer on the highway. A more modern approach has become the Pre-fab homes. These can have a wider range of shapes than the rectangle which helps avoid the “mobile home” stigma. The manufacturing is also done in a warehouse to build pieces Of the house on a production line, like the walls, floor and roofs, that are stacked on a trailer and then erected as a puzzle on the building site. The advantage of pre-fab is that there is less waste and because components are built in a warehouse, they can be built during winter for assembly in spring. Hope this helps.
> A more modern approach has become the Pre-fab homes.
This isn't just a modern approach. See the Sears kit homes of the early 20th century.
My parents built their ~2800sq ft (not including basement) two story house back in 1976, and it came as a kit on a truck. My dad and uncle, with help from friends, built it, farming out specialist jobs (plumbing, including septic system, etc) as needed.
No, they can build modular homes in all sorts of different configurations. A relative had a ~2,000 sq ft house built this way, it was faster and cheaper to build than a traditional hose. It came in 5-6 sections iirc.
When I click 'See all buying options', it says $149,591. You might be looking at the 'Lower Priced Item to Consider' at the top, which is a different product.
As you said, this looks to be more of an advertising stunt than a viable purchase. All those + foundation, land, etc means you're looking at a pricetag almost double or more $150k.
With that said, I wonder how hard it would be to sell prefab sections/houses that are already wired for electricity and plumbing straight from the warehouse.
> With that said, I wonder how hard it would be to sell prefab sections/houses that are already wired for electricity and plumbing straight from the warehouse.
150K seems overpriced. For comparison, I can buy a similar 2600sf home, built, for 275K -- ready to move in, completely finished plumbing, electrical, etc. That's from a local "custom" builder that builds from a standard set of stock plans. In both cases you have to buy the land and pay for the prep.
If you were making the inferior copycat kits, what corners would you cut?
My picks:
* Lead paint (still in inventory from the 60's)
* Ant or termite infestation in the wood
* 2 similar but noticeably different types of flooring for the main level
* Most subtly, making the ceilings 7'9". 3" savings multiplied by all the sruds adds up! The scraps could be sold as firewood, or maybe with volume, the wood could come at a discount from a supplier.
This isn’t Amazon, its just a seller on Amazon - just an advertisement for an engineered lumber log home kit (not sure who would want that?). You can buy all sorts of kits like these all over the world. Some include more, some less, some log, some not. How is this interesting or news?
Agree. Doesn't seem like the vendor actually intends to sell one of these through Amazon. That would mean they'd be giving Amazon a cut, and subject to all of their policies. I think this is just a silly attempt to make their product more visible.
Sears started as a mail order watch and jewelry company in 1886 (sold by Sears, then reformed in 1892 with Roebuck). They started selling houses in 1908. They already had the present day equivalent of over a billion dollar valuation at that point.
I've seen a few prefab buildings sold by merchants on Amazon's site, most seem to be aimed at the ADU (backyard cottages for rentals basically) market.
I'm curious to watch and see how long before a big company like Amazon or AirBnB starts offering their own standardized ADU build-outs that are integrated with their smart locks and other services. I would think they could use their scale to come up with something that could be sold and built for a reasonable price.
I doubt either of these companies would ever want to take on the massive costs in developing these. They are technology companies with large margins, the capex requirements and margins they would see going down a manufactured housing path make no sense for their business models and other people are already willing to do this for them.
For months, I've been seeing this headline in Google News, repeatedly blocking sites promoting it, only to have new sites pop up. I'm getting served ads on Facebook and Twitter about these house kits - and now it's an HN headline? I'll say this much - I'm impressed at the veracity of the marketing machine behind this product.
I don't know what it is, but the internet seems so small these days. Every news aggregator or media outlet seems to have all the same stories. I miss when there seemed to be a vast world out there. Maybe I've just gotten trapped in a bubble.
I'm not sure if there's some powerful force controlling the media as many paranoid people would have it, or if it's emergent behavior.
When you search for anything to buy on Google, the first 10-15 links are for Amazon. Type in the manufacturer and the list dwindles to about 5-6 Amazon links, which is absurd. If I'm looking for Bose headphones or Adidas shoes, shouldn't the actual manufacturers site be page page 1, #1?
Your great-grandfather likely complained that quality heart pine was being replaced by cheap "natural wood" planks. Wood has been on the decline for decades and it's a stark reminder of how much of the natural world we've plundered as a species.
You are partially correct (and maybe more so with this product). But there are types of engineered woods and beams made from glued and pressed stick lumber/boards. Imagine the concept of plywood but with several 2X6s to replace a true 6”x12” beam which would be 1) not as dimensionally stable as wood naturally warps and 2) needs to be milled from a much larger tree. Engineered woods that are not made with harsh chemicals like Formaldehyde are often ligher, stronger, and can be made from younger, new-growth timber stands. We have a nostalgia for pure lumber but engineered woods are really a better building material for certain situations.
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[ 6.3 ms ] story [ 163 ms ] threadApparently there aren’t a lot at least in anything like their original form.
MUJI sells little kit houses in its Ginza flagship store (actually they sell them online as well https://www.muji.com/jp/mujihut/en.html).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd6ddOlbKp8
"DOES NOT INCLUDE WINDOWS, DOORS, PLUMBING, ELECTRICAL, ENGINEERING, FIXTURES. IT IS NOT A STOCK MODEL AND IS MADE TO ORDER. PLEASE NOTE THAT AMAZON's MAX HANDLING TIME IN THE SYSTEM IS 30 DAYS BUT YOU MUST ALLOW 120 DAYS AFTER ORDERING FOR DELIVERY."
At $150,000, how does this compare to building a house from scratch given all that's left out? Seems expensive to me for just walls, floors and a roof.
Edit-Ok after looking at the photos I could see that going for more toward the 500k line. That’s a very nice home.
They said their main problem was people asking for a 6,000 sq ft modular home for under 200K. They were under the impression modular homes should be cheaper and you should get tons more square footage. Nope, most of the same rules applies to modular homes. It's the process that's faster and which makes it less expensive; but not 300K less expensive.
Pretty sure they went under. Most of the post on their FB page were from 2014: https://www.facebook.com/HiveModular/app/143965932308817/?re...
A normal manufactured home is a much better value, and includes things like code compliance and plumbing.
https://www.claytonhomes.com/studio/defined-mobile-manufactu...
This isn't just a modern approach. See the Sears kit homes of the early 20th century.
My parents built their ~2800sq ft (not including basement) two story house back in 1976, and it came as a kit on a truck. My dad and uncle, with help from friends, built it, farming out specialist jobs (plumbing, including septic system, etc) as needed.
That well may be cheaper than you'd get from a local lumber yard, plus I assume there'll be some labor savings as it's already cut to length.
> $149,591.00 New + $4.49 shipping
I'm laughing pretty hard at the $4.49 shipping. What it's not on prime at this point? : P
With that said, I wonder how hard it would be to sell prefab sections/houses that are already wired for electricity and plumbing straight from the warehouse.
I.e. a manufactured/mobile home?
Project Ara^, only for e.g. "home theater room", "film darkroom", etc.
^ https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/20/11721594/google-project-a...
My picks:
* Lead paint (still in inventory from the 60's)
* Ant or termite infestation in the wood
* 2 similar but noticeably different types of flooring for the main level
* Most subtly, making the ceilings 7'9". 3" savings multiplied by all the sruds adds up! The scraps could be sold as firewood, or maybe with volume, the wood could come at a discount from a supplier.
https://mcmansionhell.com/post/166916762911/looking-around-a...
https://mcmansionhell.com/post/155602312686/the-mail-order-a...
Amazon: I'll show you how HomeKit is really done!
Sears started by shipping homes by the way, it would be awesome for someone to pull this off in 21st century.
I'm curious to watch and see how long before a big company like Amazon or AirBnB starts offering their own standardized ADU build-outs that are integrated with their smart locks and other services. I would think they could use their scale to come up with something that could be sold and built for a reasonable price.
Did you mean 'tenacity'?
I'm not sure if there's some powerful force controlling the media as many paranoid people would have it, or if it's emergent behavior.
When you search for anything to buy on Google, the first 10-15 links are for Amazon. Type in the manufacturer and the list dwindles to about 5-6 Amazon links, which is absurd. If I'm looking for Bose headphones or Adidas shoes, shouldn't the actual manufacturers site be page page 1, #1?
I would think so, but it's not the case anymore.
Isn't "engineered wood" created from wood scraps glued together, which is prone to Formaldehyde off gassing?
Weird state of the world we're in where natural wood planks are being replaced with this garbage.
Personally, I do not want a house constructed of wood + glue.
Luckily, cheap treated wood is pretty durable.