The Real Cost of Elon Musk's $50,000 Boxabl Casita 

i bought a 1700 square foot house, fully updated everything, with a small back yard in 2012 for $53K

@@p.chuckmoralesesquire3965 : WHERE did you buy this inexpensive house almost ten years? Area of the country makes a HUGE difference.

@@catherinetodd He said in 2012. We’re in 2021 so probably more expensive today. :)

@@catherinetodd yeah I know but that doesn't address the point that I'm building to making which is that$50K box house is a pretty lame scam. Musk is doing something much worse than government housing.

@@mayalmariomendoza134 Yep exactly, I sold it for $100K a couple years ago. What do you think the up-swing is on a $50K kit house? I'm thinking more like a used car.

holy shit it does LOL

Only reason I would consider a Castia is because there’s no excess costs really to have it built, just the usual inspections.

@@ZambonieDude but honestly, the little modular would make a perfect guest house or pool house. Which was he was trying to achieve.

You still have to buy the lot/land to put it on. That could easily add a lot of cost. That price is already figured into the house nearby.

I agree

This is actually a good idea

Never happened! I’m a licensed and certified residential designer and this home as represented is bogus.

..i would do it..be Thrilled to do it..such a community sounds really Nice..never did like big houses..my Favorite home on earth was a 2 room cabin my dad & i built...all from 'leftovers'..he was not just a builder he also tore old houses down..you can come across some Cool & Rare details that way...Magical lighting, fantastic tile or wood floors...uber cool windows...Great old doors...finely crafted hardware & some really beautiful paneling & cornice & ornamentation. Even the occasional perfect fence. ...i had a Very Unusual childhood growing up on a self sustained farm in the mountains of NePa..& some of the best memories were working with my dad...since my older brother died in vietnam..after the general left he turned to me & said i had to take his place. "it's up to you now"..i know it was the grief talking, i was only 12 yrs old..my life changed forever that day, i lost a brother & what was left of childhood..& gained a relentless work ethic & pride in results that sustains me to this day...he did mean it, he taught me everything about building a house or cabin including the plumbing & electric..masonry...& landscaping. & so much more. Now that i think back on it, not sure who was driven the most, him or me. Hard to tell. These houses are Wonderful..i would Love to go over one from top to bottom..& i'll bring my rug & pillow..lol

Been trying to convince my husband to make travel nurse communities...passing this on to you

Agreed, I think they're a great idea.

You guys must live in California. 120k could get you a monster mobile home though

Wouldn't assembly add.an additional huge fee?

lol 120k for 800 sft is NOT affordable.

@@Gibsonsg527 : it is, only if you live in a high-dollar real estate area where houses go for a million to start!

Which one are you putting in the desert... the 20ft SC or a Boxabl Casita(?)

Are you one of those monsters from hills have eyes?

Ah. Joshua tree is a nice place.

Yup, I’m in a 40’ container that I’m building as I can afford, it’s still going to end up at $25k-30k once it’s done (including off grid power which is $$$)

I'm living in a 5200sf house and its affordable for me

Wouldn't go for it TBH those kinds of affordable housing communities tend to turn trashy real quick. Plenty of trailer parks out there to go live in

People would have to be committed to living simply. The class of the people would be very very important.

Some tiny home groupings you buy the home, but pay rent for the land, which you don't get much of

Once you factor in land costs it kills the potential.

I use to work in San Luis Obispo CA. They had an empty lot for $37,000. I wanted to buy it. I called the realtor. I said I want to buy it and put a small home on it. He laughed at me and said the city would never let me do it. So I forgot about it. A few years later there was a small home on it. LoL. Probably worth about $500,000.

@@PInk77W1 Yeah, there are always exceptions to the rules. I my location you can ask for one if you are willing to pay a hefty fee and ensure months of public hearings with no guarantee it will be approved (and sorry, no refunds).

@@jimbowling8528 someone was politically connected. I wasn’t

I'm a small real estate investor I thought of adding something like this on one of my properties. The local government said first I need an engineer to make drawings of the addition. then after paying an engineer I have to pay them $500 just to give me a yes or no answer.

@@charlesweaver9297 where do u live ? Sounds like a big city ? I live in the middle of Texas I don’t think it’s like that here

Good to see site prep $ mentioned but technically it's a wash, as all new home sites would incur these costs.

Thanks Zach, glad to hear you got value from the video! That's cool you went to boxabl, I'm going to check it out soon as well. Thanks for watching

I love it.!!

namsinc wrote: "The thing that concerns me about Boxabl is the joints that allow this house to be folded." Exactly my thoughts as well. I would let a few more of these folding houses get installed and wait a year to see how they make it through the seasons before I invested $50,000+.

Transport cost to NZ, land, etc would add a lot and are those NZ dollars or USA dollars? Huge difference.

Thanks for watching!

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching 🙌🏼

Double that for California

Although federal, state and local taxes weren’t included in unit and setup costs.

@@curtissharris8914 Our city in CA is waving the hook up costs to water and sewer for ADUs. That's a savings of $10k.

@@rvingjourneys that's fantastic what city is that?

@@rvingjourneys what city?

Thanks John!

I'm guessing that if a new couple have kids, they can add a box, and put it on top, so the Casita in theory, could grow as the family grows, without taking up more land space.

Timzart: well said, and what I like is that you can add more Boxabl's later on. That makes this construction even more attractive!

@@catherinetodd you can't just add random stacks in a house and call it done. Structural integrity is important if you don't want to die.

That already exists. Contrary to popular belief, building a house is extremely cheap. Most people either don't want to learn or are too lazy to research so they just want to buy premade. Keep buying premade, prices will keep rising. Cost of building one yourself, always keeps going down in comparison.

Sears used to sell house kits that were delivered by rail and built on site. Came with everything needed to build the home and included plumbing, electrical, etc. This isn't a new concept

ARaddue: I was wondering the same thing. Too bad the videographer doesn't answer questions here. Would be a big help.

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks for watching

lol 'cept a boxabl community would look absolutely nothing like a traditional mobile home park.

@@__WJK__ thats the point. out with the old in with the new.

Thank you! I appreciate that 🙏🏻

You’re welcome!

Thank you 🙌🏼

You are very welcome

Thanks 🙏🏻

I just saw a vid, pitched or flat roof, with solar panels

@@jaceebrynne49 : is the roof included in the $50,000 cost?

You’re welcome 👊🏻

Appreciate it!

Wow, that’s awesome! Was that recently?

@@KerryTarnow just before this housing shortage hit. We are listing it this week and hope to get double that, but we put a lot of improvements into it.

@@hollybishop484 great timing! Good luck with the sale 🙏🏻

Well lucky you but I live in California and every millennial like me is depressed we can’t afford shit we just keep getting pushed to live deeper in the desert

It’s also Haaaaaat in the summertime

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching

You're welcome! thanks for watching

30+ years in affordable housing and the prices have shot off to the moon. Im guessing theres alot of hands in the cookie jar.

@@okrepo8461 All volunteer work for well known non profit providers.

YES, the resale value will hold because alternative housing is increasingly more expensive annually. Ease of moving also is a plus...

No problem Bunny. Thanks for watching

Glad it was helpful!

@@KerryTarnow : Amen and GRACIAS!

You do know you can just buy a mobile home about 3x bigger for much cheaper, right?

@@enriquecabrera2137 what’s the downside to a mobile home? It’s on wheels tho…the home can roll away…also the entire home is one giant vehicle that you can drive the mobile home and a vehicle can always blow up right?

@@enriquecabrera2137 link or video please

You’re welcome!

I’ll check it out thank you

​@@KerryTarnow Wow, thank you for responding. There's a video that went viral a few days ago where a gentleman walks through one of these houses. Its called "TINY HOME...HOME DEPOT..." I would love to hear your take on it!

I'm doing the same. It depends on county. Reach out to the board of supervisors in your county. In Northern California, a fire resistant, environmentally friendly home should merit a reduction in permit fees. You will probably have to fight to get them to listen and take action but let's face it, Northern California needs options to address available inventory.

Glad you liked it

I would think that the first is the most expensive as it includes the utility hookups and permits. If you did multiple modules at once, you probably would only incur the cost of the foundation. If you added on later, though, then you would need to go through permitting again in addition to building costs.

80% of that is land value (yes you still own land in a condo)

I agree it’s still a bargain for us in Hawaii where our average is around $650-$900/sqft. 😭

Thank you 👊🏻