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A friend of mine builds very nice homes from shipping containers in Costa Rica.
We had been talking about the idea of a low cost community where you would own your container home, but would rent the land–therefore giving you easy felixibility to move if you wanted
Sort of Like a mobile home community, but without the rusty cars and shotguns.
Anyone have any thoughts?How could this be economically feasible?
The container homes may be “low cost” but that doesn’t mean they are able to buy the land cheap does it?
To make this financially viable for the property owner surely he would have to charge an extremely high monthly fee?
A high monthly fee that someone who buys a container home would not be willing to pay?
We were exploring a rent in the $200 per month range–this would include water.
So you could have your Container home for $20-40,000 plus $200 per month
This would be limits to perhaps 30-40 homes maximum.[quote=”kordan”]We were exploring a rent in the $200 per month range–this would include water.
So you could have your Container home for $20-40,000 plus $200 per month
This would be limits to perhaps 30-40 homes maximum.[/quote]OK – So how much land would you need to buy for 40 container homes?
Relative to the price of prefabs or even building a home from the ground up, I found the container homes not such a deal. I did look into them and have spoken with one guy down there that has been building them.
A friend of mine got one here in Escazú for $10K. It’s a one bedroom, I don’t know the name of the guy doing them but that starts to sound like a deal. Tiny, uber tiny but in the right spot, who cares?
[quote=”*Lotus”]Relative to the price of prefabs or even building a home from the ground up, I found the container homes not such a deal. I did look into them and have spoken with one guy down there that has been building them.[/quote]
But the container community becomes a good idea when you have access to infrasctructure like pools, tennis courts etc
Boy! This seems like it’s going to be a hard sell. The largest containers are 40′ x 8′ = 320s/f. That’s about the size of an 18′ x 18′ living room. That’s generous for a living room, but make provision for a kitchen and a bath, space for a bed, and there won’t be much room left over. Of course, you could use two such containers but space would still be woefully tight. By comparison, the smallest mobile homes in the U.S. are 8′ x 60′, I think, and there aren’t many of those being built any longer.
The greater hurdle, however, would be governmental. I’m unaware of any sort of development in Costa Rica that’s in any way similar to a mobile home park, which is pretty much what you’re describing here. First, you’d have to get the municipalidad to go along with a land usage that’s never even been proposed before. Putting one converted container on a lot is one thing. Putting a couple of dozen up is very different.
Then you’d have to get them to approve the “construction” of these converted containers. What standards would they use?
And finally, when you consider that you can rent a small Costa Rican-type house in many areas for well under $500 per month, why would anyone spend $20,000 for 320 square feet and the privilege of spending $200 per month for lot rent in perpetuity?
One of the things that attracts me to CR is the un-likeness of Florida. Mobile homes or container homes…what is the difference? CR will end up looking like Florida:cry:! No thanks, I won’t be living in one.
Well, I think you’re safe on that one. There isn’t enough flat space in Costa Rica to make it look like Florida.
[quote=”MDesabrais”]One of the things that attracts me to CR is the un-likeness of Florida. Mobile homes or container homes…what is the difference? CR will end up looking like Florida:cry:! No thanks, I won’t be living in one.[/quote]
The difference is the enviromental responsibility and the cost
Using recycled materials to build something superior to any other form of construction avaialble. There are not too many houses here that are guaranteed earthquake proof, hurricane proof and can support 50 tonnes on the roof. Not to mention the outstanding security.
I want to thank everone on this posting for their ideas and inputs–please keep it up
Cheers!
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