There’s no denying that many people want to buy their own house eventually. Unfortunately, the cost of purchasing a home in some areas is too expensive. So the only real alternatives for those individuals are to live in an apartment, rent a property, or live at home with parents.
But, did you know there are several other alternatives to having your own space that are significantly cheaper than buying a house? Take a look at the following examples; some of them might even surprise you:
#1: A Boat
If you’re planning to live in a coastal location in the United States, for example, one idea you could consider is living in a boat. It’s something that thousands of people do each year and many more in other countries worldwide.
It can seem like a strange concept at first. But, living in a boat means you can effectively take your home somewhere new if you fancy mooring at a different location. Plus, the cost of buying and maintaining a boat is significantly cheaper than with a house.
#2: A Shipping Container
An affordable route to having your own home is to buy a plot of land somewhere and installing a shipping container on it. Shipping containers might seem like unlikely places to live. However, they offer many benefits.
For example, they are cheap to buy, they’re well built, and you can adapt them to your needs quite easily. What’s more, you can even purchase insulation for shipping containers, so they are warm inside during the winter months.
#3: A Prefabricated House
Most people are familiar with the concept of assembling flat-packed furniture, such as those sold from a well-known Swedish retailer. But are you familiar with the idea of a flat-packed, prefabricated house?
You literally assemble it from ready-made pieces, much like you would with a contemporary flat-packed bookcase. Of course, you would be doing so on a much larger scale than you’re used to doing.
Prefabricated houses cost a fraction of the price of building a conventional bricks and mortar property, and some examples take just a few hours to put together. Such homes are gaining more popularity in the United States and are already a familiar sight in some countries.
#4: An RV
If you’re lucky enough to have a job where you can work remotely from anywhere in the world, and you enjoy getting out on the open road, you should consider purchasing an RV. Today’s RVs come in various sizes, so don’t assume that space will be at a premium.
Another advantage of living in an RV is how you can technically move your home several times a month to all kinds of amazing locations. You could even blog about your RV adventures and earn a passive income from your blog to pay for your RV’s upkeep.
#5: A Yurt
In case you didn’t know, yurts are essentially massive and tall tents. They originate from central Asia and have been used as accommodation by millions of people in the region for centuries.
Traditional yurts got made from skins or felt, but modern ones typically get manufactured from waterproof canvas, architectural fabrics, and structural engineering components. The ones you can buy today get designed to withstand extreme weather conditions.
A yurt is an excellent idea if you long for having alternative accommodation that offers plenty of space for individuals or families and is aesthetically pleasing.
#6: A Bus
You may have read suggestion #4 and thought that perhaps an RV might not be big enough to house you, your family, and all of your belongings. If you still prefer the idea of having a mobile home, you should consider buying a bus and converting it into your new abode.
As you can imagine, it’s possible to buy buses in differing sizes and configurations. You may even decide to do something completely different and convert an old imported London Routemaster bus.
#7: A Pallet House
Wood is an expensive material to use, irrespective of what you want to build. You might like the idea of building your own log cabin, for example, but balk at the materials cost. The good news is you can still make a wooden house; you just need to be creative with what you use.
For example, you can get free or cheap shipping pallets and use them to create your new house. Plus, you can even install some solar panels on your roof for free electricity and heating. It’s a very sustainable way of living – and an affordable one, too.
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