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Lexi Newkirk and her husband, Diego, weren’t interested in cramped city living. Instead, the young married couple from Austin, Texas, created their very own path to home ownership.
“We grew up in the city and we wanted to escape it,” Lexi said in an article by content company SWNS.
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So, they decided to buy a plot of land for $180,000 in a rural area nearby and have spent $60,000 building their dream home out of two 40-foot shipping containers.
“We’re living on 12-and-a-half acres and I love it,” Lexi said.
From the ground up
The couple could’ve saved up to buy a home in Austin, where according to Zillow the average price runs just north of $500,000, but they had other ideas.
After buying their land in October 2023, they built a foundation and basement before stacking two 40-foot shipping containers on top of one another. The containers cost $5,500 apiece, per SWNS. Slowly, over about a year, the couple have added plumbing, wiring and insulation to the 640-square-foot home.
The couple hoped to have the home finished completely by early March. They plan to live there while they work to build up the rest of the land they bought.
Before you build a home
Building a home from scratch is no easy feat, and it’s important to know what you’re getting into.
For one thing, not everyone has the handyman skills necessary to construct a home. Diego performed most of the manual labor on the home in the story above, according to SWNS, but social media posts of their progress show help was needed at various stages.
Building a home can also be more complicated than expected. For one thing, zoning laws might limit your ability to construct your dream home. And don’t forget you need all of the necessary permits to proceed with construction.
Connecting your home to utilities, such as electricity, can also present a challenge, assuming they’re available. That’s something you’ll need to coordinate with your local utility department.
Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Hassle-free property ownership
While building a home from shipping containers is a radical solution to the ever-increasing cost of housing, there are other ways to benefit from the hot real estate market even if you don’t have the capital to buy a plot of land.
New investing platforms are making it easier than ever to tap into the real estate market.
For accredited investors, Homeshares gives access to the $36 trillion U.S. home equity market, which has historically been the exclusive playground of institutional investors.
With a minimum investment of $25,000, investors can gain direct exposure to hundreds of owner-occupied homes in top U.S. cities through their U.S. Home Equity Fund — without the headaches of buying, owning or managing property.
With risk-adjusted target returns ranging from 14% to 17%, this approach provides an effective, hands-off way to invest in owner-occupied residential properties across regional markets.
If you’re not an accredited investor, crowdfunding platforms like Arrived allow you to enter the real estate market for as little as $100.
Arrived offers you access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals, curated and vetted for their appreciation and income potential.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level. Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allows accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part.
Finally, accredited investors will want to take a look at First National Realty Partners (FNRP). This platform allows you to diversify your portfolio through investments in grocery-anchored commercial properties, without taking on the responsibilities of being a landlord.
With a minimum investment of $50,000, you can own a share of properties leased by national brands like Whole Foods, Kroger and Walmart. Thanks to Triple Net (NNN) leases, accredited investors are able to invest in these properties without worrying about tenant costs cutting into their potential returns.
Simply answer a few questions — including how much you would like to invest — to start browsing their full list of available properties.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
