Building a Home Out of Shipping Containers

 Did you know that you can build a nice home for yourself out of recycled shipping containers? As unusual as that may sound; it is true, and you can do it for a relatively low total cost. You can undertake such a project starting out at around $2000 AND this project will be a good investment from an ecological standpoint. We will examine how you can go about doing this in our article.

In the first place; just because you want a luxury home does not mean it has to be huge. Therefore it is possible to construct a nicely sized AND efficient home out of a fairly small number of these shipping containers. Sometimes even one will suffice. You can ensure the home is adequately ventilated and has sufficient bathroom facilities for proper hygiene and sanitation needs. What you do to enhance the rest of your unique home is totally up to you. People have come up with some ultra-creative ways to build their shipping container homes that are actually quite attractive. Then again; when you get right down to it, attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder. In the end YOU are the only one that has to be happy with your chosen home.

If you do want to build a shipping container home with more living space, all you need to do is have them opened up. Then you can attach them to each other and enhance the home however you choose. There will obviously be monetary costs associated with doing this. But the amount of money you will save overall will be considerable. Additionally, you can purchase a nice sized vacant and private lot of property to construct this home on. Again there will be more money involved. But you will have a decently-sized home on a terrific piece of property that will be good for your environment. What more can you ask for?

If you want much more information on how to design your shipping container home; including floor plans and shining photographs of how they actually look, you can go onto the website Pinterest. Several people have highly informative posts on exactly this topic. Some of these posts can be found on individuals' Pinterest boards under "tiny homes," or "small affordable houses," or "ecotecture," or even a more specifically titled board "shipping containers." If you are unable or unwilling to get onto Pinterest, you can also find similar information on shipping container homes on Internet search engines. Additionally there are videos on YouTube and Facebook Pages dedicated to this topic. Those will be equally helpful to you.

So you see; this kind of a DIY home building endeavor is entirely feasible once you know how to do it, all it takes is a little creativity and a lot of will-power. The latter part comes in because initially you may have to put up with some ribbing from loved-ones and friends at the start of your project. However, YOU will have the last laugh. After your critics see what a fantastic home you have for such a minimal cost, they may be inspired to do the same.

Save Money on Your Next Custom Home

 Building a custom home is an exciting undertaking. However, if you ask owners who hired a custom home builder to deliver a fixed price home, over 65% will tell you that they encountered some large and expensive surprises. How can you avoid these surprises? Follow these 5 tips to save yourself thousands of dollars on your next custom home.

1. Bring an Expert. You should be inspecting the work yourself or have arranged for someone to do this on your behalf. Unless you are a contractor yourself, bring a friend who understands construction methods at least once a week to your project. Make a list of what they find. Even the most conscientious builders and their contractors are going to miss things. Who ends up paying for mistakes? You do, unless you catch it close to the time it happens and notify your builder. If you forgo these inspections because you are busy, or do not want to pay someone to do this, you are likely to pay another 15% for the home, or live with mistakes that could not be corrected.


2. Make a list of the items in your builder's contract that say "variable" or "depends on." These are items that are not fixed in a Fixed Cost Contract. These are the surprise areas. Any builder who has started a custom home knows that not everything can be predicted - from weather conditions holding up the schedule and/or damaging work already done, to unintentional errors caused by sub-contractors. Areas that cause over-runs include excavation, footings, and plan errors. Ask your builder to help you calculate what these things could cost worst case and be ready. If things go well, you will be happy.


3. Double-check the materials list. Are you completely sure you picked out all of your fixtures and appliances? Lighting? Where wall switches go? Review these in detail. If you have gotten so close to the plans and lists that you're not objective, ask someone else to look at it. When you move in to the house and realize that the bathroom fixtures are not the ones you chose, it will not be the builder's responsibility. How do you think I found that out?


4. Keep a list of action Items for the builder. Your builder will appreciate the attention you are paying on your home; it makes his/her job much easier to have an informed owner. Most top grade successful builders have a dozen or more homes underway at any given time and a limited number of superintendents. They may not get to the project every day, but you will. Keep a list and email routine items to the superintendent for action once a week.


5. Builders will warranty your home for a year. Many owners simply move in and forget about the warranty unless something obvious goes wrong. This is a mistake. You should keep a detailed list of issues you find - and you will find them - and once a month email them to the builder. This helps the builder by allowing them to schedule your items. Items can include loose toilet tanks, grout cracking, nail pops in drywall, vinyl floors lifting, windows that are stuck, places they forgot to caulk, adjusting the heating and cooling vents for balance, etc.

When you take the time to actively manage your custom home project along with the builder, you will save yourself from the typical financial shocks and end up saving yourself a considerable amount of money. You'll also end up with a higher quality home.

Lisa Turner is an engineer and building contractor residing in Hayesville, North Carolina. Prior to her engineering position, Lisa inspected homes for home buyers, sellers, owners, and mortgage companies.

Real Estate Buying Tips First Time Buyers Don't Usually Hear

 If you're beginning to think about buying real estate for the first time, you've probably realized that there's a lot you don't know about the loan process, home values, down payments, and mortgage insurance. Here are four little-known tips for first time homebuyers that may make the process easier and less stressful.

1. Make sure you have enough money to cover closing costs. The closing is the actual purchase of the real estate, the day that it becomes yours. The money you'll need to have in order to cover closing costs is more than just the down payment. It also includes title insurance, attorney's fees, recording fees, the pro-rated taxes for the year, and everything that goes into escrow if you decided to use it, including around 15 months of your homeowner's insurance, around seven months of your taxes, and your mortgage insurance premium if you put down less than 20%.

2. Pre-qualify for a loan before you start looking at houses. Sitting down and talking with a mortgage broker before you step foot in any real estate on the market will give you a realistic idea of how much house you can afford. Remember, you're paying homeowner's insurance, taxes, and sometimes other costs on top of your principle and interest every month. The broker will be able to give you an idea as to how much your interest rate will be and can show you different purchasing scenarios.

3. Putting more money down than is required by your loan is never a bad idea. If you're looking to put less than 20% down, you'll have to pay mortgage insurance every month, which is calculated by taking a percentage on what you still owe on the loan. This is money that you pay that you won't get back in investment value. In fact, you can't remove this cost until you owe less than 80% of the selling price of the house. The more you can put towards this number, the more money you'll save in the long run.

4. Real estate investments aren't recession proof. As many people learned during the recent housing bust, home prices aren't guaranteed to go up. In fact, it's possible that they can fall so much that buyers can wind up owing more than their "investments" are worth. Predicting future value is really difficult because it depends so much on human whims. However, if you're looking for the stability of owning your own piece of property, and you're emotionally and financially ready, it's the right time to buy for you.

Purchasing real estate is part of the American dream, and it's a goal held by many people. We've all heard advice about buying when the market is low, looking in neighborhoods with good schools, reading carefully through the inspection reports, and making sure you completely understand all the loan documents. However, these four tips are advice that many newcomers aren't given.

Good Places For Investment

 Property is something which everyone wants to own. It is a long-term asset and if kept for some time then it can actually deliver huge returns on investment. This depends upon person to person as one would want to keep a property for a shorter duration and the other for longer. There are some other investment options such as mutual funds but people prefer the real estate sector over any other option. This is because people believe that this industry can fetch good returns even if it takes some time to bring them for the customers. With the expansion of this sector, there are several developers which have offered their projects to the patrons.

Due to the presence of number of constructors, this industry is witnessing a tough competition. We can say that it is good for the end consumers because increase in the race among the builders will make a scope for affordable housing. This is what is happening and it will continue like this only. These developers are offering their projects to the clients at various locations. The sites are chosen keeping in mind all the requirements of the buyers. This ensures a comfortable living for the customers at the most reasonable prices.

The prices of property have boosted in Delhi owing to which the builders are now providing their townships in other areas. The regions include Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. The Ghaziabad site is one of the most desired places to purchase a property among the clients. It is a suburban district placed at Uttar Pradesh of the National Capital Region. This district is also a part of Meerut Division. There are handfuls of constructors who have built their townships in this region. The developers are Prateek, Bharat, Saya and Mahagun Group. Their projects running at this site encompass Prateek City Residences, Bharat City, Saya Gold Avenue and Mahagunpuram. These entire cities provide state-of-the-art facilities to the buyers' at the most reasonable prices.

All the modern amenities are available at this site due to the well-developed infrastructure. This place is also situated close to our country's national capital. It has become an industrial town due to the availability of cheap land and well-established infrastructure. It is because the development authorities of this region have worked hard to strengthen the framework of this area. Owing to this, some of the reputed companies like ITC have established their manufacturing units at this site.

The lack of space in terms of residential and commercial spaces in Delhi has turned the customers towards buying property at this region. This site is one of the most important locations among the clients for investment. Those people who cannot afford to invest in Delhi are heading towards this prominent site which offers the same facilities at pocket-friendly prices. It also takes one away from the daily hustle bustle of a metropolitan. Although people work in the capital of our country but they stay in this area. This is one of the significant reasons due to which the developers have provided number of townships at this site.

The price of the property has risen here owing to its easy connectivity with the capital as well as other cities of NCR. One can easily commute from one place to another through this smooth network. The prominent reasons why this area has seen enormous growth is the rise in the price of property in Noida and Gurgaon. The sugar and power generation projects at this region have received foreign direct investments.

Now let's have a look at some more reasons why people are heading towards this site instead of Noida and Gurgaon. This region especially targets mid-segment of the society and provides them affordable townships. Some of these places constitute Kaushambi, Vaishali and Indirapuram. These places are enriched with a green environment which ensures a healthy living for the patrons. All the above mentioned points prove how beneficial it is to invest money at this prominent location. So, if one wants to enjoy all these facilities then this site is the most prominent for investment for the patrons.