3D printing a house is starting to be open sourced
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You have just described single (and double) wide trailers. And they do tend to be among the cheapest (if not the cheapest) way to go on a cost per square foot basis and can be built to local building codes and therefore be equivalent in construction to a site-built house. But "only dumb rednecks live in those", so people look for any solution that isn't that.
Neighbor just set one up. Had poured a slab on his property that I walked by every day wondering what it was for, then one day there was a double-wide plopped down on it. Looks good.
So what's the hang up on "trailers"? Because I admit I feel a bit judgmental myself.
Traditionally they are legally classified as "trailers" and are built to a separate Federal code (colloquially referred to as the "HUD code/standard" because it's maintained by the Department of Housing and Urban Development). There are two issues with this:
But nowadays most manufacturers will build them to either HUD code or building code, and in the latter case they are built to exactly the same standards as if the house were built on-site and in a lot of states are legally classified the same as a "traditionally" built house.
Of course there's the larger issue of perception and the simple fact that any method of "cheap construction" is going to be seen as low status. In large part by definition, because it's going to attract a lot of people who can't afford any other option
They don't hold their value like real houses, so financially it's more like renting.
That concept applied to smaller, customizable sections for everything from high rises to regular houses
Problem is that inflation, Gubmint regulations and supply chain issues have struck the trailer market too. Singlewides are 60k, and doublewides are 120+.
Yeah nothing's immune to inflation, but that also affects site-built houses and even raw materials if you were going to build one with unconventional materials.