So my question is, if you had a piece of land, concrete foundation, electrical, water and sewer connection, is it possible to get something better for 50k?
Absolutely possible. 50k for a 400 SF house that's built to modern code given those things you mentioned are already in place. To be specific, that's a full kitchen, with decent appliances, a full bath, 1 bedroom (though you _could_ fit 2 in 400 SF), a living room and some storage space.
Not that it helps to write checks you have zero way of cashing, but we just built this: https://imgur.com/gallery/KbPlbPR/comment/2099542904. We're still working on the interior, but this design, if we increased its size to 400 SF, and given the things you mention being in place, could be had for 50k or less even, and it would be built better than most homes in the US.
Just one guy's take, but my friend and I are trying to realize the dream of building more affordable housing that doesn't compromise on quality and design. We're just starting with this one project, though, so obviously a long way to go!
>If you are willing to do a lot of work yourself and value your time a $0 and aren't in a hurry, probably.
I wish I could vote you up more than once. If they are taking advantage of economies of scale they should be able to obtain for higher quality materials (and in looking over their materials this is not stuff they are buying at Home Depot). Couple that with the advantages of building all this stuff indoors, sheltered from the weather while under construction and that they can afford to create specialized jigs and tooling to not only speed the construction time but also produce far more consistent and higher quality results they should be able to do things that you simply can't do on site in the field.
Transportation of prefabbed housing has always been the major issue, which is why they spend so much time talking about how they are solving that :)
Not that it helps to write checks you have zero way of cashing, but we just built this: https://imgur.com/gallery/KbPlbPR/comment/2099542904. We're still working on the interior, but this design, if we increased its size to 400 SF, and given the things you mention being in place, could be had for 50k or less even, and it would be built better than most homes in the US.
Just one guy's take, but my friend and I are trying to realize the dream of building more affordable housing that doesn't compromise on quality and design. We're just starting with this one project, though, so obviously a long way to go!