- You can buy just about
anything on Amazon,
from cotton balls, all
the way up to a house
but you have to be very careful
what you're purchasing on Amazon
'cause sometimes you think
you're buying a container
to build your new house
and you end up buying a toy, whoopsie!
But that's not what I want you to do.
So we're gonna be looking at five actual
container homes that you can buy on Amazon
and we're gonna be
breaking them down exactly
what they have in them
and how much they cost
and if they have free shipping,
'cause everybody wants that
Amazon Prime free shipping.
Malcolm McLean invented
shipping containers in 1956
but the trend for building homes
out of shipping containers
officially didn't start
until 1987 by a man named Phillip Clark.
The first shipping container home
that we're gonna be looking at
is they're calling a tiny home.
It seems that everybody wants
to call it a something,
a tiny home these days.
This house is $39,750.
It is prime.
It delivers pretty quickly too.
Let's give you a little specifics of this.
It's a fully furnished, tiny home.
Prefabrication from new
shipping containers.
It includes a bedroom, shower,
toilet, sink, kitchenette
and living area.
Double patio doors with
secure container doors
and fully insulated.
It has a bottom sewer connection,
easy side water and electrical connection.
Includes appliances shown.
Heated and aired with mini split.
I wonder if it comes with
that little tiny microwave
that's sitting there.
For some reason I don't
think it comes with that.
The current weight for
this is 7,500 pounds.
The company is MODS International
and it has customer reviews of three stars
but it has eight ratings.
There are always this
little reviews crack me up
'cause half the time the
people that review them
haven't even bought the product.
They just making an assumption.
So let's take a look at the reviews.
This one gives it five stars.
"I haven't purchased one of these
"but all these negative
comments infuriate me.
"Everyone is always so negative,
whiny and pissy these days.
"Why not speak of the positive
benefits of this product?
"This is a great little starter
"for someone who is out
of high school or college
"or as a guest house or Airbnb rental.
"There are some challenges in some states
"but there are states with
communities exclusively
"for tiny homes.
"You just have to do your research
"and the quality of the
container can't be beat.
"It's an option for someone
to have a roof over their head
"at a low cost."
I agree with them but they
didn't buy the product.
So it kinda seems ridiculous
for them to give a review.
I don't know, what do you think?
This one gave it a three-star review.
"Consult your government
agency first," I agree.
"While these definitely serve their
"intended multifaceted purposes,
"please make sure that your local building
"inspection department or state
"does not have the restrictions
"to prevent you from buying this home.
"Because these homes are factory-built,
"most likely they will acquire inspection
"while being built in the plant
"to assure in compliance and requirements.
"Also keep in mind there's
also infrastructure
"that must go underneath these homes.
"You can't just drop them
on the dirt and move in.
"These are heavy and will
sink in the ground underneath
"if it gets wet."
Well, that's true.
Always do your homework,
"Prior proper planning prevents
piss poor performance,"
is what my dad always says.
In 1994, Steward Brand wrote a book
about converting shipping
containers into office spaces.
The book was called "How Buildings Learn".
It was the first publication to mention
converting shipping
containers into buildings.
This is where the shipping
container homes trend
began and truly gained momentum.
The next one that we're
gonna be looking at
is the one that is in the thumbnail
'cause I'm sure that's the
one we really wanna see
and it was the prettiest one to me.
I want your opinion at the end of this,
if you think this was the best
of the shipping containers
you could buy on Amazon.
So this one is called the Cliff-Premium
Prefabricated Modular house.
It's listed on Amazon for
119,000 with free shipping
and they only have two left.
So if you were thinking
that this was gonna be
the one that you want,
you better hurry up 'cause
they only got two left
and they also give you a
full blueprint of the house.
(upbeat music)
It has a large living
room with an open kitchen
and dining area.
It has a sauna bathroom
with a direct entrance
to the terrace.
(upbeat music)
The calculated total area
is about 774 square feet.
(upbeat music)
It has a three bedroom
or two bedroom option
or a one bathroom or two bathroom option.
(upbeat music)
The weight is 44,802 pounds.
It comes with free shipping
but it's not eligible
for Amazon prime.
The one listed is
considered an extra large
and the color is to be agreed.
I guess you get to choose your color.
"What kind of plumbing does this prefab
"come equipped with?"
"Water supplies, sanitary
equipment, sewage,
"an outlet for the toilet,
drain for the shower,
"drain for the bathroom floor,
drain for the sauna floor,
"an outlet basin, an outlet kitchen,
"an outlet washing
machine, hot water boiler,
"water meters and water filters."
So that was nice that they
answered to their questions.
Let's see what other questions people had.
"What kind of warranty does
the modular home come with,
"roofing, siding, plumbing,
electrical fixtures?"
Answer, "The warranty is
two years from delivery."
Well, that's pretty good.
That's pretty good warranty for a house.
A typical stick-built house
it has a, what they call
the bumper to bumper warranty for a year
and then you have five years
on certain components here in Louisiana.
Every area is gonna have
something a little bit different
when it comes to traditional
stick-built home.
"Are the appliances included?"
"All is included and there
are many options as well.
"For more information, our
sales team @salesqhaus.eu."
Let's go take a look at
their website really quick.
Their website is impressive.
It says, "Homes that make an impression".
They have all their different
kinds of modular homes,
including their container homes.
They have 15 years experience.
So on Amazon they're listing their houses
as container houses 'cause if you type in
"Container homes on Amazon",
their house comes up.
They're actually saying
that it's a modular home.
It's a container home
with some really cool wood beams on it.
One thing you're gonna have to do
no matter where you buy any house,
is always do a little bit of research
of who you're buying the house from.
So if they have a website,
we're gonna be looking at them.
Fun fact, the first building
to be fully comprised
of shipping containers
was the Simon's Town High School Hostel,
which was completed in 1998.
It's capable of housing
120 people comfortably
at any given time.
The next shipping container
home we're gonna be looking at
is the Economical Prefabrication Modular
Mobile Portable Container house.
They throw 'em all in there.
I was surprised they didn't put tiny home
in that listing as well.
The Economical Prefabrication
Modular Mobile Portable
Container house is listed at $14,999
and the company name is
something I cannot pronounce
but I'll definitely look up their website
and do a little research
on them for you as well.
And this will give you the blueprint
of the inside of the house.
It does come with a toilet and sink
and a little kitchen area as well.
It seems that they've made
a whole little community
out of these pods.
(gentle music)
"No details, obviously just an idea.
"If you can't even support a listing,
"then the customer support
in the building quality
"must be horrendous."
If you've never bought it,
how can you make these claims?
I don't understand why
people post these things.
"What kind of heating
and cooling does it have?
"Does it come with a setup?
"Are there foundation plans?"
"The wall and roof are
included, EPS cement panel
"and good for installation.
"For the bottom and roof pre-install,
"you just need to simply
install your local.
"Actually include the bottom chassis,
"so need foundation or
not is depend on you."
I'm just reading it the way it's written.
It's not me.
"Can you guys make the three bedroom
"instead of the two,
"make the bottom into a bedroom?"
"Sure, if you need more
large for this area,
"we can custom made for you."
"This product shipped
from your front door?"
"Yes, but it's very expensive."
"How many square feet is it?"
"It's around 619.79 square
feet with deck area."
So let's take a little
look at the company itself.
Wanna do a little investigation
'cause that's what you're supposed to do
when you're buying any kinda house.
So I did a little copy and paste.
Let's go over here and aha,
scroll down a little bit.
Wait a minute, look at here.
That house on here is only $4,500.
On Amazon, it's $14,999.
Holy cow, I'm not verifying
that this website is any good
or not but I'm just saying,
it's gonna save you like, what, $10,000,
which is a lot of money.
I'm gonna do a little
investigation for you
before you went ahead and bought that.
The first shipping container home
was built in the United States
and was completed in 2007
by Peter DeMaria, an
architect from California.
(upbeat music)
This next one would make the
cutest little potting shed
or, what do they call it?
The she shed.
"So it finally happens, Zachary.
"Somebody burned down my she shed."
"Nobody burned down
your she shed, Cheryl."
"Well, my she shed's on fire."
"Your she shed was struck by lightning."
It's called the 20 or 40
expandable container house
with solar energy.
So it's a little green too.
It's listed for $36,800.
(whistles)
That's expensive,
and it's an extra $1,000 for shipping
because there's no Prime
free shipping on this one.
Used for varieties of situations
that make your life more comfortable.
It's easy to assemble, has
clear instructions to help you.
Some of the advantages they say,
it's a two-hour
installation, it's anti-rust,
it's waterproof, fireproof
with a fire rating of an A grade,
simple foundation, you just need
12-piece concrete block foundation.
It's environmentally friendly product
with solar power system
on the top of the house.
The application can be
used as an accommodation
of a living house, office,
dormitory, camp, toilet,
bathroom, shower room, changing
room, school, classroom,
library, shop, booth,
kiosk, meeting room, canteen
and guard house.
And it appears that they
answered some questions as well.
"I'm not a DIY person.
"When I get the home, will I need help?"
"Probably not.
"I didn't buy it because the company
"has never responded
to any of my questions.
"Other than reviews have said the same. "
Oh, the company didn't answer,
somebody else did, oops.
Oh, let's look at their site.
Welcome to WZH.
See on Amazon, they're
considering these container home
but on their own website,
they're calling them modular homes.
And if you wanna really make sure
if it meets modular specifications,
you're gonna have to check
with your local officials,
like somebody had said
in a previous review,
never take their word for it
that they will meet your
building codes in your area.
Make sure you take the
specifics of any building
that you're about to purchase
and put down to your local
county officials first
because you're gonna have a real problem
if you have that delivered to your house
and then all of a sudden
you can't have it at all.
That would happen here in my area.
There's many places that
don't allow for tiny homes
or structures that small,
that have all the components in it.
So definitely double-check.
Fun fact, the trend
for shipping containers
began to grow in 2012
when Todd and Dee Miller
from Australia lost their home in a flood.
The couple decided to build their new home
out of shipping containers,
creating 6,000 square foot mansion called
"The Graceville container house"
created from 31 shipping containers
situated on a 706-square meter block
in the suburb of Graceville.
This next one we're gonna be looking at,
it measures it at 21 by 18 feet.
The layout comes with a
toilet, including roof floor
and wall panels.
One glass sliding door,
four sliding windows,
one bathroom with small windows.
With electricity, a DB
box, switch, sockets,
AC sockets with one bathroom,
one toilet, one shower,
one wash basin and water pipes.
It's anti-rust, all material
is hot galvanized steel.
Simple foundation, just need
12-piece concrete foundation.
Wide application for this container
such as accommodations for
living house, dormitory,
camp, library, shop and so on.
So it seems that this company
is the number one seller
of container homes on Amazon
but just like buying anything
that you buy on Amazon
or anywhere for that matter,
make sure you're zoned for your area
to have that kind of structure in there.
Not every area is gonna
allow for you to have
any kind of tiny home, potted
shed, anything like that.
So make sure you have
all those things approved
ahead of time.
So what did you think
of these container homes
that you can find on Amazon?
Is it something that you
would be doing for your house?
I wanna know, let me know
in the comments section.
If you wanna watch some other videos
about different kinds of homes,
including ones that fold up in two hours,
go ahead and click this video right here.
My name is Kristina Smallhorn,
your real estate whisperer
and I tell you all this,
because you matter.
