Is it worth it? Buying a kit home online

If you are considering a kit home to use as a garden room for work, hobbies, or just hanging out, it’s important to read the fine print.

Kit homes have been around for a very long time, and were very popular about a century ago. Probably the most famous of these homes were from the Sears catalog. Options started at $191 for a three-room home in 1908. Except for the foundation materials, Sears shipped the all of the needed pieces, including nails, flooring, doors, and windows to build each of the houses. More than 70,000 of these homes were sold.

What’s included in a kit home?

Today’s kit homes are a little different than the all-included Sears catalog homes, and with varying amounts of materials provided. They are available for order on company websites or on Amazon. Some offer parts as upgrades, and others include many of the needed pieces. Most kits don’t include plumbing or electrical, too. So if the price seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

If you are considering the option of ordering an home online to use as a garden room for work, hobbies, or just hanging out, it’s important to read the fine print.

Know how to read plans.

It’s also important to know how to read a set of plans and have some experience remodeling or building. Otherwise an online home can take a lot longer than the maker’s claim, and it could be a frustrating process. Building a home is a lot more complicated than building with LEGO, especially if you plan to add plumbing and electrical to the building.

While there also are printed homes popping up, including a Habitat for Humanity printed home, the kit homes seem to be an easier option for those with limited budgets.

Read more about it.

Since I’ve been thinking about the kit homes available on Amazon and other online sellers for several years, I was happy to contribute to an article about online kit homes for BobVila.com.

Click on the BobVila.com article below to check out 19 kit homes available online.

Would you buy a kit home? Have you ever lived in a one? What would you use a this kind of home for? Share with us below.

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