Home Building Kits Attract Buyers Wanting to Save Time, Money

New Hampshire-based company Shelter-Kit offers homebuyers the chance to build their own home with ready-to-assemble kits. Prices range from $20 per square foot to more than $400. 

Shelter-Kit's Dave Kimball says that most of the kits are designed custom. “We do a lot of the larger buildings but are working on several 16-foot-by-24-foot cabins at this time,” Kimball tells NerdWallet. “The size seems to vary year by year.” He adds that financing the kit homes can come from a typical mortgage lender, though a lender's willingness to finance can vary. Recent Shelter-Kit buyer Stephanie Buck says that affordability helped her decide to build her own home. Where contractors submitted quotes of $400,000, her home kit will cost roughly half of that, including a new septic system.

Each piece of the kit was numbered and cut to the proper length, and the kit included everything owner Jennifer Buck needed, even nails. She has spent nearly all of six months building the house, almost completely on her own. Her brother Kyle, a carpenter, thankfully, helps on Sundays. Buck contracted out the construction of the foundation but built the first-floor decking and walls herself. She estimates there’s about a month’s worth of work remaining.

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