A new app provided by Blu Homes, a California-based prefab home manufacturer, enables homeonwers to channel their inner architect or interior designer. All that's required is an iPad.
As techinsider.com reports, customers can now design and customize their very own tiny homes from the Blue Design Studio app. The app allows prospective buyers to explore layouts and select deign palettes, materials, and appliances to meet their specifications. After placing an order, a Blu Homes representative will contact the customer to help them get started on the process of filing for a loan and communicating with the local jurisdiction to avoid construction delays.
The homes can be delivered in just a few months for a starting price of $250,000 (costs vary depending on the logistics of delivery, installation, and the customer’s design modifications).
Many of these tiny prefab homes are being used as accessory dwellings because it allows sidestepping of zoning laws. They are often used as offices or guesthouses and, because they were not considered full-time residences, the structures adhered to fewer restrictions.
$250,000 is a lot for a tiny home and seems counterintuitive considering the reason most people want to go tiny is to find a more affordable way of living, but in some of the more expensive places in the country, these homes may actually fall well below the average price per square foot of a city (not including the cost of land or a foundation).
