OPINION: Amazon house might be the next step for younger buyers
By Juan Carlos Puente
Editor-in-chief
Published Thursday, April 11, 2024
With the housing crisis at an all-time high, the majority of one-bedroom, one-bathroom houses are in excess of $100,000. And most apartments around the nation run $2,000 to $3,000 a month; it can be difficult for younger buyers to find a place to live after college.
The houses themselves are akin to a gentrified mobile homes that fold outward into a studio apartment-type fitting. The catch is that they’re only $10,000 to $11,000, or roughly $300 a month for around three years.
Amazon will ship the house to your plot of land or home and from there you can place them anywhere with 20 feet of space and unfold the walls and doors until it creates a tiny home. The houses are fitted with a toilet and in some cases kitchen amenities.
The only thing missing is air conditioning and overall electricity; you would also have to hook up the plumbing yourself.
But there are other questions.
How can you register it as an actual household? How well does it handle bad weather? How long will the house itself actually last? There is also the issue of having to acquire land before plotting the Amazon house.
Despite all these unknowns, it honestly doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to split the bill with someone and refurbish the property. Live there for a year or more and save up money for a real home, then once that is accumulated, build or move houses and leave enough room to have the Amazon house as a guest home. I’m more than certain a house from Amazon won’t hold the same resell value as a real home.
If the prices for houses stay as high as they are, I think the next best thing we can do is try our best with what is provided with the costs they are. It’s not the ‘50s when a home cost $7,000 with only $25 monthly payments.
Which also makes it more obnoxious when elderly people talk about hard work to earn what you have. Even I bust my tail so I can barely afford a small apartment or, at best, an Amazon house.
