Prefab homes already usually come on trucks, but now it’s not enough for designers to simply have a regular prefab home structure. They’re designing folding structures, so that the prefabricated building can be transported economically, but still offer a lot of square footage once it’s set up on the building location.
This one is a “House Truck Transformer” by a designer named Dahir Insaat. The concept is similar to the way military bridges are set up when they need to be quickly put into use. Due to the massive size of this unit, the designer has a big MAN cabover hauling it. You can watch it in the video.
All About the Inexpensive Sears Mail Order Houses
If Sears brought these back (for under $30k), would you consider buying one? Sears sold somewhere between 70,000 and 75,000 inexpensive homes through the mail-order Modern Homes program. 447 styles to chose from!
Most people are aware of the Sears company, selling everything from clothing to high power tools. But only a few may know that between 1908 and 1940 Sears sold mail order homes. It was quite a successful venture, with Sears selling 70,000-75, 000 homes during that time period. Karen DeJeet moved into her home approximately 4 years ago and found out about its unique history. It is still standing beautifully and it is one of the mail order homes from the Sears company. This made DeJeet very curious as to how many other Sears mail order homes were still around. It has become quite the hobby for DeJeet.
Obviously the homes took off, soaring with sales during the early 1900s, but if Sears began to sell these homes again under 30k, would you actually buy one? The reason we mention this number is because it’s the equivalent in modern-day dollars to the prices they sold them at a long time ago (you’re probably familiar with seeing old magazines with prices like $1000 and $1995). Except we averaged it out high, so the updated number would be less than $30k.
With so many people getting into the tiny house movement, dwelling in campers and vans, and making homes from shipping containers, a mail order house is not a far fetched idea. If it can be sold for under 30k, that in itself is a great marketing tool.
In these times, it is not unusual to buy unassembled furniture or many objects and projects that are DIY. DIY is now a hugely popular trend, so one would think that a DIY home would do very well in this housing market.
What was then Sears & Roebuck, designed 447 versions of this house, from your large luxurious family home to what would be called a tiny house today. There would be a design that would fit just about everyone’s taste and the DIY factor is getting less scary as time goes on. Also, if they were being sold for under 30k, it could be easy to pay someone for help, if you are not a DIY person yourself.
Certainly, no one really knows how well a product will sell until it is on the market, however with the way most people are thinking, a DIY mail order home from Sears would do pretty well in this current world economy.
by Kimberly Smith
Should Sears Bring Back the Cheap Houses they Used to Sell?
The short answer to this question is ABSOLUTELY! In the early 1900’s until the 1940’s Sears, which is well known as (among other things) a home goods store, used to sell prefabricated homes as DIY projects for $1200. They varied in size from small bungalows to large stately homes, and also came with the ability to be customized to suit specific homeowners’ needs. Nowadays, with adjustments for inflation, these homes would sell for about $27,000. That is still such a bargain in these times!
Prefabricated homes are very popular even now and are so very versatile, that it would be wonderful if Sears started to sell them again. Their versatility is well known. Additions can be added quite easily and they come all ready to assemble. You, of course, have the option to DIY or to hire a contractor to put it up for you, but the beauty of prefabs is that they can be built in a matter of weeks. With the affordable housing situation being what it is, Sears would do well to get back into the housing game. These particular prefabrications are durable and stand the test of time, so they are very cost-effective. And, as you can see here, there were many styles available, so one might wonder what innovative changes might be available today.
Certainly, no one really knows how well a product will sell until it is on the market, however with the way most people are thinking, a DIY mail order home from Sears would do pretty well in this current world economy.
To read more about the prefabs Sears used to build, there’s “All About the Inexpensive Sears Mail Order Houses.” And here are a bunch of the Sears homes that are still standing today:
