For those of those that have never been without one it is easy to take the idea of hime for granted. Shelter is one of the basic human needs. It is easy to forget that our ancestors made do with much humbler digs than we do today. There once was a time when indoor plumbing, reliable electricity and gas heating were nothing but a luxury. For a while the housing market was focused on bigger and grander houses. These type of houses were made not so much for utility, but almost as a status symbol. Many of these homes were the first victims of the housing market crash. Today it seems that there is a greater push towards smaller practical modular homes. This new movement of living small has been sweeping the country. Rather than looking for the biggest house possible new home buyers are opting for the benefits that modular homes and mini mods can offer.
Benefits of Modular Homes and Mini Mods
Many Americans are realizing that they do not need much space to live a happy life. According to research the size of the typical American home is between 2400 to 2600 square feet. For those that are opting for small modular homes or shipping container houses the square footage is drastically smaller. The average mini modular home is around 100 to 400 square feet. Now some may ask what a home owner sacrifices for having that limited space. It is true that when homes are that small every bit of the home has to be used effectively, but on the converse it actually adds to efficiency as well as cleanliness. Think about your home growing up. You more than likely had a area in the house that was filled with just things that were unwanted or unneeded. Depending on your family it could have been several spaces like this. In a mini mod, it would be impossible to hoard a great number of unessential things. This in essence is one of the tenets of the small house movement, making sure that everything that is in your life is absolutely essential. In this hectic life that we all live, wouldn’t it feel good to not be burdened with more things than you have to be?
Financial Advantages of Mini Modular Homes
When you are able to take your home down to the bare essentials there are several advantages apart from the psychological benefits. For those that are financially motivated a mini mod can be a significant savings compared to the costs associated with a standard sized home. For the traditional there are costs that can last for decades. For one of the basic human needs it seems almost unethical to have to pay an arm and a leg to maintain shelter above one’s head. Usually traditional homes will cost the buyer almost half of their income, this before subsidiary costs, such as repairs, insurance and other amenities related to home ownership. Considering the current economic climate it means that traditional homeowners are basically working to keep a roof over their heads. For mini modular homes the costs of ownership are much less. Most mini mod home buyers actually own their homes outright. The typical costs of ownership are much smaller well. For example consider the costs of heating or cooling a 2400 square foot home. Many mini mod home owners pay a pittance for heating and cooling their smaller homes.
The small home movement has been allowing Americans to reevaluate their needs when it comes to their housing. The general consensus is that bigger isn’t always better and that in fact less can most definitely mean more. With the state of the world, having a smaller footprint does not not just make fiscal sense it also decreases the strain of resources on this already over strained world. While Homes were thought of investments for a long time in reality they should fundamentally be places to live. For more information on small homes, there are several resources that can be found around the internet.
