Housing Costs Are Through The Roof. Does Walmart Have The Answer?

The elevated price of real estate and high mortgage rates have caused many would-be homeowners to give up on their dream — at least for now. But there’s another option, if you’re willing to make a few significant sacrifices.

Build it yourself

It’s not unheard of for a retailer to sell entire homes directly to the public. The Sears catalog was doing it for decades during the first half of the 20th century. Walmart, however, is taking a somewhat different approach.

The company isn’t selling homes in the aisles of its ubiquitous big-box stores, but its website does offer an array of stripped-down residences (for stripped-down prices). It’s important to note that these products are offered by third-party retailers, much like many of the items for sale on Amazon.

That means you might have some fun browsing the different models even if you’re not interested in building your own miniature home.

There’s one from a company called Cheryl Industries that is designed to look like an iPhone — and it can be yours for as little as $11,800 through the Walmart site. Of course, that’s for the especially tiny model that really only contains a toilet and bed.

There’s a bigger one available for $17,400.

Too good to be true?

On the surface, buying a tiny home for less than the cost of a used car might look like an appealing option. But before you add that new home to your cart, be sure you consider all the other costs.

First, you’ll have to either build it yourself, rope your friends into helping you, or pay the pros to take care of the construction. You’ll also have to find the land and abide by all sorts of local rules. But if you’re still interested, now you know where to look.

Chris Agee October 18th, 2024

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