A Guide to the Most Affordable Types of Homes
Last Updated: Feb 11, 2025While home values have increased, incomes have not kept pace. In 1950, a family needed only a single income to buy a home. Today, many families with two full-time salaries struggle to buy their first home.
Unfortunately, your dream home in your ideal neighborhood may still be out of the question. But, a little research and creativity could land you in exactly what you never knew you wanted. Today, we're taking a look at the most affordable types of homes you can afford to buy.
Let's start with a brief overview of your options.
- Manufactured Home: A type of prefabricated home assembled in a factory and transported to your property.
- Modular Home: A kind of prefabricated house consisting of modules created in a factory and assembled side-by-side, end-to-end, or stacked on your property.
- Mobile Home: A type of prefabricated home built on wheels to be towed by a vehicle.
- Container Home: A kind of dwelling made from steel shipping containers stacked and arranged to fit your unique home needs.
- Monolithic Dome Home: A type of home cast in a solid concrete shell on-premise that can be joined to create a multi-dome home.
- Tiny Home: A kind of home characterized by its size of 500 square feet or less.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Prefab Home?
- What Is a Mobile Home?
- What Is a Manufactured Home?
- What Is a Modular Home?
- What Is a Tiny Home?
- What Is a Container Home?
- What Is a Monolithic Dome Home?
- Pros and Cons
- Affordable Homes Are Available
What Is a Prefab Home?
Affectionately termed "Pre-fab" (for prefabricated), these types of houses are built in a factory and delivered to your property for final assembly. This fact alone significantly reduces the costs of building and cleanup.
Manufactured and Mobile homes are, for the most part, complete when they arrive at your location. Set one of these new homes down, and you'll be ready to move in and decorate almost immediately.
Pros and Cons
The benefit of living in these types of homes is simple. You can often save money upfront, and you save money over time with lower operating costs. You will also have a smaller environmental footprint, as your home will require less energy and fewer materials to build and operate. Not having a large home saves you time with less cleaning, less time (and money) furnishing the house.
The downside might be obvious: less space. If you have a lot of clothes, furnishings or mementos, you'll have to pare down. However, minimalist living can be a plus, as it can simplify your life and provide more freedom.
Affordable Homes Are Available
Buying a home used to be a given for most families, but many households struggle to make ends meet today. Fewer still can save up for a hefty down payment. As more and more families look for affordable ways to buy a home and start their lives, more great options are becoming available.
Prefabricated homes, container homes, and monolithic dome homes are just some of the most affordable new homes. Keep in mind that you'll need to add additional costs for land purchase, a foundation, taxes, transportation, and permits. Of course, you could always save and buy an existing fixer-upper home as well.
Laura Bourland
Laura grew up in the California suburbs, far removed from environmentalism, but nature always has a way. She uprooted her life in 2015, moving to the countryside of Washington to live a more sustainable and simple life on 12 acres. She and her fiancee are learning on the job as they attempt everything from gardening and natural pest control to eco-friendly building and home improvement.
