When Are Boxabl Homes Available For Sale? (Explained) -

Boxabl homes are prefabricated homes that can be assembled in just a few hours.

The homes are made from high-quality materials designed to be energy-efficient and durable. The Casita model is a small, one-bedroom home perfect for couples or individuals who want to downsize.

What You Need to Know About Boxabl Homes:

The first Boxabl homes were reported to be available for sale in early 2020. However, buyers have to sign up for the year-long waitlist on the Boxabl website. The cost of the house is somewhere in the range of $50,000 depending on inflation and rising costs.

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What is the Boxabl Casita Model?

The Boxabl Casita Model is a compact, all-in-one living space that can be assembled in a few hours.

Ideal for small families, solo homeowners, or anyone who wants to downsize their living expenses, the Casita offers all the essentials of a traditional home in a convenient and easy-to-use package.

The cost of the Casita (fully furnished) was reported by the company to cost around $50,000. However, the site now says that they do not offer a transparent outright, as inflation and your property’s specifications can adjust that cost.

The home features a full-sized kitchen with a fridge, sink with a view (window), an oven, dishwasher, microwave, and spacious cabinetry.

The full bathroom has a deep shower/tub, vessel sink, large counter, backlit mirror, and a sliding glass barn door for extra space!

The living space is 375 square feet and comes with these specifications:

19.5ftx 19.5ft
375 sq ft
9’6″ Ceilings
8′ Huge Doors & Windows
Wide Plank Composite Flooring
Washer/Dryer
Heating & Air Conditioning

Finally, the company boasts that the Casita allows for ultra-low utility ills, stating: “Insulation technology and included LED lighting saves you money every day.”

If you are considering a permanent move to a smaller space, the Boxabl Casita Model is worth checking out.

When Will Boxabl Homes be Available for Sale?

The first Boxabl homes were reported to be available for sale in early 2020. However, buyers still have to sign up for the year-long waitlist on the Boxabl website.

Boxabl homes are, therefore not easy to get.

According to their website, their manufacturing capacity is not large enough to accommodate all of the orders they are receiving.

There is currently a lot of high demand from customers who want their own Boxabl house in the Casita style. Also, the company is still in the setup phase.

In the setup phase, Boxabl has been looking for investors and putting their customers on a waitlist.

Depending on where you are on the waitlist, it could take over a year to get your home.

Therefore, you can absolutely sign up for the waitlist, but that does not mean you will be able to buy your home right away.

How Do I Get a Boxabl Home?

You can reserve a house through their waitlist on their website.

There are three options for pre-ordering and joining the waitlist:

Free Version – Reserve at the end of the line.
$200 Deposit – Get on the waitlist and be reached out to by their online services.
$5,000 Deposit – Early access to the Casita model.

Depending on your preferences, you can choose the waitlist option that works best for you!

How Much do Boxabl Homes Cost?

The Casita seems to be the only Boxabl home currently offered, and reportedly costs about $50,000 fully furnished.

However, in a statement on their FAQ regarding the rising inflation and waitlist delays, that price could change.

“From now on Casita pricing will be quoted on a case by case basis. Due to record setting inflation and a very long waitlist for Casitas we can no longer promise a fixed price on our website.”

[Source: Boxabl.com FAQ]

This does not – we believe – include the shipping or labor costs, or other expenses that might accrue when building your Casita.

Obviously, that price also does not include the cost of the land, which you will have to pay for yourself.

Furthermore, the site states that Boxabl only sells room modules, meaning that the installation and setup fees are separate costs.

You would also need to be setup with a Boxabl-certified and state-licensed installer in your area.

That rough $50,000 estimate does not include utility hookups, foundation, landscaping, permits, or other housing requirements, either.

Added Shipping Costs

Also, according to the website, the cost of shipping a Boxable home is about $3-$10/mile from their Las Vegas location.

Their second Factory location will also be in Las Vegas, so no matter where you buy it from you will have to consider the distance.

For example, if you lived in Portland, Maine the shipping alone would cost (at worst) about $28,000 at $10/mile for the 2,814.1-mile delivery.

Taking all that into consideration, the boxable home is still much cheaper than a regular house these days.

Even if you were to pay the $28,000 delivery fee, adding that to the possible $50,000 Casita price, would equal only about $78,000 for a fully furnished home – excluding the utility hookups, foundation, landscaping, permits, and more of course.

Granted, that home would be only around 1,000 square feet or less, but in today’s housing market, it might be a good option.

What Are the Boxabl Regulations, Zoning, and Rules?

Boxabl houses conform to many of the building codes that are required when building your home.

They are built to modular standards and are of a higher code standard than manufactured homes.

According to Boxabl, they have partnered with Permits.com in order to make it easy to figure out if your zoning restrictions will prevent you from putting a Boxabl home on your land.

[Screenshot from Permits.com link for Boxabl]

As you can see, for a fee of about $30 – $960, you can find and acquire the proper permits or assistance in getting your Boxabl home approved.

The company also states that they will soon achieve “modular approval,” which reduces local inspections and makes sure that housing plants are pre-approved at the state level when you want to build it.

“Additionally, the Casita product is certified as a “park model RV in accordance with ANSI 119.5 in all 50 states!”

[Source: Boxabl.com FAQ]

It might be difficult for some people to get a Boxabl home on their land, but it does seem like their plans and processes are mostly ready to go for all other restrictions and zoning laws.

Want to learn Where You Can Build a Tiny House? Here is our guide as well as Laws by State!

What is the Cost of Shipping Boxabl Homes?

As we’ve mentioned before, the cost of shipping a Boxable home is about $3-$10/mile from their Las Vegas location.

In our previous example, we discussed that if you lived in Portland, Maine the shipping alone would cost (at worst) about $28,000 at $10/mile for the 2,814.1-mile delivery.

At best, that delivery price would drop to about $8,442.30, which is still a hefty price tag to deliver your supposedly affordable home.

Unless you live within the Las Vegas area, you are very likely to pay a huge fee for the shipping and construction of your Boxabl.

What Are Some Alternatives to Boxabl Homes?

Depending on your needs and budget, there are Boxabl alternatives that can be just as effective as the Casita model.

For example, modular homes are similar to prefabricated homes in that they are built off-site and transported to your property.

However, modular homes are generally more expensive and require a longer lead time.

Another option is a kit home, with everything you need to build the home yourself.

Kit homes can be cheaper and quicker to build than traditional homes, but they require more labor on your part.

Whichever option you choose, do your research beforehand to ensure that you are getting the best possible value for your money.

Den Outdoors Homes

DEN Outdoors is a kit home company that advertises A-frame and standard structure cabins to bring you closer to the outdoors.

Unlike Boxabl which builds, delivers, and sets up your home, DEN does not provide construction materials or do any of the building. Instead, they sell designs and kit files to help you build the house of your dreams.

Basically, DEN is a plans and design company that provides you with all the resources needed to begin your building project.

You can also customize designs and ideas to make them truly your own.

However, when it comes to the building, permits, and materials, you’re on your own.

The upside is that DEN provides you with a lot of the necessary paperwork you’d need to show to a builder. They can help you price out things from there.

Packages and plans can range from $199 to $3,000+ for the files that you need.

Alternative Living Spaces

Alternative Living Spaces offers a selection of container homes and offices, as well as campervans.

Unlike DEN, it seems like Alternative Living Spaces builds its designs for you and then delivers them to your desired location.

The campervans include three different model options, the Eco, Deluxe, and Premiere. These vary in the way the space is used but generally include sleeping, bathroom, and kitchen accommodations.

The 20′ and 40′ ECO Container Tiny Homes are like what you would get out of a mobile home.

The 40′ home includes a living/dining/kitchen space, a bathroom with a toilet and shower, and a bedroom.

The 20′ ECO Container Tiny Home only has enough space for a bedroom and small bathroom, making it great for a small sleeping/renting space, or an office.

Two testimonials from the site come from Airbnb owners who bought the tiny homes as rental properties out in Zion, UT.

As a permanent housing option, though, you would probably need the 40′ ECO Container.

For more information on alternative tiny houses, here are 8 Really Encouraging Numbers & Facts!

What Are Some Similar Options to Boxabl Homes?

House manufacturing like Boxabl is a relatively new industry.

They require a lot of backing and investments in order to create the manufacturing requirements necessary to bring innovative designs to the general public.

That being said, there are other options than Boxabl if you are looking for a foldable, easy-assemble house in the near future!

While there are not many companies out there that can compete with Boxabl, Tenfold Engineering, and Madi Homes are two possible options to choose from when searching for a compact, easy-to-assemble house.

Madi Homes

Considered “prefabricated, earthquake-resistant houses,” Madi Homes are pop-up constructions in an A-frame style.

Madi Homes took the designs of Renato Vidal (the inventor of patented folding houses) and implemented them with Modula, a Swiss real estate developer, and distributor of modular homes.

One of their cheapest, a comparable home option to Boxabl, is their 300+ square foot M60 model, which retails for about $81,000. It is a small A-frame structure that could be used as a little tiny house cabin or Airbnb, rather than a single-family home.

As Boxabl’s Casita model is also akin to a studio apartment, the two are pretty similar.

However, the Casita model comes with a fully-fledged, furnished home at roughly $50,000 (reported base price), making it cheaper and ready to go right away.

Unfortunately, the buzz about this company has died off since 2019, and the website doesn’t seem to hold a lot of newer information.

Tenfold Engineering

Anticipating their prototype to be available soon, Tenfold Engineering is an up-and-coming contender with other pop-up (or foldable) construction companies out there.

They began in 2013 and worked as a one-off structural company that built little structures for specific uses.

Built on a chassis and constructed with “pods” and panels, Tenfold Engineering homes are built to be moved more than once.

Because there is no solid foundation, you can transport these box homes to new locations.

This makes them perfect for disaster relief areas or temporary housing or office buildings.

They come in two size options: 400 and 800 square feet. The cost is, according to their site, $350-$400 per square foot.

That equates to about $160,000 per structure.

This isn’t as economically friendly as the Boxabl house, nor as efficient, since these houses have no solid foundation and don’t look like permanent family housing.

So, if you are looking for a semi-permanent structure that pops up easily and can be moved, you might want to go with a Tenfold Engineering structure!

Can You Get Pre-Fab Boxabl Homes?

Prefabricated homes are manufactured in an off-site factory and then transported to your location and assembled on your property.

While a Boxabl home definitely has a lot of these traits, it’s not necessarily the same thing.

It is built in their Las Vegas Factory location and then transported to your property. It is then “unfolded” and assembled on your land within several hours’ worth of time.

This is technically a prefabricated home, but there are still a lot of things that aren’t finished about it.

“Boxabl does have a significant level of completion from the factory, like kitchen, bathroom, electric, flooring, windows and more. But its important to understand that you are not buying a final installed home.”

[Source: Boxabl.com FAQ]

From what I can tell about this statement from their FAQ page, Boxabl homes still require setup, installation, foundation, utilities, roofing system, and other finishings that need to be added.

While it is unclear from their FAQ if those additions are handled by the Boxabl team, it is important to make sure that you are properly informed and set up before you buy a possibly unfinished home.

Are Boxabl Homes Stackable? Find out more in our article here!

How Insulated are Boxabl Homes?

“Boxabl buildings are extremely energy efficient. This is because of the high R-value insulation, tight building envelope, and limited thermal bridging.”

[Source: Boxabl.com FAQ]

R-value refers to the thermal resistance to conductive heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater that your home will have effective insulation.

Although we have a quote from Boxabl that they have a high R-value rating for the insulation, we don’t exactly know what that R-value rating is.

At this time, we will have to take Boxabl’s word that they are well-insulated, given that there is very little research into this question.

Are Boxabl Homes Considered Safe?

Boxable homes are generally considered to be good for many different climates and natural disasters.

The Boxabl website FAQ states that their homes are rated for hurricane-speed winds, and “can handle the worst wind conditions in North America.”

Because they don’t use common Lumber or sheetrock, the boxable home is less likely to be damaged by water and flood. It is also less likely to grow mold!

While it is not fireproof, boxable homes are engineered to be fire-resistant. Because they are made of non-combustible materials, they are considered to be fairly safe when it comes to external fires.

It is unclear if internal fires could pose a problem, but I highly suspect that they would.

Finally, the site does not specify facts about any kind of earthquake resistance at this time.