Shipping Container or Tiny Home?

Tiny homes and shipping container homes can be very competitive in terms of pricing and size, and a lot of people email us questioning the size and cost difference between the two types of homes, and if one is preferred over the other. While many of the answers are all fairly vague in the early stages of planning, we can help form the discussion and open up with some ideas.

Cost Comparison

This is usually the first thing that come up, and without a plan there’s not set answer. Container homes and tiny homes can be as simple or complex as the owner wants them to be. Both can be rustic hunting cabins, or mini-McMansions. With regards to a tiny home, it will most likely be traditionally built with wood framing, brick or aluminum siding, and many of the traditional features of a regular sized house. However, the cost savings with a container home can come in at the labor costs. If the intended location is in a high labor cost area, or a remote area where there’s less access to labor, the container home can be built in a centralized location and set on site.

Environmental Impact

Shipping container homes have an edge here. While both types of properties have smaller “green” footprints, container homes are made by recycling a used container that would otherwise end up in the scrap yard. Unless the tiny home is made up of fully recycled wood, it doesn’t get the edge.

Marketability

The idea of marketing a tiny home or container home is a draw – people either want them or they don’t. A traditionally built four bedroom house can be sold to any family, while a container home or tiny home probably can’t house more than a couple of people.

Also, finding a cash buyer for either home is another potential issue. Many banks are still leery about financing unique homes in fear that they may need to be foreclosed on and resold by the bank.

So really, it’s hard to compare a tiny home and a shipping container home until you really have a good understanding of what it is that you need in terms of style and functionality. Of course, we prefer shipping container homes, but it’s the obvious choice for us.

ContainerAuction.com is an online marketplace for new and used shipping containers in North America and around the world. Older shipping containers sold through the platform will contain solvent based paints, while all new production post April 2017 will be painted with water borne paint. If you have any questions about purchasing a specific container please contact the seller directly through the listing page, while if you have a general container question or don’t know where to get started we invite you to contact the ContainerAuction.com a staff directly.