The Real Cost of Elon Musk's $50,000 Boxabl Casita
What this covers
Elon Musk is allegedly living in a modular accessory dwelling unit from Boxabl on the SpaceX property. This has brought a lot of new attention to the modular housing industry but is this home really $50,000? Can it be considered an affordable housing option? In this video I look at the added costs of preparing land and setting up a Boxabl Casita on a real piece of land that I'm working on. Boxabl is shaking up the entire modular housing industry and I'm excited to see what comes next!
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The Boxable Casita at $50,000 remains an affordable housing option when evaluated by total all-in cost rather than price per square foot, and costs $73,064 fully installed in moderate-to-expensive areas like interior British Columbia.
- Affordability should be measured by total cost, not price per square foot, because smaller homes inherently have higher per-square-foot pricing due to manufacturing economies of scale
- Real-world setup costs (shipping, permits, utilities, foundation, connections) add approximately $23,064 to the $50,000 purchase price in moderate-to-expensive markets
- Even at $73,064 total, a Casita remains cheaper than comparable new homes in high-cost markets like British Columbia, where an 800 sq ft mobile home costs $229,600
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As the size of manufactured homes gets smaller, the price per square foot gets harder to maintain, whereas as homes get bigger, the price per square foot usually goes down.
“other builders or manufacturers might be able to hit a lower per square foot cost for the run-of-the-mill floor plans but as the size gets smaller the price per square foot gets harder to maintain with every factory i've ever dealt with as the home gets bigger the price per square foot usually does go down”
Affordability is defined as the ability to be afforded or inexpensiveness, and has nothing to do with price per square foot.
“affordability is defined as the ability to be afforded or inexpensiveness it really has nothing to do with the price per square foot”
Geographic location significantly affects both the price perception of a Casita and the cost of preparing a site for it, with some areas making $50,000 seem outrageous and others making it seem like a steal.
“the price of a casita will seem outrageous in some areas and a steal of a deal in others the exact same is true on how much it will cost to get your site ready for a casita how much it will cost will depend on where you're located”
Plumbers and contractors in different geographic areas charge different amounts, so the all-in costs will vary significantly by region.
“again this is just for my area on that specific lot literally every other location will be different because contractors charge different amounts of different areas a plumber in san francisco is going to charge a different amount than a plumber in st louis that's just the way it is”
A 924 square foot single-wide home at $90 per square foot costs $83,160, which is less affordable than a 375 square foot Casita at $50,000 despite having a lower per-square-foot price.
“if a manufacturer has a 924 square foot single-wide for 90 dollars a square foot the price of that home is 83 160 which is much less affordable than 50 000 even though it has a lower price per square foot”
The Boxable Casita was originally designed as an accessory dwelling unit (secondary dwelling on a property) rather than as a primary residence.
“these homes were originally designed to be accessory dwelling units meaning a secondary dwelling on a property”
Building permit cost for a 1,560 square foot manufactured home was just over $2,000, which scales to approximately $400 for a Casita when proportionally adjusted.
“next we need a building permit for my project it was just over two thousand dollars and that's based on the value of the home being constructed which in my case is about five times more than the boxable casita so if we divide that by five we can assume the building permit is going to cost around four hundred dollars”
For the Casita as an accessory dwelling, septic/sewer service connection is estimated at $2,350, assuming the main property already has existing septic or city services.
“my lot required a 25 000 septic system but as i mentioned we're doing this as if it's a secondary dwelling so we would assume that there would already be access to septic or city services so we're going to use the same number as running the water line which is 2 350 and some change”
The $229,600 single-wide in interior British Columbia is located in a mobile home park where residents pay monthly lot rent (not owning the lot themselves) rather than owning the property outright.
“and that's in mobile home park where you pay pattern every month not on a lot that you own”
Foundation options for the Casita include concrete strip footing, CMU wall, garage wall, wood beam on concrete piers, wood beam on helical piers, or concrete slab, depending on geographic region and soil type.
“on the boxable website there's a list of compatible foundations for the casita as long as it's appropriate for your geographic region and soil type you have the option of doing a concrete strip footing cmu wall garage wall wood beam on concrete piers wood beam on helical piers or finally a concrete slab”
Boxable's website states that setup costs can range from $5,000 to $50,000 depending on location and complexity of the site.
“on the boxable website it says that setup costs can range from five thousand to fifty thousand dollars depending on location and complexity of the site”
Electrical service connection from existing main house power to a Casita costs approximately $1,500 if the main house has sufficient capacity, but requires an additional $4,000-$4,500 pole installation and service pull if a dedicated connection is needed.
“finally this home needs power and this is where it can get a bit tricky if the main house has enough power to run the casita there can be significant cost savings but that isn't always the case if it does i would estimate around fifteen hundred dollars depending on how far the home is from the casita to dig a trench run the tech cable and connect the home if the main house doesn't have enough power an additional pull may be required on the project i'm working on there was no power on the lot so we did in fact have to get a pole brought in and then pay to get the power brought to that pole which was just about four thousand five hundred dollars and then you have the cost that previously mentioned the 1500 to run from the poll to the home site”
Transport cost for a Boxable Casita from Las Vegas to interior British Columbia (1,290 miles) at $6 per mile costs approximately $7,740.
“the first added expense is getting the casita from their factory in las vegas to my property in the interior of british columbia that's a distance of 1 290 miles and on their website they give an estimate of 2 dollars to 10 dollars per mile for transport if we go right in the middle at six dollars per mile that gives us a total of seven thousand seven hundred and forty dollars”
Licensed plumber connection of sewer and water from foundation slab to Casita costs approximately $2,000, excluding natural gas connection costs.
“finally we have to connect the sewer and water from the concrete slab to the casita and i always hire a licensed plumber to make these connections for me on the project i'm working on the home isn't actually on site yet so i don't have the exact cost for this specific project but i've done it many times before and it usually works out to around twenty five hundred dollars for those connections the twenty five hundred dollars i usually pay does include hooking up natural gas which i don't think the standard box will casita has so it'll be safe to assume that's probably going to be closer to two thousand dollars and in reality i think it would be even less because everything is so compact but for the sake of this estimate we'll leave it at two thousand dollars for the connections”
In West Virginia, an almost 900 square foot home with an oversized two-car garage was available for $46,800, making $50,000 homes seem expensive in that region.
“i found an almost 900 square foot home with an oversized two-car garage in west virginia for forty six thousand eight hundred dollars”
Concrete slab foundation costs $6 per square foot, yielding $2,250 for a 375 square foot Casita.
“for my 1560 square foot manufactured home project i did a concrete slab the cost to do that was six dollars per square foot so if we apply that to the casita it works out to 2 250 for the foundation”
Water line installation from road to home site costs approximately $2,350 for this manufactured home installation project.
“these homes are fully serviced so we need to run utilities to the site where the home will be placed again this is going to be different from place to place and lots a lot but on my lot we're paying 2 350 to have the water line run from the road to where the home will be placed”
Despite $73,064 all-in costs, the Boxable Casita remains affordable compared to new homes in high-cost areas, such as a $229,600 two-bedroom, two-bathroom 800 sq ft single-wide on a leasehold lot in interior British Columbia.
“now that i've calculated all the costs involved to actually getting it to a place that it can be lived in and the answer is absolutely yes i do compared to some of the affordable options in my area it's still very appealing for example right now in the town i live in there's a two bedroom two bathroom 800 square foot single wide on a leasehold lot for 229 600 and that's in mobile home park where you pay pattern every month not on a lot that you own 229 600 and that's one of the most affordable new homes in my area that's three times the price of the box full casita”
Not all housing solutions appeal to all people, and individual preferences for housing types vary.
“there are a lot of people who are excited about the casita and there are a lot of people that would prefer something else and that's okay nothing is going to please everyone”
Total all-in cost to purchase and install a Boxable Casita in interior British Columbia is approximately $73,064, consisting of $50,000 home + $23,064 in setup costs.
“so if i was to buy a box full casita do all the prep work and have it shipped to the lot i'm currently working on based on the real cost i have for my area here's what i'd be looking at 7 740 to ship it 400 for the building permit 2 350 and 96 cents for the water service to the home site 2 350 and 96 cents for the sewer service to the home site 1500 for the power to the casita if it's coming from the main home with the possibility of another 4 and 471.95 cents if a second pole is needed 2 250 for a concrete slab and finally 2 000 to connect the sewer and water to the casita that gives us a total of 23 063.87 on top of the 50 000 price tag for a fully set up total of 73 63 and 87 cents”
After detailed cost analysis, Carrie still considers the Boxable Casita an affordable option compared to alternatives in high-cost areas.
“after digging a little bit deeper into the real cost of a box book casita i still think it's a great affordable option”