The following report is by The New York Post:
It’s a small price to pay — and it’s paying off big time.
With homeownership being far out of reach for most millennials and Gen Zs due to inflated asking prices, astronomical interest rates and crushing student loan debts, twenty- and thirty-somethings are getting creative about buying abodes.
So, rather than scrimping and saving their last pennies in the hopes of one day purchasing a brick and mortar mini mansion, money-savvy young adults are turning to an online retail giant for tiny pre-fab pads.
“B****, I just bought a house on Amazon,” raved lifestyle content creator Jeffrey Bryant, 23, from Los Angeles, Calif., to a TikTok audience of over 8.6 million stunned viewers. “I didn’t even think twice about it.”
But Bryant, who scored the 16.5-by-20-foot shelter for just over $26,000 late last week, tells The Post that he bought the fold-out flat using money he recently inherited from his late grandfather’s estate.
The cutesy crib which comes complete with a dedicated kitchenette, living room, bedroom and bathroom — with a pre-installed toilet and shower.
“I saw this YouTuber unboxing his Amazon home,” said Bryant, “and I ran to the website to get one, too.”
But his impulse purchase was actually rooted in a desire to help those in need, he said.
“I bought the tiny house to transform it into an AirBnB for displaced people or people facing homelessness,” said the altruistic entrepreneur.
Nathan Graham, the 27-year-old influencer behind kid-friendly gaming brand “Unspeakable,” ignited the viral thunder-strike in Amazon house shopping — which has seen over 88,000 folks beneath the TikTok-viral hashtag #AmazonHome bragging about their new nests.
At the top of the month, Graham posted a buzzy clip featuring his freshly acquired $30,000 DIY digs.
“Bro, this thing is so easy to build,” said the trendsetter, from Houston, Tex., as he and a gang of pals assembled the quaint living quarters. Footage of the humble house amassed over 20.4 million TikTok views. “You literally just unfold it.”
Graham did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
But the tiny house trend has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in the years since the pandemic.
While some minimalists have ditched their sprawling, albeit costly dwellings and moved their families of six into 500-square-foot tool sheds, others have dumped the idea of living within walls altogether and transformed large vehicles into their dream addresses.
The avant-garde swing towards snapping up Amazon residences is now picking up steam just as a January 2024 survey revealed that a whopping 90% of millennial homeowners have regrets about their first home purchases.
The poll, commissioned by Real Estate Witch, determined that first-time homebuyers were remorseful about everything from agreeing to pay high-interest rates to picking homes in rough neighborhoods.
But for business-minded homeowners like Bryant, location is key.
“I’m working with an agent who’s helping me find land [on which to place] my Amazon home,” the aspiring landlord tells The Post.
He’s hoping to land adequate property near California’s glamorous Orange County for less than $40,000. Bryant is, too, in talks with local housing authorities to obtain the necessary permits for the investment property.
As a person of color and a Gen Z, I want to inspire others to make wise decisions with their money. People my age are told that we can’t afford to purchase homes, but I’m proof that it is possible.
Bryant said
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Yup, you really proved Gen-Z can buy a tiny, non-functioning shack, sir TikToker – with inheritance money from deceased relatives. Way to “influence” there, bud.
Americans have become spoiled rotten with their McMansions, with excess rooms full of useless junk they bought, when they didn’t even like when they got it; and while there is certainly absolutely nothing wrong with living in something like this, raising a family is not really going to be ideal to say the least.
Furthermore, Amazon and these other megacorporations, hedge funds, real estate and asset managers, are looking to influence this type of change on society, by forcing people into tiny little cloisters of shacks, huts, apartments, and rooms. Haven’t you heard? “You’ll own nothing and be happy” by 2030, says the World Economic Forum.
In early-2021 I did a report titled “Return Of The Hoovervilles,” and it is evident the world is walking into a hi-tech version of that in the not-so distant future.
Even so, let us all be thankful that we still have a place to dwell now. We are not guaranteed or obligated that.
[10] We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. [11] Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; 1 Corinthians 4:10-11
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
The WinePress needs your support! If God has laid it on your heart to want to contribute, please prayerfully consider donating to this ministry. If you cannot gift a monetary donation, then please donate your fervent prayers to keep this ministry going! Thank you and may God bless you.
great showcase of gen-z
At least it’s a place to live! It beats gluttony and being in megadebt. Stop complaining and realize that things have gotten insanely expensive. The only way for some people to make it is by having multiple roommates etc. to help with finances. Little houses are something and better than being homeless.
This is clearly the machinations of the New World Order. Gen-Z make that easy because they see nothing going on behind the curtain. They are blissfully unaware of God, Satan and the battle currently raging for the souls of mankind.
They would rather buy a $3500 dollar alternative googles and live there than put that money away and save for a future home or retirement. They won’t follow the old traditional rules of employment either. So, you’ll have nothing and be happy is something they are leaning into already.
Pretty much. Most Zoomers lack any real discernment, prudence, and wisdom, are so easily tricked by petty scams, pretty lights, and instant gratification. It’s so sad, marching straight into their enslavement.
I don’t like how easy they put together that house, the easier it is to put up the easier it is to tear down.
Guess we know what the cornerstone of that edifice isn’t. It’s true that some may turn this to advantage to get out of Dodge quickly, being cautious where they put it, and using the savings to put back for better things. But, if you truly do it yourself, you learn valuable skills along the way that you probably won’t building these.
–
Many of the Amish/Mennonite build tiny homes starting out, then add on. They tend to use concrete & block for their foundations, and they don’t ‘unfold’! Reminds me a bit of The Three Little Pigs! And I wonder how those things will withstand the first good windstorm.
–
Anyways, some of them have started businesses building tiny houses as well as sheds & so forth, too. And, I suspect, many will be offering their services to build these things for Gen Z’s who don’t even want that much ‘hands on’ & sweat.
–
I believe as Augustinians & collectivists, they’re (the Amish/Mennonite) pretty much in the bag already so far as the new world order & its antichrist spirit, who will be running the new reducciones, etc. Live wisely & circumspectly. Check it all by the Book.
The land you buy to put it on might cost more than the little house. Looks like a couple of guys might like it for a while. I hope we can check back on these guys in about 8 months or so, just to see how it’s working out for them since they will be in each other’s faces after they come home from work, ie. if they work.
They’d be better off just repurposing a van or ambulance and living in that, and just travel the country and site-see.
That house is about half the cost of the land and Mobile home my great grandmother (Adoptive mother) left for me in the inheritance. Actually, until last year it was almost exactly the cost of the property I inherited.
To be honest though if that House was a few thousand, it might work well enough with some heavy modifications for added strength and wind tolerance. But at 30K I could easily build a nice 1 room cabin with a small solar panel system (think 400-1200 watts). I could probably do it for 20K if I shopped around enough. If one had the tools, proper knowledge and skills, as well as enough trees on the land, one could build a similar cabin for as little as 10K. Might even be able to make it a two room cabin even.
And of course they are other options, one could find an old mobile home that someone is wanting to get rid of for a few thousand, and add in a thousand or two for transport and a about three or four thousand more for repairs, you’ve got yourself a far superior house for about 10K. My Grandfather actually did this back in 2006, helping him work on it was a lot of fun and taught me about plumbing and drywall work. He spent three thousand on the home, a thousand on transport cost, and less than two thousand on repairs.