SEH 2 Revenue Model Scenarios
Is the Seed Eco-Home more affordable than any other home available in the marketplace? There are several very compelling cases which make the Seed Eco-Home - a 10x better solution. Let's examine the financial model under various scenarios.
DIY Build Model
Summary: A 1000 square foot house that you and a partner can build in 2 weeks, for $60k
If one already has land, and does not live in the city, and one builds the house themselves - the costs are the lowest:
- Material cost - $60k fpr a 1000 square foot home
- Plans, engineering, build instructions - free download from the OSE site. See TOC.
- Electrical Connection - $10-30k. $500 for a subpanel if electric already exists.
- Off-grid system - $6k
- Labor cost - 2 people, 2-4 weeks - after spending a number of weekends building.
- Expected complete build time is 500-2000 hours, 500 for OSE-certified apprentices - 2000 for a complete novice. About half the time goes into module preparation, and half the time goes to assembly + finishing details.
What is the extreme example: a capable, motivated (hungry), DIY couple, who work full time jobs. Spend $60k on materials and their shipping onsite. They stake out and pour a foundation. They start on a flat lot with suitable soil.
Then over about 60 weekends - they each spend 8 hours on Saturday to build. They build the modules, and stash them. Total hour count is 1000.
This means that after about one year - while keeping their full time job - they build all the modules and are ready to assemble their house.
Then the 2 people spend 2 weeks - assembling it all- to the point that they can move in. This would be a 1-story structure - because to build a 2-story is harder, and recommended only for the most capable DIY people. There are larger risks - such as falling off a ladder if there are 2 stories. Most construction people are injured in ladder falls.
Is 2 weeks enough to the point of moving in? It will be a long 2 weeks, but rewarding. There may be trim details left, such as baseboard, top, window, and utility channel trim. But by move-in - house is painted, floors are finished. 2 weeks means 240 hours of work total - 60 hour weeks for each person. Only experienced people would be able to do this. For an average person - the more realistic scenario would be getting 2-4 more friends to help out. This becomes completely doable. The majority of the work has been done in the module build phase - and especially as we evolve this to the full potential - the 2 weeks becomes completely realistic. This means dedicated, ongoing development for improvements.
You may still ask - is the house really finished in only 2 weeks? The deeper answer is - a house is never finished. When a house is sold, it on average contains only 20% of the overall work to the house. Additions, maintenance, and modification of the house takes another 5x effort and cost over lifetime! This is especially easy to understand for the Seed Eco-Home. As Incremental Housing - we build not a crappy house - but 'half of a good home'!
Thus, how true is 'a 1000 sf home that you and a friend can build in 2 weeks, for $60k'? It is true, if you build the modules beforehand on weekends - and if you get 2 people to help you for 2 weeks. Completely realistic. Now who will be the first person to show this? We should fund a reward for the first duo that does this.
Turnkey Production
Most people do not build their own house, as attractive as the above offer is. OSE is thus providing
Lifetime Costs
Average household size- 2.65 [1]