Make a shipping container your home for less than $185K

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

One of the biggest Chinese imports to the United States these days are affordable, eco-friendly houses -- or at least the building blocks for them.

Most international freight today travels in huge steel containers that can stack on the decks of ships and be offloaded onto the backs of tractor trailers. Sometimes the containers get shipped back to Asia. But most of the time, they sit idle around U.S. ports.

Architects have figured out a way to make these containers useful: Convert them into guesthouses, studios, even single-family homes.

Architect Adam Kalkin's Quik House, for example, is a 2,000 square-foot home that is made out of six shipping containers. The two-story home offers three bedrooms and two and a half baths, a laundry room, pantry, mudroom and other amenities.

The basic price of the Quik House is $119,000, which includes the six modified containers with stairs, walls, glass for windows, pre-fitted electrical and plumbing systems and aluminum glazing frames that are factory installed.

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But there is still a lot of work to be done: Buyers are responsible for buying the land, securing building permits and getting the home hooked up to local water and sewer lines and the gas and electric grid, among other things.

The typical cost to assemble and hook up the Quik House and make it habitable is about $184,000.

But there are add-ons, too. Like a stainless kitchen package, with Viking stove, dishwasher and a fireplace for an extra $25,000.

 

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And while the home is pretty eco-friendly from the get-go (you're already recycling six shipping containers), you can also add on options like a solar power system or "green" roof.

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Getting your own Quik House can be, well, quick. It can be delivered within 10 weeks and assembled on site in a day, according to the builder. From ordering it online to the day you move in shouldn't take longer than six months. (There is currently, however, a six-month waitlist.)

Here's how much it will cost you to make a container your home: 

From container to home: Breaking down the cost

Item	Cost
Base price for six factory modified containers	$119,000
Site preparation (excavation, laying foundation, etc.)	$14,000
Assembly	$2,500
Heating and cooling system	$7,000
Plumbing	$7,000
Electrical	$7,000
Roofing	$3,000
Insulation	$5,500
Flooring	$5,000
Shelves and closets	$2,000
Doors and hardware	$2,000
Glass installation	$4,000
Wall finishes and painting	$6,000
Total	*$184,000, plus shipping

Source: Quik Build LLC.
Note: Does not include the cost of the land. Shipping costs can range from $3,000 to $12,000 depending on how far the home is from Quik Build's factories in New Jersey or Liverpool, England.

Baby Boomers face big housing crunch

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

America's Baby Boomers are facing a serious housing crunch, with many expected to struggle to afford their homes come retirement.

By 2030, the number of adults age 65 and older will more than double to 73 million, according to a report by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and the AARP Foundation.

And many of these retirees will need to put so much of their income toward housing -- more than 30% --that they will have to cut back on other expenses like transportation, medical care, even food, the report found.

A big part of the problem: many Baby Boomers will enter retirement with less savings and more debt than previous generations.

A growing number of seniors are carrying mortgage debt into retirement, with more than 70% of younger Boomers ages 50 to 64, and 40% of those age 65 and older still owing money on their home in 2010. Even worse, they owed even more money on their loans, which is putting many older Americans in a "financially precarious" position, the report found.

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Meanwhile non-housing related debt among the 65-plus crowd climbed from an average of $4,300 in 1992 to $7,200 in 2010, mainly as a result of credit card and auto loan debt.

Adding to Boomers' burdens, less money is expected to come in. Over the next decade, the number of households age 65 and older living on less than $15,000 a year -- below the poverty level for a two person household in 2014 -- is projected to grow by nearly 40%.

Related: Why many retired women live in poverty

The authors of the report argue that the government isn't doing enough to help low income seniors. In 2011, just one-third of low income seniors who were eligible for federal rental assistance received any assistance at all.

 

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The report recommends a variety of fixes, including property tax relief for seniors, increased federal rental assistance and improved programs to help seniors "age in place" in their homes, instead of in costly institutions. 

Mortgage rates hit 2014 low

Mortgage rates have dropped to their lowest level in over a year.

The average rate for a 30-year loan now stands at 4.1%, according to Freddie Mac. That matched its lowest level since June 2013, when it stood at 3.93%. The average 15-year fixed was 3.23%.

Related: Best housing markets for Millennials

The government's stimulus program has helped keep borrowing costs down. The Federal Reserve has been purchasing Treasury Bonds and mortgaged-backed securities for years, providing a steady market for mortgages.

But the Fed has cut back on its purchases, and plans to end the buying program entirely in October, reducing demand for mortgage bonds. That should eventually cause rates to climb.

Low mortgage rates and home prices that are climbing more slowly should boost the housing market, said to Keith Gumbinger, spokesman for HSH.com, a mortgage information company.

"That should provide a solid foundation for home sales this fall," he said.

Related: Buy vs. rent: What you'll pay in 10 big cities

It was a strong summer.

Sales of existing homes rose 2.4% in July to an annualized rate of 5.15 million homes, according to a different report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors

Stronger job growth has boosted the market, according to NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, and a larger inventory of homes on the market give buyers more to choose from.

"That's making prospective buyers less hesitant about entering the market," he said. 

In some housing markets, all-cash deals still rule

All-cash deals made up 38% of all home sales in the second quarter, according to RealtyTrac.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Buying a home? You still have to compete against the big money bringing all-cash. But it's getting a little easier.

All-cash deals made up 38% of all home sales in the second quarter, according to RealtyTrac, down from 42% in the prior quarter.

One reason is that big institutional buyers, those buying at least 10 homes a year, are finding fewer deals.

They accounted for 4.7% of all homes sold, down from a peak of 6% in 2013.

Related: Best cities for Millennial buyers

As the housing market recovered, these investors were buying up homes in deeply troubled markets, like Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Those bulk buys helped to reverse the slide in home prices.

But now, home prices are up more than 20% from their 2012 lows.

This has created a "classic good news/bad news scenario" for the housing market, said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.

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The good news is that first-time homebuyers have more of a shot. The bad news is that some of them may already be "priced out of the market," said Blomquist.

Cash buyers are much more attractive to sellers because they know the investors are able to act quickly and that the sale will almost certainly go through.

There are still plenty of markets where cash rules.

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In Las Vegas, a recent spike in defaults has sparked an increase in cash sales to more than 50% of all home sales. Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland and Philadelphia all had at least 45% of sales in cash.

Cities attractive to foreign investors are also seeing a lot of cash exchange hands. In the Miami metro area, with its huge demand from Latin Americans, a whopping 64% of sales were all cash. Other Florida cities like Orlando, Cape Coral, Sarasota and Tampa scored nearly as high. In New York, 48% of sales were cash.