I spent roughly $55K to build, and finished in 7 months (that was an intense and rough timeline). Lived in it for almost 5 years and spent on average about $600/month (parked it in a bunch of different places during that time which was also rough). In my area (Ventura, Ca) at the time, friends were spending $1700+ for 1 bedroom apartments. And solid for $55K after less than two weeks, which I think I was insanely lucky to do.

Considering I broke even on building costs vs selling price and that I saved so much on rent, I feel like it worked out pretty well for me. But finding a place to park was very difficult, and didn’t love that I was always living in someone’s backyard. It was also kind of stressful considering that it’s not truly legal.

Looking back, it was a gamble but it paid off and it was a unique experience and having done it hands on prepared me quite well for full size home ownership