A couple invested $100,000 into a shipping container home that they plan to turn into a rental property

Lexi Newkirk, a integer marketer, and Diego Newkirk, who works successful location restoration, bought their 12.5 acres of onshore successful October 2023 for $180,000. Their spot is astir an hr from Austin.

Lexi Newkirk told Business Insider they envisioned creating a assemblage of tiny homes radical could rent for short-term stays connected the property. Specifically, they pictured homes made retired of shipping containers.

"People would overmuch alternatively enactment successful a shipping instrumentality versus a accepted small tiny location retired here," she said. "It would besides rent for a batch more."

The mates decided to marque their imagination a reality, buying 2 containers for their Texas property successful November 2023. They opted for single-use containers, which are pricier due to the fact that they person little deterioration and teardrop than containers utilized aggregate times. They outgo $5,500 each.

Just arsenic the mates was astir to interruption crushed successful November 2023, 1 of their neighbors approached them with concerns astir their plans for a tiny-home community.

"We got a telephone from our neighbour fundamentally asking america what the heck we're doing," Lexi Newkirk said, adding that the neighbor, who threatened to sue, took contented with the information that the tiny homes would beryllium disposable from the roadworthy connected the Newkirks' property, which sits astatine the beforehand of the neighborhood.

The mates didn't privation to extremity up successful a lawsuit, truthful they decided to displacement their plans. They moved the 2 retention containers they had already purchased to the halfway of their spot and decided to physique 1 somewhat larger location with them.

They started operation successful January 2024 and wrapped the interior successful April 2025.

During construction, they lived successful an RV. Now that they've moved into the shipping instrumentality home, they program to enactment for a twelvemonth oregon 2 earlier turning it into an Airbnb.

The mates thought 2 containers made the astir consciousness for the house, arsenic they would person further abstraction without gathering a abstracted roof.

Together, the containers are 640 quadrate feet, and the Newkirks besides built a basement for the space.

"My hubby and I did the layout together," Lexi Newkirk said of the plan process. "We didn't prosecute anyone. We built it ourselves."

"He did astir of the operation himself," Lexi Newkirk told BI of her husband. "He did each the stacking of the containers, each the welding."

Sometimes, helium hired workers to assistance with larger projects, and the mates outsourced their plumbing and electrical work. Still, having him instrumentality connected overmuch of the enactment saved them money.

Lexi Newkirk said she and her hubby emotion to cook, truthful they wanted to usage much of their quadrate footage for the kitchen, peculiarly aft lone having an RV-sized room for a year.

Details similar butcher artifact countertops and a tiled backsplash, arsenic good arsenic the full-sized appliances, marque the room consciousness homey.

The main level besides features a washer and dryer truthful the Newkirks tin bash laundry astatine home.

The Newkirks person a tiny surviving country that sits conscionable disconnected the kitchen.

It has country for a tiny recliner sofa and is afloat of airy due to the fact that it's adjacent to a sliding solid door.

Hardwood floors besides adhd to the house's cozy feeling.

The staircase leads to the halfway of the 2nd story, adding a interaction of whimsy to the space.

There's a tiny table and enactment country astatine the apical of the stairs.

Much similar the kitchen, the Newkirks didn't privation to consciousness cramped successful their bath similar they did successful their RV.

They decided to marque their bath spacious, implicit with a treble vanity, walk-in shower, and a lasting tub with a presumption of the spot done a ample window.

"The bathtub faces the sunset, truthful you tin instrumentality a bath watching the sunset oregon shower," Lexi Newkirk said.

"The mode we engineered and built the house, the chamber wakes up to the sunrise," Lexi Newkirk said. "And there's a immense window, truthful you tin spot each the stars and the moon."

Although the chamber stands retired to her, she said she loves each inch of the location due to the fact that she and her hubby designed it.

"We benignant of poured our hearts into it," she said.

The mates is gathering retired platform abstraction to summation the home's quadrate footage and let them to bask outdoor living, but the location is implicit otherwise.

Building the location itself was expensive, but Lexi Newkirk said the distant quality of their spot made the construction adjacent much costly.

"For example, our energy rod was 300 feet down, truthful we had to person a 300-foot trench," she said. Getting h2o delivered monthly is besides costly, and their energy costs are high.

They anticipation to yet usage star powerfulness connected the property, but it volition instrumentality immoderate clip to physique it out.

Although the physique was pricey, the mates inactive saved wealth by surviving successful an RV connected their spot during construction.

Doing overmuch of the enactment themselves and not taking retired a indebtedness for the task besides helped, arsenic they don't person a owe payment, though it did marque operation instrumentality longer than it would person otherwise.

Now that the shipping instrumentality location is complete, the Newkirks are already starting to fulfill their adjacent dreams for the property: making it into a homestead.

They already person 20 chickens and program to bring immoderate cows onto the spot successful the adjacent fewer years. They besides privation to physique a plot and mostly unrecorded disconnected their ain property.

They'll besides physique a barndominium for themselves successful the not-too-distant future, moving into the bigger location truthful they tin rent the shipping instrumentality home. For now, though, the tiny location is cleanable for the couple.

"Everything successful our location is ace customized due to the fact that of the size," Lexi Newkirk said. "The tiny location is lone 640 quadrate feet, but it has everything we need."