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Eco Cabana $30,000

Do you think we would sell more backyard cottages with a headline like this? Of course we could, but it’s misleading. In many localities $30,000 wouldn’t cover the fees when building a new small house in the backyard, and this advertised price leaves out many other costs as well. The $30,000 figure is a modular company’s price for a minimally finished 500 square foot house at the factory. They acknowledge that the same house decked out for show would cost $75,000 and that still leaves out transportation costs, installation, foundation, utilities, earthwork and more.

Cars are advertised starting with a base price and go up from there but you don’t need any more than what is offered in the base price for transportation. The base priced car still includes the engine, the wheels, the steering wheel, and it runs, but the base priced modular house is sitting on the manufacturer’s lot without water service, sewer service or power and you can’t live in it. I think the car companies do a better job of fairly advertising their prices and delivering their products.