A South Dakota couple who spent six years living in a 1,500-square-foot trailer with a monthly housing payment of just $600 has now moved into a 3,600-square-foot custom-built home that cost about $410,000 to complete. By managing the construction themselves and doing much of the labor on their own, Allison Brown and her husband say they saved an estimated $200,000 to $350,000 compared with hiring contractors.
The couple told People that choosing an affordable home in 2019 instead of taking on a large mortgage gave them the financial flexibility to save for land, wait for construction costs to stabilize after the pandemic and eventually build the house they had always wanted.
