Tiny Homes - Produced in China

[Andrew Erickson]

Hello all, 

I've recently been turned onto the BP podcast and forums. I'm in love! All the recent podcasts about the mobile home parks has got me thinking about some cool ideas. I'm curious what you guys think about an idea I'm working on right now.

I have created a decent sized business designing consumer products, getting them produced in China, importing to the US, and selling them online. I did a million dollars in sales last year so it's going pretty well :-D. I am doing a house hack right now in San Diego too (I own a condo and have a tenant-roommate paying half the mortgage).

It got me thinking about how I could marry real estate with my design and production skills. The idea of making prefab tiny homes in China and importing them to the US came to mind. I can produce and import tiny homes for about about $15k. I already found suppliers who can do this. The market for these size of tiny homes is going for about $30k-$50k each. That's a pretty nice margin! What do you guys think about this?

The problems I don't know how to fix right now are getting a certified architect to help me design them. I have an engineering degree so I can do CAD and 3D modeling. I have a decent amount of capital too so finding money isn't an issue. I just need someone to help with getting these designs more legit. A professional architect maybe? The other big issue is finding land that is zoned for this type of home. There are several ways I can do it, but it is a little tricky. I need to figure this out or find someone who is good with zoning issues in SoCal.

That's my idea right now. Please comment with suggestions and insight if you can. I'd love to partner with someone who can help too!

Thanks!

~Andrew