#699 – Container Homes in Latin America: Opportunities, Challenges, and Practical Insights

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started All right today We're gonna talk about something a lot of people been waiting for and getting emails about this particular subject for a long time now And I'm finally putting it together. We're gonna talk about buying building and assembling container homes here in Latin America because you know

[00:47] There's really no better place on the planet to do a container home or building then here in Latin America for a lot of reasons And we'll get into most of them first of all since Latin America is the third world and there's not a lot of heavy Manufacturing thousands upon thousands of containers are coming into Latin ports every day In fact if you were to visit one of the big Latin ports You'd see huge parking lots Just chock full of empty containers as if you didn't know everything's made in China these days and everything comes by container And for the moment there's been a big slowdown in worldwide shipping meaning there's a greater supply of containers than demand Plus there's the fact that a big percentage of worldwide shipping goes through the Panama Canal So Panama is a place that's just teeming with excess containers Another thing people don't realize is that there are tens of thousands of containers that are well over ten years old

[01:37] There's a limit on their useful life You know you see a container that's 10 20 even 30 years old is just fine for a container home But not necessarily seaworthy anymore Then there's the fact if you're gonna build a container home up in the first world You have to deal with the stifling bureaucracy Unless your site is way out in the boonies You'll have to get a dozen or so permits how you're an architect even a structural engineer So there will be the approvals to get and all the inspections and if you're the first container building a local inspection Department has ever come across They'll either help you through it because it's a cute novelty that breaks up They're generally boring inspections or stick it to you because you're the square peg in the round hole in fact one Canadian expat told me he researched the whole thing up there in Montreal

[02:24] And it was such a headache going through all the government approvals that he just gave up on it However down here in Latin America just as with almost every building project You get the plans drawn up by a local Latin architect in most cases that won't set you back more than 250 bucks He submits the plans to the local municipality you pay the registration fee and that's it now of course most people have heard of container Homes, but they probably never seen one except maybe on TV or in a magazine There are even a lot of do-it-yourself books out there and tons of youtubes on how to do it, too However in most cases they'll be talking about doing it up in the States or Canada or Europe a totally different and much more expensive Proposition than doing the same thing here in Latin America. We'll get to that in the reasons why in a moment

[03:09] Oh, and by the way when you come down to my January 2018 expat insider's seminar you are coming, right? Well, you're in for a surprise actually there'll be a lot of surprises I'll be taking you to see a fully finished very nice, but basic and no frills container home You'll get to walk in it touch it take pictures And probably for some of you the first time you've ever got up front close and personal with one of these things So then you might ask how prevalent our container homes here in Latin America Well, they're not prevalent up in the States nor are they prevalent down here though I know a few people who built them and I even know of an expat gringo who bought some very cheap land on Lake Atit land the most beautiful lake in the world. I know I know that's what they all say, right? But don't take my word for it. Look it up or come on down and see for yourself

[03:58] That's one of the places you'll be visiting if you come down to the seminar and elect to take one of the pre or post John Galt trips anyway an enterprising expat gringo bought some land on that lake Oddly enough many parcels of land on the most beautiful lake in the world are extremely cheap. How could that be? Well, you know Lake Atit land is five or six thousand feet above sea level, which in itself is very strange How could a lake like that be so high up? Well, one of the reasons for that and the reason why it's such a very deep lake It's sitting in the basin of three inactive volcanoes and your volcanoes are quite pointed and have very steep sides At least the ones that formed recently and haven't had much erosion show those traits That means it's a lot of hassle to build a house or any kind of building on a steep incline like that

[04:47] So although you might own some of that land and have some of the finest visuals and scenery in the world Still it goes quite cheap because most of the land that's on a steep incline is difficult to build on unless You're doing it with containers and at least one enterprising gringo has figured that out he bought some of that cheap land with a million or billion dollar view you have to see to believe it and You will if you come down to my seminar and take one or both of those famous John Galt trips Just a little plug there so anyway an expat gringo bought some of that very Angulated land and used a bunch of strategically placed shipping containers and made himself a very nice hotel I've not stayed there yet myself, but I certainly mean to so another expat with a great idea

[05:35] Found his niche, but only because he knew about container projects because as opposed to building with traditional techniques cement rebar brick and mortar etc Where you'll have to bring in truckloads of that stuff and how you're gonna do that if you're on an angulated side of a volcano Remember we're talking about dormant volcanoes here. They have never blown off in human memory So for all intents and purposes, they're considered extinct or dead. Nope No worries that you'll wake up one morning to a rain of cinders or lava flowing past your picture window Though that would be cool wouldn't it for maybe a minute? So anyway an expat bought some of that cheap land had some ledges cut into it kind of like a big staircase Brought in some containers some construction guys and some gardeners and man does he have a nice setup

[06:26] So then you might think with the big availability of containers and cheap land in very beautiful locations People would be doing creative things with containers all over the place But they're not personally i've only seen two of them actually constructed though people gringos I mean not latins talk about them all the time. So then why aren't more people jumping on board? Well latinos won't for sure because it's a completely foreign concept to them I bet if you were an on the street reporter and asked a thousand latinos if they knew anything about container homes They'd all give you the deer in the headlights. Look, they have no idea what you're talking about However, if you polled people about container homes in Milwaukee and Cleveland I'm sure maybe a quarter to a half for the people would say yeah, cool. Good idea

[07:13] So let's dig into the details. What's it going to take and what are the advantages and disadvantages now again? I'm completely directing this conversation towards doing such a thing here in latin america So pay attention, especially if you're the hands-on do it yourself or type Now I mentioned if you come down to my next expat insider seminar, which again will be in and around guatemala You'll get a chance to touch feel and kick the tires of a very nice little container home Now that particular house is done with just one 40 foot container and it's cut open in the front So there's a nice big porch and outdoor deck sitting area with a canopy Now I can see if you had that on a nice scenic piece of land It would be absolutely perfect for one or two people and i'd say the cost for that thing completely finished plumbed and wired

[07:59] With a very modern little kitchen with real marble or granite countertops I'd say 20 grand and a lot less if you're the do it yourself type By the way visiting that container home is just one of the many boots on the ground adventures We'll have at the upcoming seminar and how do you sign up? Well, just go to www.thenewexpat.com and click on johnny's seminar link That's where you'll find the sign-up details the itinerary and the early bird discounts. Yep. There's still an effect So sign up now if you want to save some money because on december 1st price goes up 500 bucks and for all you past attendees who've been asking about the repeat offender discount It's still a thousand dollars. So if you come down for a second third or even fourth time Some people have you know you get a thousand dollars off the early bird discount price

[08:45] Can't ask for a better deal than that And of course if you can't make it down to the seminar get boots on the ground yourself The next best thing to get your plan b underway is to take my nine hour expat essentials course It's what you might call the definitive step-by-step formula to get your ducks lined up for your plan b So to get my free video that explains it all just go to expat Plan b.com. Oh, and if you haven't heard me mention this already If you sign up for my expat insider seminar You automatically get a one hour one-on-one phone or skype consult with me So we can discuss not only the seminar But the john gulch trips and that'll give us time before the seminar to talk about your own plan b because everyone is a little different And with that you seminar attendees and everyone else who's listening should go to the new expat.com website and download

[09:37] My phone consultation questionnaire, you know when I first put that questionnaire together I realized that everyone who's thinking about a plan b or who is somewhere along the line on their plan b already Could benefit a lot by going over the questions and the comments on that form Which is why you can go to the new expat.com website and download it for free and I suggest you do that It doesn't matter if you end up doing a phone or skype consultation with me or not. Just check it out You'll see besides. How can you go wrong? It's free. All right. First. Let's talk about some of the benefits of container homes and buildings Number one if you're planning on living in the latin american altiplano regions You've heard me talk about those places where it's spring like weather all year round There the average temperature might range in the high 50s at night to maybe 80 during the day

[10:26] And that means you don't need any heating or air conditioning So you don't have to insulate your container homes at all Now that might not sound like a big deal, but it's a huge thing Why well because if you're living up in the states or canada and you're putting together a container home You'll have to insulate the thing Up in the first world. It is the construction code and because it's metal if you don't have heavy insulation in the summer It'll overheat in the winter dead cold So up north by you container homes are insulated and then of course there must be interior walls to cover up the insulation Just like you would do up in the states if you were finishing out your basement for a rec room All right, consider this suppose your home was made out of two 40 foot containers probably cost you

[11:13] 5000 bucks to insulate it and put in interior walls. I know I know some of you are thinking right now Well, if you're going to be in the tropics even in the altiplano that sun is really hot And that means my container home is just gonna bake like your car does if it's sitting in a parking lot in the noonday sun Well, that's true enough, but that's why people who built container homes down here They always make sure they're in the shade and there are dozens of very inexpensive ways to do that So it's true. You never want direct sunlight on any metal parts of your container That is unless you're going off the grid and doing some kind of solar setup Then you could just mount solar panels on top of your container and that'll provide the shade and your electrical energy Again killing two birds with one stone by the way the other day a very nice young lady scolded me for using that phrase

[12:03] Killing two birds with one stone. She said johnny It's not nice even worse than cruel to kill or harm a defenseless animal. She's right, you know, and i'll try to watch that So anyway, you do need constant shade on your containers and if you put solar panels on top of them You'll achieve that that way you'll be killing two maggotous scumbag politicians with one stone so to speak Maggotous is that a word? Well in this case the shoe fits so very well, so we'll use it By the way in the very near future i'm going to be doing a whole show maybe two On going solar off the grid here in latin america Anyway, you just heard me say that if you have your container home or building in the ulti plan Oh, you don't need any kind of insulation, which is true provided. It's completely shaded at all times

[12:49] However, as I mentioned in past shows the ulti plan Takes up less than five percent of all latin america and most gringles and expats don't even know about it Hell I was down here a couple of years before I stumbled onto it You could say it's one of mother nature's best kept secrets. By the way, you listeners up in the states Are you still allowed to say mother nature? Or is it maybe parent or person nature now, man? I don't know how you guys can stand living up there, but I digress as usual Since container homes are absolutely indestructible. Yep pretty much indestructible. All right I mean look even a shorty container a 20 footer It's built to haul and hold 20 000 pounds of cargo That's 10 tons and the unit itself weighs 5 000 pounds two and a half tons and that's the small half a container to 20 footer

[13:38] And the standard 40 footer weighs 10 000 pounds and holds 40 000 pounds of cargo Which means they're perfect for earthquake and hurricane zones In other words, as long as you've got the hatches batting down And you're up high enough above the ground to be out of the flood zone Even if you got nailed by a category four or five hurricane, you know, like in porta rico Your container home ain't going nowhere which begs the question then why not a container home beach house? Come to think of it. Why not whole subdivisions of container beach houses? Hey great idea except At the beaches and other areas of low elevation most every day it's extremely hot even in the shade So even if your container home is properly shaded There are going to be those 90 degree days

[14:25] And if you're like me and most other expat gringos, you will need air conditioning Which will jack up the price and your electric bill accordingly Now if it's a very small container house with just one 40 foot container, you'll insulate the whole thing However, many container homes are two three or even four container units So to make this project more economically feasible and that's why you do container houses in the first place, right? Because they're they're cheap and indestructible In fact, they've heard quite a few expat gringas, you know, lady expats say it's a trade-off between cheap and ugly Well, I wouldn't go that far because I have seen some pretty spiffy looking container houses Then again, i've seen some container houses that look kind of like containers Now I know everyone wants to have a nice comfortable place to live

[15:11] And admittedly us men have much lower standards on that count than women And though I know a lot of men who would be content to live in a dingy basement if the rent was free Let me put it this way. I remember one expat gringo saying as she inspected that container house at the last seminar She said it has its merits. All right, but it's not my style of living She said johnny you play with legos. You don't live in them Besides she said how are you supposed to hang a picture on those metal walls with a sledgehammer? All right, then so let's get back to our container beach house example How are we going to air condition that thing with a break in the bank? Well suppose your house consisted of three 40-foot container units. That'd be about 900 square feet So you've got three individual container units joined by short hallways and doors

[16:00] The trick is to just insulate one of those containers That would be the one that has the master bedroom and possibly a sitting area or office That way you can escape into the coolness at any time and not live your life as most locals do With a constant layer of sweat and as expat eddie would say chronic ring around the armpits and permanently damp underwear Oh sure. We can tolerate it In fact, we even like it for a short vacation, but man imagine living like that day in and day out So you should have that insulated cool space in your container home In fact way back when I had a beach house in manuel antonio in costa rica small place You know just a little cabana getaway, maybe uh, 1200 square feet and man, there were times

[16:46] It was so hot. You just didn't want to get out of your chair Sure, there was a pool and it was great But sometimes I remember i'd take three showers a day and change clothes just as often Which is why I had the master bedroom. There were two bedrooms in the unit Insulated and outfitted with a window air conditioner. That was my cool space And you know if I hadn't built it that way I'm sure I would have found less and less reason to visit the place on the weekends because during the week I was living in alauela a suburb of san jose which was at the lower end of the algae plan or around 3,500 feet above sea level and by the way, san jose costa rica and the surrounding berbs Are really the only semblance of altiplano in all of costa rica So as far as costa rica, it's san jose that has the nicest weather all year round not exactly eternal spring

[17:37] But not exactly eternal heat and humidity either not like the coast By the way, there are two ways to insulate a container home. One is traditional fiberglass bat insulation You know the terribly itchy stuff that comes and rolls another is to use spray installation That's the better way since when that stuff is sprayed on it hits every little nook and cranny and of course containers are corrugated That's what gives them their strength So they've got all kinds of nooks and crannies and the spray on stuff sticks and bonds itself to the metal like glue Which makes it a lot more messy than using insulation bats and more difficult for the do-it-yourselfer But you can rent machines to do that. I wouldn't suggest it myself. I tried it once not recommended Do call in the pros and let them get that sticky junk on their skin and clothes

[18:25] But still no matter what insulation method you use you'll have to put up an interior wall So let's say you've got an architectural plan for a container house using three 40-foot containers Note that not all containers are created equal though All 40-foot containers will have an internal floor area or living space of around 290 square feet So using three containers you'll have about 860 square foot of living space though. It might not sound like much. It's perfectly fine for easy simple basic living Let's face it. We're trying to simplify and scale down who needs a three or four thousand square foot house Plus, you know when you're living down here in the tropics part of the exterior is your living space, too The sun fun floor and fauna is part of the living experience down here

[19:12] Which is why a lot of people let their homes container and otherwise open out into their patio garden or backyard By the way, since a 40-foot container gives you 290 square foot of living space It's half of that with a 20 footer. So what's the point? Especially when these days there are probably 50 times as many 40 footers out there as 20 footers So the larger ones the 40 footers are much more available and thus Cheaper to buy when you consider the square footage and the only real advantage of having 20-foot containers Is that they're much more maneuverable on the site? No problem if you're on relatively flat land But if you're on a mountain side out in the boonies quite a ways from a decent asphalt or concrete road You'll have to bring in some heavy duty cranes and stuff

[19:57] But that's a one-time cost and everything's cheaper here in latin america down here a crane or backhoe operator Might make 25 or 30 dollars a day. Whereas up in the states. That's what they get an hour By the way, people are always wondering about the rainy season. It rains like hell here So aren't those containers going to rust and rot away? Well, they won't because they're made out of a special kind of steel called Corten steel that's c-o-r-t-e-n. So what's special about it? Well, if they get scratched or dented it will get a little rust coating on it But it won't penetrate Into the unit any rest you see is a kind of surface rust that actually protects the steel below it So a shipping container used for a home could last 50 to 100 years In fact, most containers that you buy for a project are well over 10 years old

[20:42] however A container should never be placed in direct contact with soil or exposed to continuous 100 humidity or placed against anything That's constantly moist which is why they're placed on cement footings or slabs And if they're built into the side of a hill or mountain, there's a retaining wall built first usually concrete again You don't want them touching earth directly. So then what is a 40-foot container cost? Well, there are different kinds of containers. They've got standard 20 and 40 footers Then they've got what they call the high cube models, which are a bit higher Therefore more headroom and now in the u.s and canada there are 45 foot containers, too And the cost well depending on the time of year and where you are close to a port or not Or for example a distressed city like in detroit or the panama canal where they're just stacked up everywhere

[21:31] I'd say you could get a 40-foot container for anywhere from 800 to 2000 bucks. Oh and it's interesting to note that there are way too many of them these days. So they're getting cheaper Now get this they've even got shipping container auction sites where you could buy used containers right online Yep, and they even have scratch and dent sales, but who cares right? Most people have them bond owed sanded primed and painted So when they move in it looks new by the way talking about burying a container into the side of a hill or mountain Well up in canada, you know burying shipping containers has been kind of a fad amongst pot growers for a long long time People in the know have been saying that canada has some of the best weed Now, how could that be when the vast majority of drug trafficking is coming up through latin america?

[22:18] Well, that's because for years clandestine pot growers up in canada have been doing their hydroponic work with grow lights and space heaters Out in the boonies. In fact way out in moose country in nearly completely buried shipping containers Of course nowadays with many us states and canada too legalizing the stuff I hope they diversified because there goes that business But because there was so much of that action we have some good data on how long shipping containers last when buried Turns out in canadian soil anyway around 10 years or so Then the rust becomes pretty dramatic and starts hopping through to the inside So we can thank those nice gentle hydroponic weed growing canadians who did those container life tests for us

[23:05] Now of course, it's the thought that you can do container homes and structures very cheaply that makes them so attractive, right? Otherwise you'd build a conventional home Well from what I understand container homes in the united states have gotten pretty complex and expensive these days because Most americans anyway don't want simple. They want to make a statement with their container homes So they often end up pouring in a lot of extras that weren't in the original plans But we won't fall into that trap now, will we? Well that said the beauty of constructing a container home down here in latin america is Labor costs are so inexpensive because you know the one guy that's going to be on your job A long long time is the metal worker and down here in latin america It seems like every little neighborhood has six or seven guys. They have a metalworking shop

[23:54] Why because down here there's great demand for metal fences gate stores and metal ornamentation by the way metal workers down here are called Herreros or soldo doras that would be welder or Solderer and so you'll see these little metalworking shops in middle and lower middle class neighborhoods And i'll tell you many of these guys are excellent craftsmen And that by the way is how you'll find a guy to come to your job site and do all that metalwork What do I mean by metalwork? Well, you'll have to cut holes for the windows and then place metal frames or prefab window units where you want them When you're joining two or more containers, you'll have to cut openings for passageways and doors And it's not just about cutting holes and openings either Each of them will have to be trimmed out in a metal frame to have a nice beautiful finish, too

[24:41] And that's what these little metalworker guys are so good at by the way Nearly every home in latin america has a custom metal door or two or three And every latin home that has a garage has a custom metal garage door, too Now when you think about your own garage door up in boston or cleveland There the folding panel type installed by a garage door company, but installers don't make those doors They're ordered in prefab sections Well, the difference is down here in latin america garage doors like you have them up in the states are rare Down here when you have a house built the metal fabricator guy the herrero will come over and make a door from scratch for you I'm talking about Really big garage doors, too He'll weld up a nice sturdy frame even put some nice beautiful metal details in it

[25:28] He'll cut and fit the rails and the wheels the door rolls on and he'll even mount your sears or door master garage door opener Fit it to that door and adjust it so it opens and closes smooth as silk So these are the very guys you'll be hiring to put together your container home and yes down here Anyway, he'll be making metal doors for your container home, too And I do suggest metal entrance doors. Anyway inside you might consider solid wood They have such nice rainforest hardwood doors here and you know down here when you're building a house It's always good to skip wooden doors on the outside. Just use metal doors. Yeah, I know wooden doors, especially Rainforest hardwood doors are beautiful and all that but remember you've got that heavy rainy season and after a while

[26:14] Even the nicest of solid rainforest doors will start cracking and peeling though by all means do trim out the inside of your home Whether it's traditional or a container home with rainforest hardwood I mean, come on. Why not when you can buy it for what you'd pay for clear pine up in the states Oh, and there's another cool thing about building a container home Remember I mentioned if you build a traditional house here on the first day or two The construction crew will build a little storage bodega where all the tools and cement and stuff will go And that's where your project's guard or caretaker will live for the duration of the project However, if you're doing a container home one of your containers will be designated as the storage bin for all the materials and tools That'll be your nighttime lockup

[27:00] And there's nothing more secure than that and the final big advantage to building a container home is you can put the thing up In a month or two instead of the usual year it takes to put up a traditional house and the downsides Well, talk about paper thin walls, huh? Meaning it's perfect if you haven't got any neighbors or they're quite a ways from you But if there's any people or another family or god forbid little kids are barking dogs nearby You're gonna wish you had it insulated not for the air conditioning, but for the soundproofing South of the border This is the expat files living in latin america If you want me to help you out with your own plan b just schedule a one-on-one consult Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com

[27:45] And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan b from right up there in the states Go to www.expatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya nos vemos