When rising house prices make owning a home feel impossible, some people are finding creative ways around it. One young Australian has decided to take matters into her own hands. Instead of signing a decades-long mortgage, she is building a $40,000 “tiny home” on top of a vintage truck and trailer.
Kia Humberstone, 26, has come up with a solution that is both simple and ambitious. She is turning a 1988 Isuzu truck and trailer, which she purchased for $5,000, into a 13-metre mobile home.
Humberstone has spent hours restoring rusted parts, grinding corrosion, and adding fibreglass patches, all while keeping costs low by using recycled materials wherever possible, news.com.au reported.
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Living debt-free:
This isn’t her first tiny home adventure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she built her first truck home for just $12,000. That home allowed her to live rent-free for two years and later sell it for $35,000, funding a two-year camping trip across Australia.
Her new project is motivated by more than just practicality. Humberstone wants to live debt-free and show that there are alternatives to the traditional property market.
“I just want young people in general to know that there is a way of still owning your own home and living in it without signing your whole life away to the bank,” she told Yahoo News.
Her approach highlights a growing problem in Australia. Skyrocketing property prices and a competitive rental market have left many young people struggling to afford a home.
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Challenges housing norms:
For Humberstone, a conventional mortgage would have meant paying off debt well into retirement. Instead, she is creating her own path, one bolt and weld at a time.
By sharing her journey on social media, she hopes to inspire others, particularly young people and women, to consider alternative ways to secure housing.
“I just want young people in general to know that there is a way of still owning your own home and living in it without signing your whole life away to the bank,” she said.
Once completed, the home will serve as a “little home base” for Humberstone, providing her with the freedom and flexibility to travel while still owning a valuable and fully functional asset.