Shipping container homes have been steadily becoming more and more popular as alternatives to traditional housing. They may look unappealing at first due to their hard, right angles lacking any trace of creativity on the part of the manufacturer, but they offer a lot more beyond their seemingly plain rectangular appearance.

Here are just three advantages that you could get from what some people see as nothing more than an enormous steel box.

Shipping container homes are built to last

Shipping containers were originally designed to keep cargo intact while being transported over great distances. For this to become possible, cargo must always be protected from extreme weather and the other unforgiving conditions that are likely to be encountered during transit, such as bumpy roads and vehicular accidents. Containers therefore required the use of steel walls that are as much as four inches thick to make sure that whatever they held inside would be kept safe no matter how punishing the outside conditions were.

The decision to use such thick, strong walls proved to be a sound one. Around the world today, thousands of shipping containers that have been discarded after they have spent years serving their original purpose are now fulfilling entirely new functions in various applications. This should leave no doubt in your mind that a home that began life as a shipping container, or even a container that has been used as a home after being delivered straight from the factory, is sure to be around for a very long time regardless of the climate in your area.

A container home costs less than a traditional house

Being plain and simple in appearance has one obvious benefit: lower cost. Because the main structure of what will constitute the house is already available, it will cost less overall than brick, steel, and all the other materials you will need to build a typical single-story home. There's no need for you to put the roof/ceiling, the walls, and the floor together because all these are delivered to you in one piece and essentially ready for occupancy.

It is also because of that same simplicity that shipping containers present fewer problems for anyone looking to buy a new house. Because they are lower in price compared to traditional houses, the accompanying mortgage is lower as well, enabling homeowners to be debt-free much sooner.

Finally, maintenance will also cost less compared to that of a traditional home. As typical shipping containers are designed to withstand the most punishing conditions, you will find yourself worrying less about factors that could put your home's structure at risk such as flooding and termites.

They allow you to be creative

This is especially true if you manage to acquire more than one container to serve as your home. If you have two or more containers, you can stack them one on top of the other to have a multistory dwelling, side by side for increased floor area, or just about any way you want whenever you want (for as long as you do not violate the local building code or impinge on other people’s land, of course). Thus, if you started out with two containers side by side but decided after a few months that stacking them vertically like building blocks is a better idea, you could easily pursue that option if you wish.

You won't be able to enjoy such freedom with a house that is readily available or one that still needs to be built from scratch. Even if you feel you have the resources to build a new home from the ground up, the time you spend putting everything together could easily stretch into months, usually no less than five for a standard single-family dwelling. That is time you could have been spending actually living in and benefitting from a shipping container home.

Also, because these containers were originally designed to be easily moved from one place to another, you may opt to move your container home by as little as a few feet in any direction or even just change its orientation while remaining in the same parcel of land (However, either option will require you to hire the services of a forklift operator or any similar business.).

With benefits like these, it becomes easy to see why a growing number of people around the world have opted for shipping containers that will serve as their homes. Perhaps it's time you started thinking about getting one for yourself and for your family.