A lot of the article is devoted to people being surprised they could build two apartments in the Bay Area for $50k.
I hate to be this HN guy, but they didn't build anything. From what the article says, they took an existing structure and added a shower and sink to the existing plumbing, and installed some countertops, and some security cameras. They did all the work themselves, so the $50k is just for what seems to be two rooms worth of materials. They didn't buy the land or build a structure from the ground up. Without knowing more details, an average of $25k actually seems high to me if I think about turning a small office into a bedroom with a kitchenette. One guy spent $8k, which seems about right, and the other guy spent $42k, which seems enough to build a pretty swanky bachelor pad.
I hate to be this HN guy, but they didn't build anything. From what the article says, they took an existing structure and added a shower and sink to the existing plumbing, and installed some countertops, and some security cameras. They did all the work themselves, so the $50k is just for what seems to be two rooms worth of materials. They didn't buy the land or build a structure from the ground up. Without knowing more details, an average of $25k actually seems high to me if I think about turning a small office into a bedroom with a kitchenette. One guy spent $8k, which seems about right, and the other guy spent $42k, which seems enough to build a pretty swanky bachelor pad.