Capitalizing on the worst housing affordability crisis in decades, the Home Depot hardware store is now in the real estate market, partnering with a tiny house manufacturer to sell steel-frame kits on its online store for prefabricated homes they say you can build yourself with the help of “some handy friends.”

Named the “Getaway Pad,” the framing kit for a tiny house costs $43,832.5 and includes a 40-square-foot home with enough space for a living room, kitchen, one full bathroom, a bedroom, and a rooftop deck.

However, the houses are designed to be built on a concrete slab and most finishings such as doors, windows, electrical and plumbing are not included in the price and have to be bought separately, Home Depot said. This means it will cost thousands more dollars to complete the tiny home.

Faced with skyrocketing rents, mortgage rates and a housing shortage, many people in search of the American Dream are attracted by the low cost of tiny houses. Other retailers such as Amazon see an opportunity to cash in and also sell tiny house kits.

A tiny house is a dwelling unit with a maximum of 400 square feet of floor area, excluding lofts, according to the 2018 International Residential Code, Appendix Q Tiny Houses.

Millions of people locked out of the housing market in the 2007-2008 financial crisis helped fuel the tiny house movement, an architectural and social movement that advocates for downsizing living spaces. In the current tight real estate market, tiny homes are an increasingly attractive living option.

In less than three years, the median price for a U.S. home has risen from $322,600 in the second quarter of 2020 to $436,800 in Q1 of 2023 — a 37 percent price increase, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Experts predict another 5 percent increase over the course of 2023.

The tiny house kits sold by Home Depot are made by PLUS 1 Homes, which says it will deliver the pre-assembled steel panels free to most locations in the mainland U.S. “It can be erected in less than a week, with assistance from some handy friends,” according to the company website.

Home Depot says monthly installment payments are possible and curbside delivery is included.

And when it comes to safety, the tiny houses are said to be on par with regular single-family homes. According to Home Depot, the “Getaway Pad” is earthquake-proof, storm-proof, tornado-proof, and can “survive the challenges of Mother Nature.”

Some state governments such as California, which has some of the highest real estate markets, are turning to tiny houses as the only affordable alternative. More than 170,000 people unable to afford housing are living on the streets in California, Business Insider reported. The state is investing $30 million to build 1,200 small houses to combat homelessness.

Some homeowners invest in tiny homes to rent out on platforms such as Airbnb or Vrbo. Elon Musk made headlines in 2022 when he allegedly moved into a tiny home manufactured by Boxabl, when he was living in south Texas, where his company SpaceX is headquartered, the Guardian reported.