Now there are two ways to have an affordable house.

The first way to have an affordable house is to buy a house in an older neighborhood and fix it up while living in it. Then look for other people to support the same neighborhood and make a safe area.

The second way to have an affordable house is to build the house yourself. Also, it might be possible to hire sub-contractors for the same cost as builders do.

Now since the house is being built by the owner, then there is a choice of how to build the house. And while a steel frame house would be a good choice for an earthquake area, lumber is just many times more affordable. So build the house with lumber but use steel lumber connectors and make a strong house otherwise. But the popular steel lumber connectors are only galvanized steel and not stainless steel. So buy stainless steel flats in 10' foot lengths, in 0.1 thickness, and 1 1/2" to 2" wide. Then cut the stainless steel into short lengths, bend them 90 degreess in a vise, drill holes in them, and use them for lumber connections. Also, use stainless steel wood screws.

With the house framed then sheath the outer walls and this makes a house rated for high wind. Now here, OSB board is said not to have any more formaldehyde in it than plywood. However, plywood will hold a nail better and will stand up to a temporary water leak better. So use plywood ? Well, no. There might be off-brand plywood with more formaldehyde in it than name-brand plywood and there are some items in the news about new home owners dying without explanation. So sheath the walls with 1" x 6" boards (or less) and these actually measure 3/4" x 5 1/2". And since boards are more prone to warping than plywood then use stainless steel wood screws for attachment. Then sheath the roof of the house with 1" x 6" boards also. But for the flooring just use name-brand plywood.

For the roof covering, consider standing seam metal roofing in stainless steel. Well, stainless steel doesn't rust like steel, doesn't corrode like aluminum, doesn't age like plastic or paint, and doesn't deteriorate like asphalt shingles. And there are some do-it-yourself stainless steel roofing systems going around.