Just bought an 8x8x40 last month, has an office in the front with a man door, window, and ac. Does need a coat of paint and a little other work, but is in good shape overall. $750 for the container, $200 for delivery, and $500 for the shooting boom forklift to put it amongst the trees behind the house.

Did you need a separate power service to it or did the power company branch a circuit from your house service?

The container was used as office and storage on job sites, so it's breaker panel has a permanently wired in extension cord that i can plug in. It only has a few lights, couple of outlets, and a small window shaker AC unit. I am using the container mostly as storage, but if i start to use it more i will run a dedicated circuit to it from the main breaker panel.

The last "severe" earthquake in Pennsylvania was in 1800, so we may be due: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/pennsylvania/history.php.

You can find your state's history here:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/

Several posts on this thread have mentioned insurance checks arriving.

The standard homeowners insurance policy we have did not include earthquake insurance. I suspect that this is the norm in the industry. We bought the optional earthquake coverage rider, just in case, for a few more bucks a month. I wonder if others have done the same, or if their policy automatically included coverage. If you don't know whether your covered, it's worth a call to your agent.

I used to work in insurance, and as far as I know, earthquake coverage is always separate and optional. There is also a 10% minimum damage, the last I heard (they won't cover any damage unless it exceeds 10% of the total insured value). I also believe that the premiums vary with the likelihood of a quake in the area.

Sue