Modular Homes/Home Kits

[FlashGordon]

Anyone do the modular home thing? Good/Bad experiences? Companies you'd recommend?

We are having a hard time finding the right property, and are starting to think about purchasing land and trying to find an affordable way to build.

Any input would be appreciated.

[scpezold]

I have heard the new modular homes are pretty neat and a fast way to get a home "built". I believe there is a company in Manhattan that uses modular homes for penthouse type dwellings. A crane hoists the sections up and puts them into place. They are already pre everything (wired, plumbed, carpeted, etc). If this is the same type of building you are referring they had a show on TLC or Discovery about the building and creating of these. Aparently there are a lot of options for the consumer to choose. So the outcome is really a custom home!

[King's Ransom]

FG -- I always have a dyslexic moment when I think about "manufactured" vs "modular" homes -- and there is a HUGE difference. I THINK that "manufactured" is more like a trailer and "modular" means built in sections in the factory, and assembled on-site. If I am correct with the terminology, then a "modular" home qualifies to standard residential financing just like stick-built.

My home is modular (again, if I am using the term correctly). It was built in 1995, I purchased it in 2006. I got a regular mortgage and had no problems with the inspection or the mortgage. It is VERY well-built, VERY well-insulated and perfectly lovely in every way. I would not have known it was modular if the realtor had not disclosed it to me. But, now that I do know, I do notice a very few tell-tale signs, primarily that the pitch of the roof is not as steep as you usually see on a stick-built home. I have a full walk-out basement, too.

I would definitely do it again, as I LOFF my house and my farm!

[FlashGordon]

Thanks guys!

It seems there are a lot of options out there now in terms of modular homes. There is a dealer here in town, we may go take a visit this week.

[DLee]

I'm with KR in that I'm also not totally sure of the difference in modular and manufactured, but make sure you find out!
We ordered and bought a new manufactured in Arizona back in 2001. It was honestly a fabulous house, very well built (better built than the stick built one I live in right now!), over 2000 sq. ft, wonderful! Until we went to refinance it. And then realized just how differently the banks treat them. It's really ridiculous that banks treat a house that is built in sections ON your property differently than a house that is built in sections somewhere else and DELIVERED to your property.
Just be really careful, as from my experience, the worst stick built house appreciates far more than the best built manufactured.
(Just googled modular, now I know!)

[BasqueMom]

Think there are levels of modular/manufactured homes. Some will qualifiy for regular
financing depending on how they set. Some are set on basements in areas of the country that have the ability to have basements (one of the things I miss here in Texas). When we
were looking here in Texas, one of the manufactured/modulars had been anchored on a
concrete pad and qualified for regular financing.

Some of the mods are gorgeous--saw some in Washington that were gorgeous. Have seen
Cape Cod style with attached garages, etc. at some of the dealers here.

[YankeeLawyer]

There are some awesome modular home builders out there now; I have seen articles in the past few years on this and it is amazing how nice some of the homes are. Just be sure the bank that will be financing the home understands modular homes and is willing to do conventional financing on them - some don't understand the difference between modular and mobile home, but I believe as long as it has a foundation you should be okay.

I believe Saddlefitterva did a modular home and barn and her place is really cool.

[Bluey]

I checked into those five years ago, when I needed to build something and the time frame was nine months to start and six weeks to build in the factory, deliver and set in place.
The price was at least 3/4 of a stick built house of similar quality and I found a builder that built my house on the spot faster than I could have had a modular one delivered.

The modular ones, because they have to travel, are many times better reinforced, have a wood floor and I really wanted a concrete and tile floor.

A friend has one and it is lovely, but they tell me they can tell it is not the same than a stick built house and want to eventually build one anyway.
We have terrible winds and tornadoes and I think that they want a basement and don't have one now.

I would check with your local company and ask the banks also, to be sure that it is not built in place won't be a problem if someone now or later needs a loan on it.
Also check with the tax assessor office and see what they tell you.

A neighbor has one that looks like a log home from outside, has tile all over the inside and it is really beautiful, but they had to add to it, as it was becoming too small for them.

[JanM]

A few years ago there was an article about a family that had a modular that was factory built and then trucked to the site and the local contractor did the slab according to exact specs so the mechanicals (plumbing etc) would match exactly and then bolt down to the slab. They bought a 2-bed module with full bath, the living space module (kitchen living dining) and had the slab configured so in a few years as their household grew they would add a family room module, and a master suite. It looked very well built and insulated but I'm sure the quality varies according to the manufacturer, and you have to have an experienced local contractor for it to be a success. When I lived in Colorado Springs there was an entire subdivision (called something like Antelope Ridge-off of Powers Blvd) that was entirely modular and except that none had basements looked like any other housing and was easy to finance with the bank.

[MistyBlue]

Yep, modular is built in sections in a factory and shipped to site for assembly and a manufactored is a trailer home on a foundation. A trailer home without a foundation is called a trailer home. :winkgrin:
Modulars in many cases rate the same or higher than stick built...modulars will build to each county's necessary specs. They make them from under 1000 sf to over 5000 sf. They can travel in either fully built sections (like boxes) or in pieces/walls...depending on size of rooms. (highways only allow a certain width)

[AppJumpr08]

I have a modular, and it is a lovely house. I will caution you, though, to MAKE SURE that the crew installing/building it don't skimp on the insulation!!! I have cold spots all through the house where I would think the insulation is flipped up on itself/non existent. :mad: I am the second owner, so I had nothing to do with the instillation, but clearly someone wasn't paying attention.
I think that because they go up so much faster it's easier for the crew to cut corners to get it done faster.

That said, it really is a beautiful house (cape cod style), and I love it very much (and I'm VERY glad that I now have a builder boyfriend who is going to fix the insulation issues next summer! :D)

Good luck!!!

[tle]

We haven't talked about it recently, but in the past have looked into the dome homes. There are several companies and you can basically get them as a kit. Evidently, they're pretty straightforward to assemble (even on your own - saw a video once of a guy who pretty much did it himself). I also understand they're EXTREMELY affordable when comparing cost of the house to a similar size traditional construction.

[goodhors]

My mother has a double wide, over a basement. She had the basement built, is very deep and poured cement walls. Very nice and dry under the home, doubles the usable area with tall ceiling height. Doesn't feel basement-like at all with the open area. She needed a basement for storage and they do have tornadoes in her area enough to need someplace to go.

Buying took some searching, to find better builders, with a plan she wanted. It is insulated very well, but higher ceiling in living room area, can make it more expensive to heat. She is going to reroof, probably will build up the angle for new roofing. The present pitch is not steep enough with her heavy snow fall for good runoff.

Husband redid some of the wiring, was the cheapest possible, which is easy to overload. Her furnace lasted about 10 years and needed replacing. Put the new one in the basement, which gave her a new closet space. Walls are some kind of fake boards with color, not sure if you could paint or wall paper over them. Steel frames under house are extremely solid, no movement of floor at all.

She likes her house, 3bdr, with fairly spacious rooms. It went up very fast, when everything finally came together. City problems, inspections and permits was the big delay factor. Putting the sections in place really took very little time with the experienced men sent from the factory. House was delivered and set up in one day, siding put over edges, completed. Again the inspections after, took time to get done before she could move in, though house was ready.

I don't consider them equal to a stick built house, but they can be very nice. Sure lots faster than fighting with local contractors! Most folks figure a year, and new home will be mostly done. Sure an incredible amount of time to me, having to LIVE with the difficulties of new building. We had remodeling, took about 3 months each time, and folks think that was amazingly short. We were living in the middle of remodeling, thought it was crazy!! Could NOT live with more mess like that for long times. Brother in law was the contractor, really hustled the job along, did great work both times. Can't feature what other folks have to put up with in building or remodeling.

I would ask bank about home values after installation, lending to buy a used modular home. Resale of such a home could be difficult if bank is not cooperative. Of course you could sell the home to be moved, we have seen that too. Use it, build a new home, sell and move the modular one.

[FlashGordon]

So, modular homes arrive in sections.... does the company the home is purchased from also assemble? Or do you contract someone else to do that?

[IndysMom]

We "built" modular about 5 years ago. Love it. It's better insulated than anyone around it seems.

The "builder" that we purchased it from arranged for the actual delivery and installation of the home. We general contracted the site prep/electical hookup and pluming ourselves because that was cheaper.

It was way easier, I thought, than building because we went in, "ordered" the house with all the options we wanted and then 2 months later it was "delivered".

Ours was built by Ritzcraft in PA.

[Angela Freda]

I was supposed to be building a modular here.

However, when the 4th revision of the floorplans came back not as it was supposed to be, we had to get out of Dodge. The contractor also kept promising things would take 'a couple days' and 2 weeks would go by with nothing. Re: the plans, not only had I provided scale drawings of what I wanted, but I was simply taking their stock center hall colonial and changing the dining room into a mudroom/laundry room. Sounds fairly simple, right? Apparently for them it was not simple, and that scared the heck out of me.
All I could think was, 'what if we get it all set, order and the house arrives in the driveway and is not what we planned?'
Also the 2 car attached or detached garages from them were majorly pricey, iirc $24k more added on to the price of the house for a basic 2 car garage.

I think if you can go with one of the stock plans they do and get several references, you're home free. If, however, you really do want to customize it [and even if they claim that is their specialty] I would want to see proof of their ability to produce before pony-ing up any money. We lost a nice chunk of money on that deal.

We are now 9 months into the stick built house we decided to do instead [costing about $50k more as well] Is it a nicer house? It certainly is the custom house we wanted, but I'm getting antsy to be done with building and there are many things I wish I had just left to do later that are not the quality we expected.

[FlashGordon]

Angela, I had to giggle at your response-- only a horsewoman would be changing the dining room into a mud room!! I'd do the exact same thing! I do hope your home is done soon!!

Indy, thanks for the recommendation. Was just on their site, they have some beautiful homes!

[missamandarose]

Looks like most of your questions have been answered... my husband and I are also looking to build with a modular (factory assembled sections, hauled to site and then put together) builder. "Manufactured" homes are what most people think of as a mobile home. I've been doing a LOT of research. Most modular builders work with contractors and/or architects in your area, so you have to make sure you're in their "service area" so to speak. But they work with them to get the site prepped, get building permits, inspections, etc.

If you're looking for a site that has really good info on modular homes, try Haven Custom Homes at http://www.havenhomes.com . They built the 2007 (I think) Southern Living Idea House in Water Sound (near Sea Side, FL) and there is even a video of said house's sections being put together, a gallery of ah-MAY-zing homes they've built, and loads of floor plans and other good information FAQs, etc. Pretty amazing what they can do.

Another good site for info is BSN homes: http://www.buildingsystemsnetwork.com/ They recently had an informational seminar on modular homes, building them, etc, and put some of the sessions on their website. Very informative. Not as nice a website and floor plans arent as fancy as Haven, but informative none the less!

Good luck! And feel free to share any tips you find along the way!

[greysandbays]

We went through this a year ago.

Our dealer explained to us that the main difference between "manufactured" and "modular" was that manufactured homes have a totally self-contained furnace, while modular homes have the furnace in a basement or crawl space.

There are a couple other technical differences: 1) Manufactured can be single wide or double wide, but no more (unless you add-on after-market entryways, porches, etc); modular is generally more than two pieces. 2) Manufactured are built to a national housing code courtesy of HUD (I think it is); modular is built to local building codes. 3) (don't quote me on this one) Manufactured is set up with chassis still in place (you could move it again pretty easy if you had to); modular has this apparatus removed upon set up.

Financing a manufactured home can be more of a hassle than a modular. But they are also way less expensive to start with (and don't retain re-sale value very well). Our manufactured home was a used single wide (16' x 70') and cost about $25,000 for the home including, delivery, concrete pillars, set-up, and skirting. We looked at several that were less expensive but needed some repairs or would be needing repair in the near future.

We did have to replace the furnace and the doors seem to be somebody's half-assed replacement effort so we'll need to do something about those.

It's nothing fancy, but it will do to keep the weather out. And that's all I ask of a house.

[2DogsFarm]

From a friend's experience all I can add is get references from the builder!
And go talk to them and see actual houses he has put up, not just the ones in the factory showroom.

While my friend's house is nice - and, to me, indistinguishable from stick-built - they had some problems with the installation. Leaking basement was one I recall and there were others.

[DLee]

Actually, our manufactured was a triple wide. And we put it on a stem wall. And the bank didn't care when we went to refinance it and still treated it 'less than' a stick built house. Maybe states are different (this was Arizona), but as much as I truly did love that manufactured, I'll never do anything like that again.

[llsc]

I have a beautiful 1901 Victorian Farmhouse, but I would sell it and move into this house in a hearbeat. Check out the virtual tour of this home. It's not as impressive as the house is in person, but you can get a very good idea.

http://www.shortenhomes.com/ranch/elaina.htm

[shawneeAcres]

Anyone do the modular home thing? Good/Bad experiences? Companies you'd recommend?

We are having a hard time finding the right property, and are starting to think about purchasing land and trying to find an affordable way to build.

Any input would be appreciated.


WE have a modular home we put on our land a year and a half ago. There is an ENOURMOUS difference in "manufactured (i.e. trailer)" and a modular home. If I did not tell you ours was modular you could never tell. When we put our other home/land up for sale we had already purchased our land, but NOTHING was on it. No barn, road, fencing, house etc. Our home sold within one month of us listing on a website (we sold it ourselves, no realtor). We were forced into making a decision to go modular, although we had already looked into it. We purchased on that was a model at a modular home sales site, it is gorgeous! Nine foot ceilings, lovely cabinets, HUGE kitchen (a prerequisite!), nice laundry/mud room, computer "nook", etc. Really a lovely home. Came with a front porch etc. The company we worked with was great (local company). A friend of mine has also gone modular, the company she worked with was NOT so good! Her house is nice, but the company has to be harrassed and threatened before they fix anything for her. I suggest asking the companies for names of people who have bought homes from them and talk to them. Ours was "turnkey" they handled the well being drilled, electrician, foundation, all inspections etc. From time they started foundation to time house was ready for us to move in was about 1 1/2 months. Since the house was already built and just had to be moved from the lot the time was shortened considerably. I believe if you order a home it will take about two months for them to construct it prior to shipping and setting it on the foundation. It is AMAZING to watch them lift half of a house with a crane and set on a foundation!!

[DLee]

I honestly don't see the ENORMOUS difference in a new manufactured and modular home, sorry.
My concern for the OP would be to really, really check out the appreciation on a modular home. Do they really and truly appreciate and get treated the same as a site built house... that is a big concern for the future. That's all.

[MistyBlue]

It can get confusing between a manufactored vs modular home because many companies will call their modular homes manufactored...ie built in a factory.
But usually a manufactored home is another term for mobile home or trailer home. IOW a home that comes 12-14' wide and a certain length and is not made of wood. It can be built onto a foundation or built on a chassis with wheels. If built onto a foundation it can come as a double wide which is two of those side by side or a triple wide, which are more rare than single or double wides. It is not a solid house, has much lower wind and snow load capacities. Higher if built onto a foundation but not as high as a stick or modular built.
A modular home is a stick built home...except that it's stick built inside an enormous factory/hangar type building in sections and then moved/trucked to it's home site and erected onto a pre-existing foundation that was put in to the specs for that specific house...no different than building it onsite as a stick built except that the house itself was built indoors under factory conditions...in many ways making it more structurally sound than a stick built that was built outside. Those will have been exposed to weather the entire building time and the building time and conditions will be delayed by weather and by subcontractors who may or may not be able to stick to a deadline (due to weather or other contracts) and there is little way to guarantee that every subcontractor will do the best work. And there's the material waits added in and the question of whether the same quality materials are always available.
Modular homes are always built by the same people with many years experience indoors...they consistently come out the same high quality without any weather exposure. Both are built exactly the same...just in different locations.
In Ct the banks and towns do not distinguish between stick built and modular...they consider both the same.

[shawneeAcres]

I honestly don't see the ENORMOUS difference in a new manufactured and modular home, sorry.
My concern for the OP would be to really, really check out the appreciation on a modular home. Do they really and truly appreciate and get treated the same as a site built house... that is a big concern for the future. That's all.


The manufactured homes have lower ceilings, the roof pitch is also lower, the doors are not "normal" doors, i.e. the inside doors rarely go all the way to the floor. Often the walls have that "strip" every few feet, etc. Modulars are not at all like that. Our bank financed our modular in our mortgage just as if it were a stick built house. Modulars do appreciate in value unlike manufactered homes. Some people, when purchasing, don't like modulars but after living in this one I cannot see why, ours is as nice as any stick built I have seen in the same price range

[DLee]

Well, I can speak for our manufactured that was built in 2001, with 2x6 construction, cathedral ceilings, standard sized doors, drywall , etc. There was absolutely nothing material wise different than a site built house. Which was why it was incredibly frustrating to be treated so differently by banks than a site built house, no matter how poorly that site built house was constructed.
That's all I'm saying. The 'new' manufactured homes are not the 'old' trailers.

[FlashGordon]

Modular homes are always built by the same people with many years experience indoors...they consistently come out the same high quality without any weather exposure. Both are built exactly the same...just in different locations.


This fact is appealing too, because I really question stick built homes going up NOW, and sitting, wood exposed, in rain/snow/etc.

I think it is cool the modulars are built in an essentially controlled enviornment not subject to the elements!

[equinelaw]

I live in SC. That makes me an expert:) Trailers, either single or double or triple are always trailers as long as they are on "the frame". That's the metal frame where wheels would go and the thing is dragged by. One of the things the mortgage fiasco from the last 10 years did was have some states allow trailers to become "real estate" so you could get a 30 year mortgage on them. Take off the wheels, cut off the tongue and *poof* its a house. It is that way in SC now, but was not until just a few years ago. And as I recently learned you can cut off the tongue with a Ryobi Skill saw:)

I have watched the evolution for trailers to manufactured homes. They are made by the same companies and underneath all the fancy features I still see some of the old trailer crap. Horton makes some really nice homes, but go into the unfinished top floors and you still see staples where nails should be and offset beams and substandard materials. Some companies make much nicer ones, but its just a dressed up trailer with no wheels. Often the wood is not fully pressure treated, the seams to not get matched up and some of the worst parts of the old half-assed trailer building process are still there--like formaldehyde levels. I have nothing against either trailers or manufactured homes, but when the house store told me the model I liked cost $350K I just had to laugh. Its still a Horton home and with the frame it would cost about $90K. And be delivered in 1 day.

Many are just as nice as a stick built home, but they cost MORE then a stick built home. Which is just crazy. The same home style from a custom builder would have cost about $200K.

What have come back into fashion of late is home "kits" like the old Sears kit houses. They are less expensive then a stick built and you can do some of the work yourself to save $$$$. Its like putting a model together but way bigger scale. And they often have modern ideas like steal frames that are bug, wind and fireproof.

I home shopped for about a year and then dumped all my $$ into education instead of a new home. I did learn a lot and I learned to appreciate my free trailer and make it into a home. I would say that if your state allows a trailer to be real estate for the purpose of a mortgage you need to go look at the modern trailer. Its the same company that builds the modular home, the same materials and the same layouts for 1/3 the cost. They have regular sheet rock walls, 9 ft ceilings with crown molding, wood floors, no strips on the walls, nice cabinets, spa bathrooms, fireplaces and all the perks of a real home, but you can move it or sell it and build a real house that is your dream home with the $$$ you save. Taxes are MUCH lower too.

If your state does not allow trailers to be real estate they won't likely change that in the future. It was a bad idea, but its worth looking it up.

My dream home is a kit home with lots of time to build it right. Metal frame, concrete basement, stucco over slab concrete walls. No wind or fire or bugs or floods to take my home away!

[Bluey]

I live in SC. That makes me an expert:) Trailers, either single or double or triple are always trailers as long as they are on "the frame". That's the metal frame where wheels would go and the thing is dragged by. One of the things the mortgage fiasco from the last 10 years did was have some states allow trailers to become "real estate" so you could get a 30 year mortgage on them. Take off the wheels, cut off the tongue and *poof* its a house. It is that way in SC now, but was not until just a few years ago. And as I recently learned you can cut off the tongue with a Ryobi Skill saw:)

I have watched the evolution for trailers to manufactured homes. They are made by the same companies and underneath all the fancy features I still see some of the old trailer crap. Horton makes some really nice homes, but go into the unfinished top floors and you still see staples where nails should be and offset beams and substandard materials. Some companies make much nicer ones, but its just a dressed up trailer with no wheels. Often the wood is not fully pressure treated, the seams to not get matched up and some of the worst parts of the old half-assed trailer building process are still there--like formaldehyde levels. I have nothing against either trailers or manufactured homes, but when the house store told me the model I liked cost $350K I just had to laugh. Its still a Horton home and with the frame it would cost about $90K. And be delivered in 1 day.

Many are just as nice as a stick built home, but they cost MORE then a stick built home. Which is just crazy. The same home style from a custom builder would have cost about $200K.

What have come back into fashion of late is home "kits" like the old Sears kit houses. They are less expensive then a stick built and you can do some of the work yourself to save $$$$. Its like putting a model together but way bigger scale. And they often have modern ideas like steal frames that are bug, wind and fireproof.

I home shopped for about a year and then dumped all my $$ into education instead of a new home. I did learn a lot and I learned to appreciate my free trailer and make it into a home. I would say that if your state allows a trailer to be real estate for the purpose of a mortgage you need to go look at the modern trailer. Its the same company that builds the modular home, the same materials and the same layouts for 1/3 the cost. They have regular sheet rock walls, 9 ft ceilings with crown molding, wood floors, no strips on the walls, nice cabinets, spa bathrooms, fireplaces and all the perks of a real home, but you can move it or sell it and build a real house that is your dream home with the $$$ you save. Taxes are MUCH lower too.

If your state does not allow trailers to be real estate they won't likely change that in the future. It was a bad idea, but its worth looking it up.

My dream home is a kit home with lots of time to build it right. Metal frame, concrete basement, stucco over slab concrete walls. No wind or fire or bugs or floods to take my home away!

That is where I lived for some 30+ years and it is not that good.
The stucco will crack and the concrete walls, be it concrete slabs or, like ours concrete block is heck to get the electrical and other runs in there, to hang whatever you want to hang AND it acts as a thermal sink, on the outside.:eek:
That means it is hard to heat or cool and you lose much of the heat or cool thru those walls.

Ever felt a brick house wall in the west side of the house where the sun heats it all afternoon?
That is what all the walls will be, except that the brick is on the outside, stick built inside, wood being a thermal barrier, with insulation added to boot.

The only advantage to concrete may be, if built correctly, a little big stronger in a bad storm, but not tornado proof and if the ground shifts, it will crack, when stick framing will only wobble.

Metal framing has the same problem, metal being a good conductor, you lose heat thru all that framing.
It is insect proof, as is concrete.

Then, there are SIPS, Structural Insulated Panels, where the walls are made out of two pieces of plywood type wood composites, already insulated with special foam in the middle, with holes for windows and doors, in a factory and erected like a puzzle in place.
That is relatively new and we don't know yet how those will perform over time.

There are several reasons that stick building, imperfect that it is, is still the standard for residential building in most places.:yes:

[Angela Freda]

This fact is appealing too, because I really question stick built homes going up NOW, and sitting, wood exposed, in rain/snow/etc.

I think it is cool the modulars are built in an essentially controlled enviornment not subject to the elements!
When my new house was finally framed but no plywood up or roof on... oh my I think it rained for 2 weeks. It killed me to see all that wood soaking with pools and puddles and nails/screws rusting.

[SonnysMom]

Our last house was a modular. It was a bi-level/raised ranch. The particular developer built a total of 5 houses. The first was ours and was the only modular. The other 3 were stick built. Ours had 2X6 walls instead of 2x4 so it had lots of insulation. They also built the peak of the house onsite so it would have a steeper pitch. It was put on a walkout basement/garage. Since the walls were build on jigs in the factory the house was really square- right angles were truly right angles.
Our mortgage company treated it as a stick built and it appreciated in value. If we didn't tell people it was a modular nobody would know. Upon delivery they put up brick on the front and the sides and back were vinyl siding. In our area modulars are the same or better than stick built but a mobile home, even a new one, is well cheap
I would certainly consider a modular again but would run screaming from a mobile home.
I don't know the name of the company that actually built our house. It came in on 2 pieces. There is a local community that is all modulars and they look like any other development of basic colonials that were built in the 80's. My father was a real estate agent and he was the one that told me they were modulars. You would know to look at them. They apparently came in 4 - 5 pieces.
When we bought our house we were told that they were built to the same code as stick built which I think is BOCA code and at that time mobile homes where built to HUD codes.

[Sing Mia Song]

We have a modular built by Keystone (http://www.homesbykeystone.com/ turn down your volume if you open at work). Our house is pretty much exactly like the one on the banner. We were able to customize the floor plan (put the master suite downstairs, open the kitchen, add a mud room). There was a signifcant wait time for them to start production, but when it came it was set up in a day. It came in two sections that were basically the front and back of the house. We built the garage prior to the house being set, than added the breezeway.

We've lived here for nine years, and it has settled some along the center beam, which I think has more to do with our GC's preparation of the basement than the house itself. All in all, I'm very pleased with it. I am VERY sensitive to mold, and I've seen too many houses that sat open in the rain while being stick built and then had Tyvek wrap put around them. :dead:

[PL]

Have you seen the houses my brother designs? www.flatpakhouse.com
They're fun and functional and you can make them as big (or small) as you desire.

[Astraled]

Here's our modular: http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y181/astraled/House/

Ours took about six months to complete, from the time the basement was dug out to move in. There was about six weeks of finish work once the house was put up. Could have been faster from foundation to set without weather delays.

It's been appreciating fine, even in this economy. Appraised in November with a nice increase, refinanced with no issues.


SaddlefitterVA has a really nice modular, too. I wish I could recall her website.

[Sing Mia Song]

Have you seen the houses my brother designs? www.flatpakhouse.com (http://www.flatpakhouse.com)
They're fun and functional and you can make them as big (or small) as you desire.

Wow, those are really cool! I grew up in a contemporary house (a Deck House, for those familiar with them), and they very much remind me of that. Love all the windows, although let me tell you my house was COLD! It was in Boston. Of course, that might also have been because I am a tropical lily born into a family of polar bears who think 66 degrees is a perfectly fine thermostat reading. :eek:

[Angela Freda]

I am a fan of traditional Northeastern style farmhouses.
Look at these modulars:
http://www.theruralconnection.com/modular.shtml

[FriesianX]

Well, I can speak for our manufactured that was built in 2001, with 2x6 construction, cathedral ceilings, standard sized doors, drywall , etc. There was absolutely nothing material wise different than a site built house. Which was why it was incredibly frustrating to be treated so differently by banks than a site built house, no matter how poorly that site built house was constructed.
That's all I'm saying. The 'new' manufactured homes are not the 'old' trailers.

Same here, but we got ours in 2004. I looked into manufactured, modular, and stick built. In CA, the cost of stick built was STARTING at $125/sq ft, with no frills - the minute you did anything special, it went up rapidly. By the time you put in a basic 2000 sq ft home with a carport or garage, permits, a deck, etc, you were looking at $300,000 or more (5 years ago), gulp. It was about a 40% savings to go with manufactured - we went with a high quality triple wide, and with the savings, I paid for my covered arena :lol:

Most people don't believe our place is a "trailer" - it has vaulted ceilings, nice quality wood cabinets, tile floors, regular doors, big windows, nice sized rooms, a fireplace. I don't know what kind of strips you guys have on your floors, but nothing like that on the newer manufactured homes. It is WELL insulated - our 2600 sq ft triple wide runs utility bills that are 1/4 to 1/8 that my friends have in their similar and smaller stick built homes!

I looked at manufactured, but there was almost no savings at all - why not go stick built for that difference? And, when you looked at overall quality of construction, there was no difference. We also looked into the kits you can do yourself - they are actually REALLY expensive - especially the spiffy looking log homes.

Sure, if I had unlimited $ and extra time, I would have gone stick built, but since money is ALWAYS an issue, this really wasn't a bad decision. As for appreciation - in reality, it is your PROPERTY that appreciates, your home itself actually depreciates - unless you dump money into it to keep modernizing and updating it. The manufactured homes do depreciate faster - but I figured for just over half the cost, the darn thing would have to fall apart pretty quickly, and we've been here five years now, and it still looks nice. If I could add a higher pitched roof, it would look just like a nice, newer ranch home.

They are even starting to do 2 story manufactured homes with higher roof pitches now.

I'm not saying this is the perfect home - but it takes a LOT of money to do a perfect home. I have several friends who bought brand new, upscale tract homes the same time we did our triple wide, and they have all the same problems going on that some of you mentioned are manufactured home problems - leaking windows, cracks in the walls, leaking roofs, mold in the bathrooms, settling foundations, etc - in stick built homes that were pretty darn pricey! I really attribute those issues to shoddy building of anything, with companies who want to make a fast buck, then disappear after they sell you the goods.

[equineartworks]

I'm loving all this info because we are hoping to build a small house/studio waaaaay out back in the next few years. That way is the parents need it they have it, and if not DD will have it to move into for some "space" when she is older. We can't spend a huge amount of $$$ and DH would be doing much of the site work so a modular just sounds great to us, but I want it to have the same charm as our 1800's home and barns. I liked how you can pick and choose with modulars. :yes:

[equineartworks]

Have you seen the houses my brother designs? www.flatpakhouse.com
They're fun and functional and you can make them as big (or small) as you desire.

Ok...I love these. They remind me of a Deck House. I would make an exception to the circa 1800's farm house look for something like this. The light for my studio would be AMAZING!

[SaddleFitterVA]

Mine is a modular home.

I would do it again, or consider panelized construction.

There is absolutely no consideration or mention anywhere that it was a "modular" home. Nobody cares, because it will not ever "move".

What are "tell tale" signs? Not roof pitch. You can get as steep of a pitch as you want.

The floorplan *might* be a clue, or might not, but the biggest "sign" in my house is that the walls between sections have 8" wide walls (2 2x4 walls bolted together) and the added foot of depth between the first and second floor, because the second floor has an entire frame underneath, not just sub flooring on the top of the first.

The open, 2 story foyer was interesting in how it was shipped. It essentially was almost framed in for flooring, but that was all sawed out upon delivery.

Since I was my own GC, I dealt with all the details and issues that surround any building project.

I love my farm, the only thing I'd do differently is build a SMALLER house. Stupid thing is huge and I haven't even started to finish the full, walkout basement.

Oh, for those wanting to remember my website.

www.terraoasis.com (http://www.terraoasis.com) and you'll need to go to the archives. Mr. SFVA has been doing stuff with it so I have NO idea the state, and it is blocked at work, so I cannot check.

[knightrider]

Modular homes are great! And manufactured homes can get regular financing as long as their no wheels and they use footers to secure the house...nothing is different although an appraisal needs to be able to use other manufactured homes...thats the only consideration. Modular homes would appraise no differently than any other type of home...

My only concern about building in this market is to make sure the builder doesn't run with your money or go belly up. I would think a lender is going to be really tough on construction financing because so many builders are going under and not paying their bills or subcontractors. If the builder is not solvent and doesn't pay his contractors, then the contractors will put mechanics liens on the house...often they do that after your closing which means you are responsible to pay them or get into a huge deal with your title insurance...the other thing they could do is prevent you from closing if they put the liens on the house.

Financing is really tough right now for everyone...building a home will be tougher.

Check out the mortgage financing and their guidelines on what they expect to approve your builder. They will most likely need to review the builders financials and reputation before giving you money....

Good luck!