Modular homes

[ghcoughlin]

My family and I are buying a new home this spring.We thought we would also look at modular homes.It seems these have come a long way since they came to the market years ago.
Does anyone have one.What should we be sure to look for.
We are going to a home show next week for this type of homes.
Thanks for any info
Heidi

 

[MagicalMom]

Just giving you a bump, hoping someone can help you.

 

[zippeedee]

My three story duplex townhouse was factory built and delivered in four huge pieces in 1989. I wasn't the original owner, but they left us a newspaper clipping. I live on a big, one lane hill, making the delivery even more amazing. Our home inspector and various contractors we've used for improvements all comment on how well-built and sturdy this house is. It is 2x6 construction, and they have to be sturdy to withstand the travel.
You'd want to make sure the factory has a good history for quality work and materials, and get good local contractors to do the finish work (plumbing, electrical hook up etc).

 

[petrymom]

Hi - only thing that I can tell you is too keep both modular and stick built options open. We built our home in 1999. ( i know, that is a while ago) When we built, we originally thought that we would not be able to afford a stick built home.
Ended up the stick built home was that same if not slightly less to build. We chose a stick built home just because I believe that the resale value is better.
A neighbor bought a modular and payed the same price as our home, but didn't even get a garage.
I think it depends what you want for extras. Hope this helps.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

We chose stick built.... our neighbor across the street was finishing up a modular when we started construction. He (loudly) voiced his opinion that we were stupid and he saved a mint by going modular.

Fast forward to when we were sheet rocking.... our neighbor was over here begging our builder to come up with some way to cover the cracks that were forming in his modular- he wanted wooden trim where two of the ceiling parts had separated..... he had been charged extra for this and extra for that above and beyond the agreed upon price.

We had to chuckle as our builder told him that he might have time to take a look after our home was 100% complete to our satisfaction.

Do your homework - and good luck whichever way you choose to go.

 

[staci]

My good friends built a modular last year. It is beautiful inside; you would never guess it was a pre built home except it was not there one day and finished the next!!!!

The only major problem they have had is with the plumbing and that is a problem related to the well not being dug deep enough, so a lot of sediment has gotten in.

They love the house.

 

[DisnyMama]

I bought a 2 bedroom modular for me and my DS last May. When the inspector finished his inspection he was really impressed and said that this was a really clean and nice house. It is 10 years old. He said that he might be interested in buying one of these. We moved here from a Townhouse. My yard is really small which is fine, less yard work but I have a house and it is yellow with a great view of the valley. So far this winter my house has really held in the heat well. Our weather has been highs average around 65 and at night down as low as 40. I know I am very lucky compared to some. Anyway, we really love our home, very much and everyone who has come over has been very impressed.

 

[tkd lisa]

I have friends who bought one, and were very pleased with it. It also didn't come with a garage, and they had one added (it was stick built) after the fact.

Some things I've heard on the side of modulars:

1) Because they are built in controlled conditions, there's no risk of weather damage (i.e. it pours rain for two weeks after the subfloor is in and before the roof is up, warping your floors).

2) They're more consistent because the same people do the same job all the time (thank Henry Ford for this concept).

3) Good modular companies have been around for a while, and probably will be there if you have a problem. Many local construction companies go out of business, leaving it difficult to deal with problems.

4) They're sturdier (someone posted above about 2x6s vs 2x4s) to deal with road transfer.

5) They're faster to get (less weather variability,etc.)

 

[tuckerkeys]

we are in the process right now of getting a new home that is a modular home! we have demolished our old home and are setting up on our "old" lot.... 1 of the major things that attracted us to a modular home was PRICE! we are paying @ $110 a square ft for a 2500 sq. ft home. (complete or turn key as they say) prices per sq. ft for where i live now START at $150 a sq. ft and go to $200-$250 depending on the QUALITY of your builder... I live in a tourist area and people are always remodeling and have oodles and oodles of money to do this, therefore the builders got greedier and greedier. so for us to get $150 a sq i would have to use someone who was not so reliable, doesn't show up and the building process would take a year or more to achieve......due to the builder spreading themselves too thin.....

when we went to the modular company, which was a fam. business who was building for 50 yrs and doing mod's since the 70's i felt comfortable knowing they would meet our deadline (may 15) we started sept 15 b/c we had to move into a winter rental and demo our home...... last week we were told our home will arrive March 1. the foundation is about to be done now, then after the home is set, a garage will be stick built.

we are saving money by getting the flooring done by people we know. i DO know that if the company does the flooring ( lineolium, carpet etc etc) that this is done in the factory and MAY contain seams. also we are having granite countertops done by a company too (not affiliated w/ our co) i wanted more of a choice in wood floor, tile and carpet. the modular companys seem to only have a few choices.....but we are saving money this way and getting better quality, so i have no problem doing the leg work here....

all in all i feel comfortabe with our choice 100%! we have the home we wanted, we found a "sketch" we liked and adjusted it GREATLY to fit our needs. it will look like a victorian when finished 4br 3ba attached garage...

we did go to an architect & builder BEFORE we did the modular thing. his prices for a custom set of plans were $7500-10,000. if we were to pick a set of plans from a home he had already built in our area, the cost was $5000. and we did this in feb of 2005 he then told us it would be 1-1.5 yrs BEFORE we'd be able to start construction with him, and his price per sq ft was $200 ( not including permits, engineer stuff, demo etc etc...)

SO we went with a modular company...

here is a link to the FACTORY we are using...

http://www.apexhomesusa.com/

they have an online info & pic gallery. they also have a link to see if a local builder in your area deals with them GOOD LUCK!

 

[bananiem]

We have custom built 3 homes. My advice to anyone, whether going with a builder or modular, is to go into some of the homes thy've done and check out the workmanship. Talk to the people that used them and see how satisfied they are with the end product and what surprises they encountered, what they'd do differently.
Good luck!

 

[Tiggeroo]

I have a good friend who does mod's here in NJ. And Tucker he uses Apex homes. Good choice. His homes do not look like trailers. They look like every other home in the neighborhood. I"ve been in many of them years after they were built and they're still very nice. If the manufacturer is good (research them) and your local contractors are good you will have a nice home.

 

[disneyfan551]

OMG, those Apex homes are exactly what I want! I have not been able to find a modular with the roof pitch like some of those have! Most do look like boxes, even at 4,000sf! Now, I'm just praying there's a local dealer somewhere around me! (sorry, I just HAD to try out the awesome new smilies!)

 

[chris1gill]

We built a modular about 18 months ago... I'd have to say DO YOUR HOMEWORK... the quality can be very good (ours is), but depending how you customize your house it could cost as much or more than a stick built home. We had extensive upgrades and modifications and it cost far more than we anticipated... I do have to say, make sure the dealer offers you references and has been in business for a long time, and is registered with the state...

Here's a picture of ours if I can attach it... We designed the house ourselves, and it's around 4500 square feet on the main floor...


Oops, can't figure out how to attach it!

 

[bcvillastwo]

Our first home was a modular home. We lived in it for 10 years and had not problems. The home we currently live in was stick built and after 12 years we've had some minor problems. As I think about qualilty, in our case I would say the modular held up better than our stick built home.

With all of that said, I think everyone should recognize that its always possible to make a poor choice and get a bad builder, poor materials, etc.

All any of us can do is look for the best builder we can find for what we can afford to pay for a home.

 

[kldmom2000]

We bought our home in Nov. 2000-we had NO idea it was a modular home until we had the house inspector come through-he pointed out some differences in construction and said that a lot of modular homes are better built than stick-built homes due to some of the materials used??? Our development has 1/2 modular and 1/2 stick-built homes all put in during the 1989-1990 time frame-you honestly cannot tell them apart just by looking at them!