I'm talking about the modular homes that don't look like double wides. You know, the ones that can have multiple stories and don't necessarily come in square or rectangle shapes only. I've seen some pictures that look impressive, but never stepped foot inside one. I've seen them with stone/brick work and all the normal interior upgrades you might find in a stick built home. What can you tell me about these homes? Pros/cons over stick built? Quality? Are they really cheaper when you select the decent options? Do they have slab foundations or will the first story use a sub floor? Do they hold/increase value like a 'normal' house or lose value like a mobile? What are the main things I should know about from the people that know about these things? The wife and I are would like to move the family to some land and this is one of the considerations. I've even heard you can upgrade to 2x6 construction and that that better modular homes can be damn solid. What say yee????

My dad built a couple about 20 years ago. One was a single story, the other a 2 story. I pulled up for assembly about 8 in the morning and by 3:30 there was a two story house sitting there.



It took dad about a month to complete the rest, there was some interior finish work that needed complete.



It scared the shit out of me when the guy got on top of the first story UNDERNEATH the second story held up by a crane in order th connect the power cord connecting the 2nd floor to the breaker box!!



Once finished it seemed to be a nice home. Dad lived there for about 10 years before his death. I later sold it to the church next doo to dad's place and they moved it to their property.



Dad had a "double wide" on the first floor and a single wide on the second with a balcony overlooking the living room. The end walls wanted to bow out and dad had to run a 1 inch cable from end to end to keep it together but once fixed it was GTG

I worked in one a few years ago finishing up all the cracks in the drywall from transport and plastering the garage.



It was placed on a regular poured foundation and had 2x6 exterior walls. It seemed like a nice,well built house from the unfinished framing I saw on the second floor.



I don't remember how much it cost but,if I remember correctly,it was way cheaper than a built on site house. This was when home prices were still through the roof though,now it may not be that much cheaper if builders are hurting for work.

Cons are supposed to be less flexibility in floor plans.

Pros are supposed to be that your exterior walls won't have gotten rained on in the construction process.

I'm looking into this as well depending on pricing.  I was looking at the Discovery Custom Homes made by Palm Harbor but they have no prices listed.

I've seen plenty on site building around me in rain, sleet, and snow where you know the new owners are going to spend lots of time fixing stuff. Who would trust a car assembled out in the yard without a roof over it?

Here's a good resource for a bunch of the better built modular homes:



http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/DAC-ART/modular-kit-houses.html



My wife and I have been considering purchasing some property and getting one of these homes from HIVEmodular. Prices for a HIVEmodular home in UT and Montana have been right around $125/SF and they can be complete in 10 weeks. Conventional construction with similar finishes is about $100/SF.





http://www.hivemodular.com/products.html





http://www.hivemodular.com/products_b4.html






We're using this local home builder and plan as a comparison but we're planning on building something smaller.





http://www.daybreakutah.com/homes/view/style_b1/

 

My BIL was involved in building homes in this community

Cloverfield

Single and 2 story modular homes throughout with some traditional stick built homes scattered around depending on where you are in the subdivision.

Modular building kept the prices affordable compared to traditional construction methods. Modular's went up faster.

So far, it's held value and grown quite a bit.

My company sells quite a few different 'brands' of them.





Overall, unless I personally knew the builder , I would take it over a stick-built home.



Some wood in homes i'm seeing anymore has been out in the weather for UP TO TWO YEARS! Some of it is bowed, cracked and they're using it in homes!



Normally, with modular homes, it's normally in doors/controlled environment to the point it's built. This is a very good thing.

I would also think in the current market with builders going bankrupt with 1/2 finished houses that sat with just the framing done for 6-9 months that there'll be a lot of quality problems in the future for "new" home buyers.

What "brands" are better than others?  From what I can tell, Palm Harbor sells Nationwide, Discovery Custom Homes, and their own.  Are there any differences in quality?  

What "brands" are better than others?  From what I can tell, Palm Harbor sells Nationwide, Discovery Custom Homes, and their own.  Are there any differences in quality?  

I would build an ICF (concrete) house with a steel roof, stone cladding on all sides, and some high quality windows.

I see stick built, modular, etc. as essentially disposable houses.