Stick-built house v.s. Modular house?

Question

I am looking to build a home on some family farm property that I intend to stay on until retirement. I am not looking for an investment opportunity, where I will sell right away. I will plan on staying, not selling! The size I am looking at is not huge.
Our current options are 1.) A site built home with basement or 2.) A modular home with basement.
Obviously, the modular can be put together faster. Please, share your opinions/knowledge/experience on stick built homes v.s. modular homes with basements. Especially the cost differences.

Also, I live in MN.

Answer 1

I built a modular house a year ago. I looked long & hard at both stick and modular. For us, we chose Modular due to the cost savings. When going through inspections (I was my own GC), the county inspectors stated that the quality of the build was much better than the new homes being stick built in the Maryland/DC area. I have been pretty happy with our house so far. No major problems to speak of.

Pros of Modular - Cost (For us, finished on our farm, including driveway (400'+), well, septic, engineering, permitting, etc., etc. was approximately $125.00/square foot of finished space. (We built a 1220 sq. ft. home, w/unfinished cape (future living space = approx. 900 sq. ft.), on a full unfinished basement.

Cost of house site excavation, basement foundation and house was approx. $97,000.00. All other costs brought it up to about $150,000.00.

Cons of Modular: Typically less flexible in the design. Outer dimensions are more cookie cutter. Inside is usually wide open, and can be pretty custom, depending on your budget.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Since you plan on staying and not selling, I would say stick is the best structure. Some modulars go up fast for a reason. You have to be really careful if you are looking into modulars, because some companies skimp on the quality. A lot of them I have seen are basically the quality of a cheap mobile home; not very durable. That's not to say that there aren't any quality modular homes out there. As far as cost goes, I suppose that would depend a lot on your builders. Remember, faster isn't necessarily better. Rome wasn't built in a day....<><

Answer 3

Build your house. You should get quotes per square foot and you should find that it is cheaper to build. Modular homes are nice and in most cases built just like a site built home but they have to be moved to your property. What do you think happens to the integrity of that structure while moving down the highway. Pour a foundation and build a stick house. It will take longer and probably will come with headaches but you will have a more quality product at the end. Then the headache will go away.

Answer 4

Modular homes are around 30% less than on site stick built homes.
The quality is often higher because of the assembly line style of fabrication. (quality control)
Some modulars now have 2 x 6 studs instead of the 2 x 4s of stick built which allow for better insulation.
Modulars are a faster build when at the site.
Modular homes are NOTHING like mobile homes (trailers) but there are some that are still confused about the two.

Answer 5

Modular homes can look a bit like everyone else on the outside, but you can always overcome that with your landscaping. I think most modular homes are well made -- it will be finding a good contracter to put it together, that where quality work will be really important. It won't be as grand as if it were built on-site, but it should say you a lot of money.

Answer 6

I have to say modular homes are better. I work at a modular plant in Maine, Keiser Industries. The houses are built assembly line style. By this i mean the floor is made first then rolled down the line until it comes out a completed house section. I have read many articles stating that modular home are more energy efficient than stick built homes. I think they are built better. The people who work at the plant that i work at work in a certain area, such as flooring, roofs, side walls components, cape parts etc. . I know we can put out a 4 box modular home (2 story house) in a couple of days compaired to a month or more on a stick built home. check out the website for the factory i work at
www.Keiserindustries.com
(also look in the links section to find the builders who sell our houses, or even call the sales department. I hope i have helped.

The houses i build are of the upmost quality. We are the only factory that can build homes for Cape cod and nantucket in Mass. We have many quality control people who walk around triple checking everything that we build.

Answer 7

stick-built will cost you more in labor, but you have more control of the quality going into the house. modular is built elsewhere and shipped to the site, and costs less, but you may not have the overall quality in the house materials, thickness of walls, r-values, quality windows, doors, customability, etc. stick- built will hold it's value for the long run better, with fewer problems.

Answer 8

Modulars are crap. They do not stand up well to every day living. They do not retain value. They are glorified trailer houses.