modular homes?

Question

does anyone live in a modular home - wghat do you like and what don't you like - was it easy and insexpensive compared to conventional building?

Answer 1

Be extremely cautious of modular and mobile homes. There is a huge difference between the two. Many sales persons will tell you that it as a minor difference this is not true. A lot of my clients with doublewides have told me that they wished they knew now what they knew then.
1. A moblie home is a house divided in half, has a steel or steel and wood under carriage and is registered with the Secretary of State. It has an axil and wheels, is pulled to the sight then the wheels are removed.
a. The foreclosure rate is 30%.
b. They are almost impossible to refinance.
c. They depreciate in value.
d. They lower the value of the property taht it is placed on. (A client of mine hade his waterfront property appraised at $400000. Not knowing any better, he put a doublewide on the property and it appraised at $130,000.

A modular home is made in 2 or more sections and made out of wood from the bottom up. They are loaded in sections on a flat bed truck and shipped on location and assembled from the ground up. This is considered a BOCCA home and most states will call it a stick built home.
a. They appreciate in value.
b. If you can prove it is not a mobile home they can be refianced fairly easily.
c. They are not considered high risk.

I hope this helps your decision.

Answer 2

There is a big difference between the newer modular homes and the older ones. For the newer ones there is very little difference between modular and conventional. You do have more sight prep work, but less construction time. One of the big differences is very limited ability to change where anything goes. You can't change where the bathroom goes, or even on which wall you want a shower as an example. They make copy after copy. That is how they save money. You can order the same quality as conventional homes, or you can order lower, of course you will pay more later on to upgrade. They are even making larger two story modular homes with full basements, so you can get a big home.

The old homes (converted mobile homes) is what most people think about when they hear modular so there is a little bit of old reputation you might hear.

Answer 3

We have a 1997. We thought they were so much better than the old tin roof job of the 60's and 70's. We were wrong. They put shingle roofs on now and they look like they're better but they're still filled with the very cheapest materials allowed by law. Many have plastic sinks, cheap wiring with too many outlets on one circuit. Not illegal mind you but you'll regret having to go turn off your air conditioner and your dryer before you plug in your blow dryer or you risk tripping the main breaker. They cost way more to heat than a stick built home and your financing options are much more limited. Everything you save in the initial purchase will be lost in the first 5 to 10 years of ownership. If you want to sell down the road you'll really take a beating on a trailer (sorry, not PC) modular home. Thanks to Bush people are going under left and right. It's a buyers housing market. Buy a house. Even if it's a little less room for now. When the market improves, you'll have something you can use to get where you want to be. I really hope this helps you avoid the same mistake I made. We can't refinance our 11% loan and I owe almost as much as I borrowed 10 years ago. What a nightmare. Cheerios is fruit loops. Controlled conditions? They're stapled together in an assembly line. Look closely at most trailers. Plastic moulding that will fall off the wall the first time you bump it, windows that leak air at the slightest breeze, particle board cupboards, even the so called drywall in most trailers is a plastic coated thin sheet of junk. Cheerios, I'm sorry but either you work for the manufactured housing industry or you have personal issues with the asker. Either way your advise is just wrong.

Answer 4

they are relatively cheap and easy. They bring the unit to the building site and erect it in big pieces. They shingle the roof like a normal house. Some of them cannot be distinguished from a "regular" home. Some of them look like crap. So it depend on what you get. Some of them have 2 inch walls and others have 6 inch walls. So check that out. Look on line for differing types and manufacturers, and check out a bunch before you commit. You also can build a house for about the same cost as a higher end modular, just not as quickly. A lot of communities will not allow modulars in them. So check that out also. You still have to buy a lot and get the utilities hooked up, good luck...

Answer 5

Modular homes can sometimes lose value like a car. That makes them harder to re-sell (at least in the market where I'm from). I guess it depends on what you can afford and how long you plan to live there. Some of them are very nice and have all of the modern amenities that a much more expensive home would have.

Answer 6

i live in one i think its great