Modular or stick built?

[s219]

Worked on several modular homes in the 80s and 90s, and was always impressed with the construction and finished product. Some company's homes look better than others (you can tell who has an actual designer on staff). Some look like they were drawn up with no concept of balance or aesthetics -- they will have crowded windows and tight spacing above windows/doors. So my only suggestion would be to make sure you take the time to choose a good design.

We installed one modular up in the Berkshire mountains in southwest Mass, and it was gorgeous tucked in the trees. Was a contemporary design, and just looked great. Only problem was one of the roof sections had too shallow of a pitch, and ice backed up under the shingles the first winter. We had to tear off the roof and add underlayment. The factory probably should have known better sending a home to that location with a shallow roof pitch.

 

[HybridVigor]

What size house are you looking at? We are building a modular now, 1500 sqft. After a rough start with a builder that went out of business. How is the road getting into your place... We had a ***** of a time getting the house onto our property. Tight narrow turns...

We're looking at around 2000 sq ft give or take. I can see that if you wanted something really custom you would want to go stick built. Luckily, the wife and I want a pretty boxy look anyway since we would like to imitate the pretty ubiquitous two story 19th century farm houses that accompany the farm steads in this part of PA. The only thing fancy we really want on the outside is a full porch. From talking to the modular folks they seem to be pretty flexible as far as floor plans within that basic footprint. Our site has easy access. The better insulation values and less construction waste appeals to my crunchy hippie side. Our lender thinks a modular will appraise the same as a stick built so we are leaning that way.

I should be getting three quotes next week, one from a modular and two stick built to get an idea on price. Anyone care to offer what they think a good price per sq ft is?

I've wanted my own German style bank barn since I was 7 years old. I figured I'd be lucky to have it by the time I retired. Farm ground is not cheap around this area. Then last year a 20 acre piece came up as a foreclosure less than half a mile from the inlaw's farm. Because the house was in such bad shape it was actually affordable. The barns and the land itself were actually pretty nice and I think we got a good deal. It seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up at 27 years old. As you can imagine though, buying even a small farm at 20% down has put a dent in the "forever home" budget.

So for those of you that had to build on a budget, especially earlier in life, did you put emphasis on sq footage or nice finishes? How did you decide how much home to buy? I have a great job now, but a long time left to work. I'd prefer to keep things modest and do some compromising and would like to know where folks feel like they get the best bang for their buck? I'd like to build this year so all my stuff isn't on two properties and mortgage rates are still historically low, but we aren't rushed either.

 

[tman1020]

I have built many homes stick built and modular. You are bringing up many good points. Remember this, not all modular home manufacturers are the created equal nor are stick builders. Modular can be fantastic or your worst nightmare as well as stick built. Everyone is going to say they have the best quality and for a amateur consumer it will be very difficult to truly tell what will be best for you. Many times modulars are sold by sales people with no construction experience. Many times stick built homes are sold by builders with no sales experience. This will put you in a difficult situation best thing to do is educate yourself as much as possible and quality of construction and what's important to you.

 

[teg]

I'll send you a link to our build, we don't have kids and will not worry about re-sale. So we looked at what we do in the current house and built the new one to be an improvement for what WE do... we spend very little time in the bedrooms and we entertain maybe a little too much. Wanted an open, living room / area type floor plan with a large mudroom. Both the kitchen and mudroom will have access to gardens...

Bottom line, we didn't find any layout that I liked so I drew up what I thought was good. Very basic... mainly because we plan to put many solar panels up on the roof. We put the house in with a N/S/E/W aspect.

I plan to follow up with the finish product but a lot of that depends on the builder... we have a 16' by 28' deck on one side and a 8' by 56' across the front. These still need to be built to plan...

Bottom line is that you have to build a house for YOU! Doesn't matter what we say you should do

 

[tman1020]

As far as your specific questions here are some things I feel are important. The line can often be blurred between modular and manufactured homes they are two very different products and are financed differently educate yourself on the difference. As far as finishes versus square footage. Finishes wear out and styles come and go. It's easier to change your floor covering or light fixtures in 10 years that it is make a bigger kitchen or bedroom. I like to focus on putting my money on things that are difficult to change later. Such as a basement versus a crawl. Or a roof with a good pitch. Focus on the basics first and then if you have room in your budget start upgrading the quality of products.

 

[SPIKER]

Having done drywall on top of line homes and remodels as well as have family in the Mod Home market I can say that SOME if not a good part of the modular homes are hard to resell and can be pretty low quality. Now I have been out of it for a while but recently been inside a couple mid range cost modular homes and noticed the poor workmanship in them. 3/8" drywall with no fire stops or taping just cover strips or sagging walls no where to nail up pictures etc. people out front 10 years ago put in a double wide style modular on a real nice basement. 140K into it and ended up getting foreclosed a few years back. I went into look at auction & passed as the place after 10 years was falling apart...

Mark

 

[HybridVigor]

Bottom line is that you have to build a house for YOU! Doesn't matter what we say you should do

Ha! Too bad we're not sure what we want!!

We definitely intend to do modular not manufactured if we don't do stick. My understanding is that manufactured comes with a trailer frame underneath. It's pretty much a trailer that looks bigger. Modular is built to relevant stick built code and is lifted off a flat bed and set in place.

The modular builder we're talking to is a dealer for three different modular companies. He only does mods. I have an acquaintance who is happy with his from this guy two years later.

 

[TomSeller]

I wil say that modulars have come a long way in the last few years. Some very impressive. However, I would still go with stick to gain architectural features

 

[HybridVigor]

As far as finishes versus square footage. Finishes wear out and styles come and go. It's easier to change your floor covering or light fixtures in 10 years that it is make a bigger kitchen or bedroom. I like to focus on putting my money on things that are difficult to change later. Such as a basement versus a crawl. Or a roof with a good pitch. Focus on the basics first and then if you have room in your budget start upgrading the quality of products.

This is my thinking too. It's so hard to plan for styles and needs 30-40 years out so why spend it on high dollar finishes now? My one exception to that might be hardwood floors.

We are going to do a full basement for sure.

 

[dave1949]

As far as your specific questions here are some things I feel are important. The line can often be blurred between modular and manufactured homes they are two very different products and are financed differently educate yourself on the difference. As far as finishes versus square footage. Finishes wear out and styles come and go. It's easier to change your floor covering or light fixtures in 10 years that it is make a bigger kitchen or bedroom. I like to focus on putting my money on things that are difficult to change later. Such as a basement versus a crawl. Or a roof with a good pitch. Focus on the basics first and then if you have room in your budget start upgrading the quality of products.

I think this is good advice. You can leave a room or two undone, basement unfinished, use average quality cabinets and other interior finishes without a lot of gewgaws, etc., and you are still on the path to your eventual goal. You don't want to build with junk, but don't get carried away either because as said, all that stuff will change anyways down the road.

Since you love your bank barn, it may work to keep you in one place a lot longer than otherwise is normal. At age 28 you have a lot of living ahead of you, opportunities, careers, changes in outlook, events you cannot control or predict. It could become hard to chose between your bank barn and a great career opportunity beyond commuting distance.