Modular Homes - Good/Bad experiences... I am considering this pretty seriously...

[Topzide]

What does building them inside a building have to do with their quality? Again, an absurd statement. My house was completed and never got rained on a day. I can go through the construction but I can tell you it won't compare. What I can tell you about a modular home around here is if you buy one you better like it because you can't sell it. As far as price, what I read says $40 to $80 per foot with finished prices at $100 to $200 per foot. And that's a middle of the road build.

I think you and confusing a modular home with a manufactured home! Big difference in the two. A manufactured home is similar to a mobile home. A modular is separate from the trailer were a manufactured home is made to the trailer. A modular home is a lot more robust in its construction do to being transported to its destination. Around these parts, when Nanticoke was in business, they were highly sought after and maintained there value! Just because you don't like them, that's your choice, others like them!

 

[Sigarms]

Around these parts, when Nanticoke was in business, they were highly sought after and maintained there value! Just because you don't like them, that's your choice, others like them!

No nothing about Nanticoke, but if they were highly sought after, why did they go out of business?

FYI, modular home or mobile home, still falls under "manufacturered housing".

Honestly, when we retire and downsize, modular home could easily be in our future.

 

[workinonit]

I think you and confusing a modular home with a manufactured home! Big difference in the two. A manufactured home is similar to a mobile home. A modular is separate from the trailer were a manufactured home is made to the trailer. A modular home is a lot more robust in its construction do to being transported to its destination. Around these parts, when Nanticoke was in business, they were highly sought after and maintained there value! Just because you don't like them, that's your choice, others like them!

I don't care one way or the other about them. All of these structures fall in the category of manufactured housing as Sigarms said. They are built somewhere and put on wheels to be moved to their destination. I'm pretty sure I'm not the one that's confused here. Comparing manufactured housing to a conventionally built dwelling is like comparing a tractor to a mule. Saying the construction on them is superior to site built structures in simply insane.

 

[Sigarms]

Comparing manufactured housing to a conventionally built dwelling is like comparing a tractor to a mule. Saying the construction on them is superior to site built structures in simply insane.

In some aspects, I could see where a modular home could actually be superior to site built structures.

Having that opinion I don't think makes you insane

End of the day, no matter what's being built, it comes down to people and the requirements set forth by who is actually doing the building (of a home in this case).

 

[Topzide]

Unfortunately like a lot of family businesses, when the starting family member passes, it goes downhill till they go belly up! Poor money management was their downfall!

 

[Yander]

I lived in an All American modular for 15 years before we sold it to move were we live now. I had the modular built new. I looked at a few different companies and educated myself on the differences between manufactured home and modular home. They are two distinctly different levels of quality. It would be like comparing a Ford Escort to an Acura. Both will get you from A to B, but one will hold up much better doing it.

When I was researching, the distinct difference is in a few areas. The floor joists on a manufactured home are often (not always) only 6" and usually over top of steel that was used to deliver it on. The steel stays on and when you walk into the basement you can see that. With a manufactured home, you see only floor joists and unless you were looking or someone told you, you couldn't tell it was modular. Modular would have standard 10 or 12" joists. I can't remember now what the standard is. But mine had full size SYP floor joists and had cross members to keep them from twisting. It was a very stout house. Had 6" sidewalls.

Our builder told us, once a modular home hits the foundation it is considered a standard stick home. Honestly, it is 100% a stick built home, it just uses 2x6" sidewalls and was built in jigs in a controlled environment, with glue and screws. Don't know too many "site built" homes doing this.

To say they are not built as well as a "site built" home is just complete ignorance of the process they go through to build them. To say they are better than a "site" home, depends on the "site" builder and the modular company you are comparing them to.

The other thing, in considering a modular, is picking a good GC is very important. They can make a good experience or a bad one. I was a juror on a trial where a homeowner was taking the GC to court for not finishing the final work on their modular home. It just happened to be an All American Modular, like the one we lived in at the time. Their experience with the home build was completely different than ours, only difference was the GC.

I didn't have a bit of trouble selling my home. I would build another in a new york second if I were building a home.

 

[Yander]

I don't care one way or the other about them. All of these structures fall in the category of manufactured housing as Sigarms said. They are built somewhere and put on wheels to be moved to their destination. I'm pretty sure I'm not the one that's confused here. Comparing manufactured housing to a conventionally built dwelling is like comparing a tractor to a mule. Saying the construction on them is superior to site built structures in simply insane.

Well, you are very uninformed

Here you go...

Modular vs. Manufactured vs. Site-Built Homes: An Honest Comparison

Read this article to find out which home type is right for you!

www.middletownhomeswv.com

 

[Torvy]

Banks and insurance companies do not consider them to be on par with a traditional build. While I could tell some builders we looked at were better than others, none of them had the feel of a traditional home. No issues if that was the best deal for others, just not for us.

Conceptually, I like the idea that components can be built in a factory because if all else was equal, that would give more control. The problem is that all else is rarely, if ever, equal. The skilled trades can make a lot more doing traditional builds, so the average worker is typically better at what they do in a traditional build. Sure, there will be anecdotal examples of exceptions. Heck, traditional builds often ship in trusses, so the concept is a bit the same. I expect they will continue to improve.

 

[Yander]

Again, not true. I had one, it was treated exactly the same as a site-built home with both insurance and lenders. I refinanced it a couple times and the modular factor never came up. Nor did it when I sold it.

Maybe it is a regional thing, but here, in my circumstance, it was treated exactly like a site-built home.

Honestly, the one thing that would prevent me from building/buying one, if I wasn't absolutely sure I would never sell, is the amount of stigma and ignorance there is around them. That is real, as is evidenced by this conversation.

 

[Torvy]

Again, not true. I had one, it was treated exactly the same as a site-built home with both insurance and lenders. I refinanced it a couple times and the modular factor never came up. Nor did it when I sold it.

Maybe it is a regional thing, but here, in my circumstance, it was treated exactly like a site-built home.

Honestly, the one thing that would prevent me from building/buying one, if I wasn't absolutely sure I would never sell, is the amount of stigma and ignorance there is around them. That is real, as is evidenced by this conversation.

It is not stigma or ignorance. We went to multiple builders 'showrooms'. Here, anyway, the quality of the buildings is not the same.

I worked in banking most of my life. I promise you, that the majority of banks treat them differently. You wouldn't see it because you are not privy to their pricing models. Whether it is fair or not, buyers will not pay as much more a modular home as for a traditional. Most banks are going to factor that into their pricing. They are not going to drill down to the 'good' ones versus the 'meh' ones. Maybe at a small regional bank where they know the builders. The flip side with those is the smaller bank president probably plays golf (or whatever social connection) with the builder and trades 'favors' with their favorite. The only advantage to a big national bank is that they treat everyone the same (not always good, but the same).