Need a house on a tiny budget. Go with a barn builder??

[buckeyefarmer]

People are still confusing modular homes with mobile homes. They're are nothing alike, other than they traveled over the road. A modular is a stick-built home built in a factory. They are indistinguishable from a site-built home unless you look in the attic.

I think the people who are disagreeing with this are missing the point of comparing a modular to a mobile. At least in my area, just like scgargoyle states, modular homes are stick built, just in a factory. We ain't talking a double wide here, but a framed house built in a factory and trucked in sections to the job site. They are every bit, if not better built than a stick built on site, and you will not tell the difference by driving by. Some of them are 3 stories high. They sit on concrete foundations just like every other stick built house, 2x6 walls, anderson windows, etc...
Here's a picture of a section being placed with a crane.

 

[Redneck in training]

When we built our barn the typical cost per sq ft was about $35/sq ft. Then we spent about another $50/sq ft to make it a house. Needles to say that we splurged on about everything inside the house. I think you can finish the barn into a house for much less than $50/sq ft
Buy euro style kitchen, bath etc in in IKEA. Cheap, durable and easy to install.
We could have saved at least 30000 just on our kitchen. Unfortunately we discovered IKEA only after our kitchen cabinets were delivered.
We bought beds, bedroom furniture, hallway furniture, most of living room furniture in IKEA and we are happy with it.
Kitchen | Kitchen cabinets | Countertops | Kitchen Appliances | IKEA
I think total $50-60/sq ft is possible.
We talked to people living also in a barn converted into as house several years back. They told us that it all depends on wording on the Building permit and loan application. They didn稚 have problems to get a loan because they never used word barn. I forgot exactly what they put on the applications but the system can manipulated to a degree I suppose.
If it would be just me I would built 3000 sqft barn, have 2000 sq ft shop,garage and about 1000 sq ft of living space. Wifes have different ideas altogether though.

 

[two_bit_score]

When we built our barn the typical cost per sq ft was about $35/sq ft. Then we spent about another $50/sq ft to make it a house. Needles to say that we splurged on about everything inside the house. I think you can finish the barn into a house for much less than $50/sq ft
.

Yep, it all depends on how much detail you want or how basic you are willing to accept.

 

[hawkeye08]

I have to disagree with that statement on an epic scale. There is a massive difference in the materials used for a stick built home and a modular/manufactured. The frame to start with on a manufactured is made of 2X3 boards or smaller depending on the maker. The insulation is much thinner and they typically use 1/4 Sheetrock. Overall they are made up of much lighter and thinner materials that a normal house. One that makes them easier to transport and two it reduces the cost which is why your build cost is so much less per s/f than SB. They also lack a true foundation and can be removed much easier than SB. That being said about 50% of the houses around here are manufactured and some of them are very nice. But they do lose value fast and banks are much less likely to finance them beyond original purchase. I know I've tried.

The last double wide manufactured home (mobile home) I looked at was a neighbors about 10 years ago. It had 2x6 exterior walls, comp roof, etc. The only difference in the framing was his home was built on a frame that had axles under it. They had to connect the two sides together and do a small amount of finish work to complete it when they set it up.

Perhaps they vary in their construction, just like stick built.

 

[Redneck in training]

It is a matter of selection. Some of the manufactured homes are better built and have better energy parameters than site built. Look at some European manufacturers present in the USA. Those are not cheap though.
The barn advantage for the OP is that you don't have to finish it all at once.
You need the basic stuff to live in it. Kitchen, one bath and one bedroom. Then save few bucks complete another room etc.

 

[Redgoatea]

There are a couple of manufactured home factories down the road from me. I've built houses for the last 20 years. They are not made from the same quality or thickness materials. Yes there are exceptions to every rule but I've lived in a couple manufactured ones and they're just different. Anyone who's actually built a house and then watched them build a manufactured knows the difference. But feel free to believe your drive by glances and opinions of friends.

 

[zmoz]

At least in my area, just like scgargoyle states, modular homes are stick built, just in a factory. We ain't talking a double wide here, but a framed house built in a factory and trucked in sections to the job site.

So are "manufactured homes" or trailers or whatever you want to call them. The only difference is with the "modular" house they take the metal trailer back with them, with the "manufactured home" the house stays on a steel frame. And yes, quite often they put "trailers" on a concrete foundation and build an attached garage on site further blurring the line. And yes, they even make triple wide 2 story "trailers".

You can have either one built out to cheap specifications or go all out and spend more than a site built house, some "trailers" cost more than a million bucks.

If you're in the "I need a cheap house" category, a "modular" home is NOT going to be any better built than a "manufactured" home of the same cost. They are the same thing, with a different delivery method. They both come in models from Pinto to Porsche depending on your budget.

This is why modular/manufactured homes are cheaper. They cut every corner they can. If not then they would cost every bit as much as a house built on site.

 

[scgargoyle]

Maybe there are differences in various parts of the country. The modulars we looked at in SC were built exactly like a site-built home, with 2X6 walls and 2X12 floor joists. They also cost just about the same as a site-built home of the same trim level. The only advantage they could offer is that they are ready to live in much faster, and they claim better quality, since they are built in a climate-controlled factory, so the wood never gets wet, and they can hold tighter tolerances. The ones we looked at didn't cut any corners; they had standard drywall, insulation, windows, sheathing, you name it. Inside or out, you could not tell it from a site-built, unless you went in the attic. They use a different type of framing to assist assembly. I've only seen one modular up close, so my experience is limited, but THAT particular one was nothing like a manufactured home.

 

[Lt CHEG]

Maybe there are differences in various parts of the country. The modulars we looked at in SC were built exactly like a site-built home, with 2X6 walls and 2X12 floor joists. They also cost just about the same as a site-built home of the same trim level. The only advantage they could offer is that they are ready to live in much faster, and they claim better quality, since they are built in a climate-controlled factory, so the wood never gets wet, and they can hold tighter tolerances. The ones we looked at didn't cut any corners; they had standard drywall, insulation, windows, sheathing, you name it. Inside or out, you could not tell it from a site-built, unless you went in the attic. They use a different type of framing to assist assembly. I've only seen one modular up close, so my experience is limited, but THAT particular one was nothing like a manufactured home.

I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head. In this area, some of the modulars that I looked at were of the type that some other posters spoke of, you could definitely tell the difference between the modulars and the stick built. Then I've looked at others which were built even better than stick built as far as I could tell. 2x6 construction 16 inch on center, 2x12 floor joists, rafter roofs built on site after the main modules arrived, etc. They were built on real foundations in fact I had a foundation guy tell me that there was no difference between the foundation that he built for a stick built and one for a modular except for the fact that he had a much smaller margin of error on the modular foundation. This house was not much less than it would have cost for a traditional stick builder to build it, maybe 15% to 20% less. The biggest difference in cost was that there was virtually no waste in the construction. The company would order its dimensional lumber in exactly the lengths it needed and in large quantity. This meant that they were cutting an inch or even half an inch off of a board to get it to the right size instead of a foot or more. Same thing with piping, etc. They ordered the sizes they needed instead of having to buy standard dimensional lumber lengths. This results in virtually no waste so that's where the cost savings come from. I still haven't decided whether I'm going modular or stick built (with me putting in a bunch of sweat equity) on my new house but I have no doubt that the quality of the modular builder that I am looking at is indistinguishable from the quality of one of the better stick builders in our area. Also as far as banks financing modulars it doesn't make a difference around here. We looked at a bunch of houses before deciding to build our own. Some were modulars which were indistinguishable from traditional stick built and some were traditional stick built. We didn't look at any of the older style modulars where we could tell the difference. The banks had no problems financing either style of house.