Modular/prefabricated homes the good, the bad and the ugly?

[thecavemankevin]

My wife and i are currently exploring all of our options into our first home. One of the options we are considering is purchasing a modular home. When we went into the dealers Clayton and Oakwood and a few others we were amazed at the quality and overall beauty of the homes. We have found two that we really like and are considering, however we do have some worries.

Now one thing we are worried about is the truthfulness of the information we are getting. We have had pleasent experiances so far with the salesmen. But it does feel somewhat like buying a car in terms of how the salemen ct and respond to our questions. And we all know you cant trust car dealers ;).

The biggest thing we want to know, is will it appreciate or depreciate. They of course told us it will apreciate and are appraised like a site built home.

one of the biggest reasons we are looking at a mod instead of site built is that the home market is still nuts and that we cant afford the size home we need in a site built home where as with a modular we can.

Do any of you have modulares and what are your experiances?

[magman007]

a modular is one of those houses that are one story, kinda like a trailer, but not right? you see em riding down the road split in 2 pieces?

[FreakBaller12]

Yea they're the 2 piece houses right?
My grandparents retired into one. As far as I know they haven't had any major problems. I know they are VERY nice for a one story home. I'm sorry I couldn't help more.

[Eagle]

Yeah, but do you really think they will be able to get it down that tiny one lane road, even in pieces?

[fire1811]

From a firefighters standpoint I advise you to stay away from them.

With any fire load at all these are deathtraps, and will be in need of major fixes even with a small fire.

[BeaverEater]

From a carpenters standpoint id stay away. Most of the houses like that built around here are just garbage. The quality is usually poor and they cut most corners. My old neighbors moved into one and realized that everything is just cheap on them. But its really just up to you, if you can afford a different house, go for it. If not, i guess its better than nothing.

[fire1811]

beaver have they changed it at all when they hook them together?

The last I knew and saw there were only a few bolts holding the roof sections together when they raised them up. Its mostly held together with the pressure on each other.

[zaqwert6]

Florida point of view....Don't do it. ;)

Hurricanes eat those things up left and right while leaving conventionals standing strong right in between...proofs right in the pudding.

[Army]

Not necessarily two halves anymore. Many modulars are multiple parts, made of the same material as "normal" houses (2x4x16" centers, drywall, real roofing). Some modulars in my area are rather spectacular in their layout.

There are actual log cabin constructed modulars too......these ain't your white trash Daddy's mobile home!

[Steelrat]

The ones I've seen, even the new ones, don't look good. In the models, you have to look past the nice decorations and such. Plus, the durability of them doesn't seem to be all that great.

You get what you pay for. There is a reason they are cheaper than normal houses.

[Lohman446]

The ones I've seen, even the new ones, don't look good. In the models, you have to look past the nice decorations and such. Plus, the durability of them doesn't seem to be all that great.

You get what you pay for. There is a reason they are cheaper than normal houses.

In theory the reason is ease of assembly, non-lost time on job, and factory building rather than site building.

There are some fairly decent, solid, well built ones around. That being said there are also some poorly built ones. If done right you can get a fairly decent one, comparable to a site built home. However, this is the minority of them, and they do not hold value (or gain) as well as site built homes.

[fire1811]

Honestly you are better off buying an older house then you are with new construction. They are a lot more durable then the light weight construction that is being used nowadays.

[gimp]

A friend of mine just had a home like Army mentioned built. It was a prefabricated home, but it was more than two pieces. Her parents have been living there for a few months, and they don't like it. They keep finding problems with it. I'm not sure if it's a problem with the design/quality of the home, or the contractor, but they definetly aren't satisfied. It's all sorts of little things. The biggest thing was with the floors. A 3/4" gap formed between the floor on two different parts. The company came out to fix it and they could only cut it down to 1/2". I thought it was just a lousy contractor, but it might be the homes themselves. I don't know much about them, but the only peope I know who have one are unhappy with it.

[Recon by Fire]

No matter what they try to tell you, a modular home will DEPRECIATE. They look and seem nice, filled with goodies for a nice price. But in all reality they do not hold up like a real house and are in essence a mobile home. If you buy one, be prepared to lose you investment value.

[ramennoodles]

Here aresome links to whatthey can look like:

Modular Homes (http://images.google.com/images?q=modular+home&hl=en)
Prefabricated Home (http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=prefabricated+home)

Meh, hope it gives some one an idea...

-Isaac.

[beam]

hmmmmm...I wonder if there is a problem with terminology here. A prefab home is NOT like a mobile home. I worked for a brief period for a Wausau home dealer.

http://www.wausauhomes.com/

I was very impressed with the construction. Everything is the same materials that a stickbuilder uses. Prefab homes can be modular, but some of the more complex are panelized. That means only the studwalls are prefabbed. Along with a bath core.

I'd say check into Wausau homes.

[magman007]

hmm, when i hear pre fab, or modular home, i think the small barn like structures cut in half one story things you see going down the high way, i must say, some of those houses are gorgeous!

[skife]

my parents bought a modular home 22 years ago, we still live in it today, we did some updating here and there, but if i didn't tell you it was a modular, you wouldn't even know.

its not some POS mobile home, its got a wooden frame, 1/2 drywall, and the construction is just like a stickbuilt home, i think it might even be stronger because it had to come in on a trailor.

I like this house.

[maxama10]

had one in wyoming, as a kid, loved it just fine. Now were moving from GA to NV and getting another. Im sure it will be just as good. Theyve always seemed fine to me.
-Max

[thecavemankevin]

One thing i should have clearified. There are a couple missconceptions with modular homes.

A modular home is a real house, but built in a factory and trucked out in pieces to the building site. Modular homes are built atleast to code and with the companies we are looking at (clayton homes) they say that their mods are above code in most areas of manufacturing (structure, electricle). Oakwood, which is a brand of Clayton (sorta like Mercury is a brand of Ford) has 5 year complete warrenty on their structures (i still need to see their documentation and show it to one of the lawyers at the firm i work at and see if there are any holes in it).

Manufactured homes (or mobile homes as they used to be called) are in essence trailers. These too can be double wides and come in sections. Now they can still be nice, but that is not what we are looking at purchasing.

If anyone is interested in seeing the floor plan of the one we are thinking about in particular http://www.oakwoodhomes.com/oakwood/showcase/east/classicmulti/exterior.cfm then click on 2001 and it will open up two floor plans in PDF, just scroll to the bottom on. Unfortunately they dont have pics on their site, but we have been in the demo model at a couple diffent places and it is quite amazing.

thanks for your feedback guys. It certainly opens up new questions i need to find out answeres on. Like how the halfs are joined together. Fortunately i have a couple relative in Wisconsin that have modulars that i'll be calling and asking them some questions.

[BeaverEater]

It looks like a fairly decent layout. The thing with model type homes is that they often use cheaper supplies on their houses. The doors will usually be hollow instead of solid. This means you can easily hear through them. The windows will also be cheaper and will have to be replaces sooner. I havent seen the actual house that you are looking at so im taking examples from houses in my local area. It might be different.

[Coralis]

You really need to do your homework with these but I see this as the future of affordable housing in the future (homes in Japan have been constructed like this for years). There is one huge advantage to this way of construction and that is the speed the construction. Living with relatives, friends etc for 6-8 months or longer while waiting on your new home to constructed can get really old modular construction typically takes half that time.

[Recon by Fire]

Unless you insist on having a brand new home, contruction time is irrelevant. I would suggest a conventional built home that is about 2-5 years old. New constructions often have small details to be fixed and they should be worked out by then. Someone I know bought one of those modulars a few years ago and when they put the damn thing together on site, they didn't match the sections together exactly and they ended up with a very visable seam running through their dining room! Not exactly a minor fix!

[magman007]

This is the type of thing i was trying to describe.

http://www.oakwoodhomes.com/oakwood/showcase/east/classic2100/exterior.cfm

i know its the 2100, and not the model you are looking at.

[skife]

most houses are built above code, on non loadbearing walls you can have studs 48" on center....

granted, it would be a hellova lot cheaper to build a house like this, the drywall would flex, most homes are build above code.

[Recon by Fire]

Do the MOST important thing here; forget about everyone's opinions and check the actual resale prices of these homes if you are seriously interested. Your home is likely the most money you will ever spend on anything in your lifetime, it is an investment....it should NOT be something that depreciates!

[fire1811]

most houses are built above code, on non loadbearing walls you can have studs 48" on center....

granted, it would be a hellova lot cheaper to build a house like this, the drywall would flex, most homes are build above code.

code doesnt mean its right

[nulam]

This is not quality/construction advice but buying advice. A modular home, if purchased new, is not bought the same way as stick built homes. When you buy and existing house or build, a lawyer does a title search on the property to make sure the title to the real estate is good. A modular home, before it is attached to the land, is considered movable personal property. When/if you buy the thing from the dealer be sure to check for UCC-1 filings on the house to be certain the title to the house is good and unencumbered.

[SCpoloRicker]

Out here in SJ, they are finishing a run of about two hundred 'pre-fab' condos right next to mine. Price wise, they haven't been affected really compared to our traditional-style condos.

That said, I do prefer the tradtional methods.