modular homes

[hilltopdude]

Our house was destroyed by fire last week.
TO THE GROUND
Anybody here purchased or know someone who has.
Need input please
bad stories, good stories, things to watch for etc.
Thanks

[Deberosa]

I live in a modular home (called stick built off site because it has a stem wall foundation). My brother worked a couple of years installing modular homes in PA.

There are different kinds. Mine and the kind my brother worked with are built in pieces instead of the two halfs that a typical double wide has. For instance the Kitchen/bath configuration in mine is an insert into the rest of the house. I had the typical two halves kind previous to buying this house.

The one drawback is financing. Although I am convinced that the modular is a better house (it can fly down the highway at 60 MPH so it has to be solid, right?) banks definitely discriminate. HOWEVER, if you can claim stick built off site and put a stem wall under it that becomes a totally different thing regarding financing (and therefore resale value). They didn't blink an eye at financing my 1971 version "stick built off site" but endless hassle about my 1995 version modular and that was in 1999!!! Personally I liked having it with a skirting because it was much easier to access under the house as needed to run wire, plumbing, etc. It's a real pain with this place.

Older versions do have shortcuts that the newer versions do not take. For instance my bath tub area is not a typical size and I have a mini dishwasher instead of a normal one. These all take more to replace. The newer versions don't do that. Also discovered that for interior walls they put the studs flat ways instead of the wide edges in order to squeeze out more floor space. Not sure it matters alot and newer versions don't do that.

If I were shopping for an existing place it really wouldn't matter too much to me unless I wanted to resell - there are lots of possible buyers turned off by what they call "trailers" (they would rather have a dumpy house!). And the financing, but if I had blank land and wanted to put a house on it I would definitely do the modular. All code issues are moot because the entire house is simply accepted and there are so many fewer things that can go wrong in the process. Plus around here - you could end up with a foot of rain inside your walls before the roof is on and that may never dry out!!! Something built under cover will be dry.

Anyhow that's my long winded opinion. ;-)

[ktlove]

They do depreciate, rather than appreciate. Keep that in mind. I live in one, I dont mind at all, but when it comes to resale you better hope your land and outbuildings are worth something. Also, they wont last 100 plus years like your stick built home.

[sbemt456]

We live in a double wide (28 x 60) and we have the vinyl underskirting and the bank had no problem. We are in Kentucky. Here if you have 1 acre of land to place the home on, the land will be included in the financing and is considered your down payment. Our house has not depreciated in 10 years that we have been here. We made the down payment instead of using our land as we put ours on a 100 acre farm. The only draw back I personally have is storms, these things dont have basements. We do intend to build a root cellar/storm shelter.

Sorry to hear of your lose and prayers for rebuilding your life.

stella

[jen_in_southtexas]

I dont know anything about modulars.

However, I wanted to say that I am sorry about the loss of your home. I hope you find a home soon for you and your family.

Prayers sent across the miles.

-j

[msta999]

My brother built a slide in panel home, which when done is a stick built home. He loves it, because is was a lot cheaper and faster than building it from scratch. Said he is thinking of selling and doing it again.

Here is a similar site that tells a little about them.
http://www.redstonehomekits.com/?gclid=CNqKs6rElJQCFSD8iAod03kU0Q

[MadTripper]

Modulars have come a long way. I'm not sure where you are at but we have a few manufacturers in our area that make some very nice products. They are every bit as good as a common stick built (for instance 6 inch exterior walls). I looked at several before building our home which is 1 year old. I already had a foundation so I would have to have ordered a custom home which raises the price, otherwise, probably would have gone modular. Here is a site for a local company which I felt was the best quality. I have a friend that owns one about 10 or so years old. Very well constructed and if you didn't ask, you wouldn't have known it was a mod.


http://www.kmhi.com/

Bear in mind that there are many types of manufacturers each with their own methods. There are modulars out there that are a glorified trailer home. That may work for some folks but I was looking to have the same quality as a stick built. The link above had that and there is also a company called Simplex that makes decent quality homes. In some cases, you can get these homes unfinished on the inside to save a few dollars and customize yourself. Like cars however, any options or changes you make, money is added to the bottom line. Here is the Simplex site:

http://www.simplexhomes.com/

I suppose the issue here is time versus cost. If you are in a hurry and have the money, a modular is a decent way to go. If you have time and less money, building your own would be a better option in my opinion. If you are entertaining the idea of having a contractor do everything for you, you will need both time and money. We built our house in 6 months but I had the foundation already. Of course there was some work removing the roof that was there and saving the trusses but I had about 14 friends and family come and we pulled the roof, laid the truss joists, and put the flooring on in 1 day so it was a fast start.

Tripper

[LeatherneckPA]

dude, PM sent.

[High_Desert]

I work in the manufacted home industry. As mentioned above, they have come a long, long ways.

Ours are required to be on a foundation, the lumber is kiln dried,( its not typically in site built) and for the most part, the same materials are used as site built.

Their are basicaly two styles, HUD and MOD with different governing bodies writing the building codes and inspecting the manufactures. Its funny as each governing body has its own pet peaves. If I was allowed to build my house here, I would take the best of the two codes.

Your biggest limitation is your proximity to a good manufacture. Unlike RVs which are designed to go down the road, homes have a limitation on how far they can realistly travel and survive. That is why their are so many manufactured home plants.

Financing is supposedly easier with MOD than HUD according to the sales guys. What hurts HUD is the stereotypical southeastern home plant that still build the "trailer style" homes. Therefore all HUD product gets lumped into that perception. We build HUD, MOD and CSA, (canada) house in our plant. The CSA are the best and there is not a signifigant enough difference between the HUD and MOD that would affect the consumer.

Many of us offer all the same options as site built and the labor is less, plus your house is built inside, a good thing if you live in a wet climate.

Go to the local plants that build the homes. First thing to look for is if the plant is clean. A clean plant shows a better workforce and managment culture which should build you a better home.

Look at the materials and see for yourself if there are any differences. I can think of at least 5 manufactures that build good products, so you hopefully will have a good selection to choose from.

My recomedations: Make sure the house is built to Energywise minimums, go with cement lap siding as it will last forever and is highly fire resistent, option the best shingles you can and make sure the floor plan fits your needs. Option extra exterior hose bibs and Electrical, its cheap and makes life easier later.

Some manufactures dont like making changes as it affects the plant efficiancy, sales are down right now, so find a manufacture that is willing to work with you. We just built a home where the customer had us install a built in generator transfer switch..... Must be a kindred spirit. ;D

Best regards,
HD

[WRTN]

Our house was destroyed by fire last week.
TO THE GROUND
Anybody here purchased *or know someone who has.
Need input please
bad stories, good stories, things to watch for etc.
Thanks


These modular homes have caught my eye. We are still undecided whether to go with the Huntington or the Ashville.

http://www.crestlinehomes.com/main.cfm

[Suzy]

So sorry to hear about your house burning! Our Modular home burned Feb. 28, 1983 so we were just the opposite of you....we built back a "stick" home because my dad was a retired homebuilder and we could to it ourselves with the only $10,000 insurance we had....

Now we live in a different home (we bought the home place after my dad died.)

I loved our modular home....it was our "dream home" and it was really special to us! The reason it burned was because we had a clothes dryer that overheated and all the electrical wiring caught fire in the ceiling...

We even had an Ashley wood heater on a pad and with three-wall pipe in the modular home and it worked great....

If I had my choice and had folks that could help me, I would rebuild a "stick" house if I could, even if it's small....you can always build onto it later....

But if the house we're in right now was to burn, we'd probably have to just get either a modular home or a trailer because we'd be needing somewhere to live FAST and at our age....(I'm 56 and he's 63 with bad heart attacks) we wouldn't likely be able to build another stick built home ourselves.

Best wishes! let us know what you decide and how it's going!!!! (We thought our house fire was the awful....and it occurred the very next week after my husband had been able to return to work after getting his foot under a lawn mower, being in the hospital 30 days, and almost dying from infection!!!) but God has shown us through the years how it was just another of many learning experiences that brought us closer to Him, brought us closer as a family, and enabled us to better emphathize with others!) As I said, best wishes!

[HockeyFan]

There's a modular home build near where I live. It's been there a few years. The thing seems to have held up fine. I know the guy that owns it and he has no complaints. I've only been in it once, but as I recall, it was comfortable and it seemed to be well built.

[Digityman]

We are in the process of building a panalized log siding home. www.mainecedarloghomes.com Very solid. Decently cheap and goes up in 3-5 weeks depending on weather. R30+ on all walls and ceilings.