Thinking of buying Modular Home???

Maurice

As a real estate investor, I can tell you modular is the way to go. Faster, cheaper and better build quality. Check out the mansions at www.modular-experts.com to see what can be done. Also, DIY Network has a show called "Assembly Required" that deals only with modular construction.

ublguy

I live in a modular home, we picked a design we liked and modified it to our standards.

PRO'S

• 2x6 construction
• Build indoors, no rain, no snow
• Modular codes are more strict than state codes
• Faster: 3 months from purchase to move in
• No visual differences

A lot of the negativity around the modular homes are coming from the contractors who work on stick built homes. They are losing a ton of money, since Modular homes are almost all finished.

Personally, it's been a great home, and I don't see any reason why my next home won't be a modular home.

Good luck!

hearingimpared

ublguy wrote:

I live in a modular home, we picked a design we liked and modified it to our standards.

PRO'S

• 2x6 construction
• Build indoors, no rain, no snow
• Modular codes are more strict than state codes
• Faster: 3 months from purchase to move in
• No visual differences

A lot of the negativity around the modular homes are coming from the contractors who work on stick built homes. They are losing a ton of money, since Modular homes are almost all finished.

Personally, it's been a great home, and I don't see any reason why my next home won't be a modular home.

Good luck!

Thanks for you feedback ublguy. One question for you. We saw a model of a modular home that we really loved. The modular dealer told us that he can make that same home with the same modular codes except that they would put a steel frame chasis on it like a double wide in escense it is the same as the modular for almost $50,000 less money. The difference in price would be because we wouldn't have to have it crane lowered onto the foundation and the builders would not have to do the same work they do with the modular bottom. They would place the steel chasis on a solid foundation and connect the necessary utilities. What do you think about this?

Thanks Joe

schwarcw

What's the spacing of the steel beams in the chassis? I'm thinking if it's too wide the plywood wood floor would tend to flex more.

hearingimpared

schwarcw wrote:

What's the spacing of the steel beams in the chassis? I'm thinking if it's too wide the plywood wood floor would tend to flex more.

I don't know but I will find out and get back to you.

Thanks,
Joe

faster100

on that show, home makeover.. where they build homes for troubled families.. they always use modular homes.. they cart in the walls, roof and make a foundation and slap it together, million dollar homes, 2 and 3 story.. nothing cheap or trailer about them..

hearingimpared

schwarcw wrote:

What's the spacing of the steel beams in the chassis? I'm thinking if it's too wide the plywood wood floor would tend to flex more.

I know that they don't use plywood on the floors. It is supposed to be some kind of high quality wood material, I guess some very dense particle board or something along those lines. I will find that out also and get back to you on it.

Joe

disneyjoe7

schwarcw wrote:

What's the spacing of the steel beams in the chassis? I'm thinking if it's too wide the plywood wood floor would tend to flex more.

Not sure about a floor being not supported by beams spaced wide. I lived in a home outside of San Francisco, CA that had a floor of plywood on 4' beams the floor was 2 sheets of 1" plywood, yes it had a bit of flex to it.

kmac2

I looked into modular home myself awhile back and suggest, as others here have, that you find present owners and talk to them about what they've learned and what they'd do differently. Something that bothered me was how the price skyrocketed when changes or material substitutions were considered, ie; drywall vs composite wallboard panels, wood windows vs vinyl, 40 yr shingles vs 20 yr, upgrading the flooring, adding a crawlspace or basement vs slab - the plans and models I looked at had the air ducts near the ceilings, very inefficient for heat delivery, the other thing to consider about having a house on a slab is the comfy give a floor over a basement provides. And then there's the lack of appreciation on a house like this. All that being said, I was very attracted to the floorplans, the space, and the archetectural styles available, especially the one's with the low slung rooflines and wide deep porches that mimic the old 20's craftsman houses I love so much.

ND13

My inlaw's house has appreciated dramatically over the last 5 years. When it was completed, it was appraised for $285k...last month it was appraised for $425k(the values would be dramatically higher if the home wasn't in an area that's going through an economic recession from factory closings). I'd say that whether it appreciates or depreciates has the same factors involved as with any conventional home.

I've also yet to see a "modular" that DIDN'T come standard with sheet-rock walls. The only homes I've ever seen with composite walls were manufactured houses. Now, I'm sure there are lots of different options to choose from when picking out a "modular", so just pick a company that's been doing "modulars" for some time, not some fly-by-night operation, that offers things that seem to good to be true.

hearingimpared

ND13 wrote:

My inlaw's house has appreciated dramatically over the last 5 years. When it was completed, it was appraised for $285k...last month it was appraised for $425k(the values would be dramatically higher if the home wasn't in an area that's going through an economic recession from factory closings). I'd say that whether it appreciates or depreciates has the same factors involved as with any conventional home.

I've also yet to see a "modular" that DIDN'T come standard with sheet-rock walls. The only homes I've ever seen with composite walls were manufactured houses. Now, I'm sure there are lots of different options to choose from when picking out a "modular", so just pick a company that's been doing "modulars" for some time, not some fly-by-night operation, that offers things that seem to good to be true.

Thanks you guys for all the input and suggestions.

hearingimpared

After all that, and I humbly thank you all for the feedback, my wife and I put a bid on a "stick built" house today. The reason for this is that when this house came on the market it was a bit above the top of our price range but is a very nice home, in a nice neighborhood, in a good school district that is move in ready, with pretty much everything we wanted in a home. After listing all the pros and there were a s#!+ load there really was only two cons, the price and it was not quite as big (internal sq footage wise) as we wanted. The price came down into our price range (and that was actually a typo in the original listing) so we went for it. If it is not accepted we will probably go the modular route.

I have to add more . . .this house in on a very nice cul-de-sac, has a pool (my wife & kid like this I don't), a beautiful raised deck, a very large back yard, horse-shoe pits, beautiful landscaping, an attached one car garage, and that is just the outside. It has two large rooms on the lower level one I have pegged as video theater room, the other a 2ch audio room. The wife has given her blessing on these. All the rest is good stuff I don't care about but makes my wife happy.

disneyjoe7

Glad to hear, good investment. Best of Luck

schwarcw

This is great news Joe! I hope your offer goes through.

Is there enough room to host Polkfest 2007?:eek:

Carl

hearingimpared

schwarcw wrote:

This is great news Joe! I hope your offer goes through.

Is there enough room to host Polkfest 2007?:eek:

Carl

Hey Carl,

Maybe we can scare the hell out of the rest of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac and hold the shin-dig there! Check out the pictures.

Early B.

That's great. I hope you and your family fulfill your dreams with this house.

Holydoc

Excellent! Congrats to you! Woo Hoo!

Of course now I will not get to know all the stories about the modular home, but I guess I will live. hehe

hearingimpared

Wow we are really bummed. Our realtor just called to inform us that someone out-bid us. Once again we are looking at it as though we were not supposed to get this home and something much better is going to come along. The great thing here is that we will get what we want for less money by going the modular route.

Joe

Early B.

No problem. You're a winner regardless of the outcome. Stick with modular and get more home for less money!!!

zombie boy 2000

I'm sure all will turn out well.... just be glad that you'll be moving into something that requires minimal initial maintenance. The wife and I just moved into our first home about two weeks ago, and images of that movie The Money Pit keep scrolling through my head. I mean, what's $200 on cables when the first estimate for a bathroom makeover is $5k.:p

I'm so tired of pulling staples from the hardwood floor (which will have to be sanded down this weekend) that I could choke the mailman -- if he wasn't so busy avoiding the POS mailbox which will have to be replaced pronto.

Hanging drywall tonight, gents... How 'bout you?:D

Sorry for the rant/derail. I'm just envying anyone in a position to take over a home and prop up their feet and listen to their rig without a laundry list of Time/Life fixer upper projects peering over their shoulder.

Best of luck to you and your fam!!!

Early B.

zombie boy 2000 wrote:

I'm sure all will turn out well.... just be glad that you'll be moving into something that requires minimal initial maintenance. The wife and I just moved into our first home about two weeks ago, and images of that movie The Money Pit keep scrolling through my head. I mean, what's $200 on cables when the first estimate for a bathroom makeover is $5k.:p

I'm so tired of pulling staples from the hardwood floor (which will have to be sanded down this weekend) that I could choke the mailman -- if he wasn't so busy avoiding the POS mailbox which will have to be replaced pronto.

Hanging drywall tonight, gents... How 'bout you?:D

Same here. We bought a 20 year old home about 10 years ago and it's definitely a money pit. Unfortunately, the house is not appreciating at a high enough rate to offset the CASH we have to expend each year for maintenance. Even if it was, we'd still be house-rich and cash-poor.

jdhdiggs

schwarcw wrote:

This is great news Joe! I hope your offer goes through.

Is there enough room to host Polkfest 2007?:eek:

Carl

If you host, Brett could educate your kids!

Congrats, looks a lot like one of the houses I grew up in.

bobman1235

zombie boy 2000 wrote:

images of that movie The Money Pit keep scrolling through my head.

GREAT movie!

Here lies Walter Fielding. He bought a house, and it killed him.

zombie boy 2000

The fit of uncontrollable laughter that Hanks goes into after the tub falls through the floor is one of my all time favorite scenes. Effin' hilarious:D

hearingimpared

zombie boy 2000 wrote:

I'm sure all will turn out well.... just be glad that you'll be moving into something that requires minimal initial maintenance. The wife and I just moved into our first home about two weeks ago, and images of that movie The Money Pit keep scrolling through my head. I mean, what's $200 on cables when the first estimate for a bathroom makeover is $5k.:p

I'm so tired of pulling staples from the hardwood floor (which will have to be sanded down this weekend) that I could choke the mailman -- if he wasn't so busy avoiding the POS mailbox which will have to be replaced pronto.

Hanging drywall tonight, gents... How 'bout you?:D

Sorry for the rant/derail. I'm just envying anyone in a position to take over a home and prop up their feet and listen to their rig without a laundry list of Time/Life fixer upper projects peering over their shoulder.

Best of luck to you and your fam!!!

Sorry to hear of your plight. I've been there several times in the past. One thing, instead of pulling the staples take a heavy thick flat head screw driver, run it up under the staple(s) and lift like a crow bar. Since your sanding the floors down this weekend it won't matter if you slightly scratch the floor with the screw driver. Using this method saved me a lot of time and sore hand muscles when I had to do that particular job in past homes.

Thanks for the encouraging words,
Phyllisann & Joe:)

hearingimpared

Early B. wrote:

Same here. We bought a 20 year old home about 10 years ago and it's definitely a money pit. Unfortunately, the house is not appreciating at a high enough rate to offset the CASH we have to expend each year for maintenance. Even if it was, we'd still be house-rich and cash-poor.

If you had to do it all over again would you purchase a modular home?

Thanks,
Joe

Holydoc

hearingimpared wrote:

Wow we are really bummed. Our realtor just called to inform us that someone out-bid us. Once again we are looking at it as though we were not supposed to get this home and something much better is going to come along. The great thing here is that we will get what we want for less money by going the modular route.

Joe

Well it sounds like I get to hear a first hand review of a modular home afterall. Sorry about the out-bid.

Early B.

hearingimpared wrote:

If you had to do it all over again would you purchase a modular home?

I dunno. There are too many variables involved for a definitive response.

Nevertheless, I'd strongly consider it and do a lot more research. Hell, I'd do precisely what you're doing.

hearingimpared

ND13 wrote:

I've also yet to see a "modular" that DIDN'T come standard with sheet-rock walls. The only homes I've ever seen with composite walls were manufactured houses.

I'm not sure of your definition of composite walls. Are you talking about compressed dense particle board? If not what?

Thanks,

Joe