Modular Homes?

Jimmy Bones · #1 01-11-2010, 07:21 PM

Hey guys.

So, with my wife is going to try to get a VA home loan for us to have a place to move in to, and my in-laws are giving us 3 acres of land to settle on in Tennessee.

My wife mentioned the idea of getting a mobile home, but after looking around, I've come across something called a modular home.

Any of you guys know anything about them? Manufacturers, pictures, procedures, etc... all that stuff would be lovely. Most of the people I've seen who deal in them have very ambiguous web sites.

Thanks.

kesslari · #2 01-11-2010, 07:25 PM

Modular homes are like mobile homes on steroids. A bit nicer, a step up, but not a big step.
We looked at some when we moved - they had not aged very well.
I'd recommend using the VA loan to build a home on the property - use a bit of it to get a mobile home and you'd have a place to live while you were building.

()smoke() · #3 01-11-2010, 07:44 PM

depends on the modular home in particular you're looking at...as mentioned, what are typically called 'modular homes' or 'ready built' are akin to the trailer home, prefabricated

there are also high-end modular homes in which the home is simply constructed of a modular 'kit of parts'...there are advantages and disadvantages to modular as well as 'custom' built homes

lycanbreed7 · #4 01-11-2010, 07:58 PM

Never met a person who had a house built and said, dam wish I'd bought a double wide instead. On the other I have met a crap loud of people with modular homes that are extremely dissatisfied. Especially when the bottom dropped out of the housing market. Mods, mobiles, and double wides rarely if ever hold there value.

Jimmy Bones · #5 01-11-2010, 09:13 PM

Well, as far as value is concerned, we're not planning on selling. It's family land, has been for some number of generations. Plan to bequeath it to my kids sooner or later.

tycobb73 · #6 01-12-2010, 11:41 AM

If you'd like a house to leave to your kids go stick built. In 15 years it will be reduced to an eyesore you will want off of your land.

MakiSupaStar · #7 01-12-2010, 11:47 AM

The majority of houses in Japan are modular homes. They are prefabricated floor plans, constructed out of the same materials that our homes are built from. They're nice, and can range from reasonable to insanely expensive just like the homes we build here.

espositod · #8 01-12-2010, 12:06 PM

Well I'm not sure what manufacturers all you guys are speaking about, but my prior home was a modular and was excellent all the way around. It was an Ranell brand-home, built on family land, and it was great. True, there are several companies out there that market a higher-class mobile home as a modular, but those are not 'true' mods. A true mod does not have a frame of any sort, but is a 'house' merely preconstructed in a factory in different sections and attached to a legit foundation. They meet all international wind codes, and they even appraise and are marketed as 'stick-built' homes. Mine consisted of 2x10 floors, 2x6 walls (9-foot throughout), and 2x8 ceilings. Heck, you could do a 50 yard dash through there and not be able to tell...Long story short: do your research! If it looks and smells like crap, it probably is. But really dig down to the roots of the subject; don't just base it on the surface...

fo shizzle · #9 01-12-2010, 12:13 PM

I was in and around that industry for quite a few years. I supplied carpet to the industry and worked in sales and service at the plant level.

A point of clarification: a double-wide isn't a modular home. They are built to two completely different codes. Mobile homes (or manufactured homes) are built to HUD code. HUD code is actually specific to this industry. Modular homes are built to UBC code. This is the code all residential housing is built to nationwide.

That isn't saying modular homes are the same as stick-built homes. Obviously, they aren't. But they are a cost effective solution if you are looking for the most square footage for the money. Check these guys out:

http://oakcreekhomes.com/

As far as the cost goes, you can spend as much on one of these houses as on any comparable house.

Time is another factor. You can be in one of these houses really quickly.

Or you can be you own contractor and build you own house. I have an Uncle and Aunt who subbed out the entire project and built a nice 4000 sq. ft. house for $120K.

Phalex · #10 01-12-2010, 12:19 PM

I've been in a few. One of them was a glorified trailer. I'm not sure what year it was built but I'd guess sometime in the 70's.

Some friends of my wife had a brand new one put up on some land that their family has had for generations, and I kinda liked it. It had cathedral ceilings in the living room, and an upstairs and a basement too. The only thing I noticed was that all the interior walls were like 2" thick.

So they have some skinny walls..... Big deal. These people lived a little north of the 45th parallel, and it was warm and not drafty in January.

They don't hold their value very well, but if the price is right, and you plan on staying forever, what the hell?

need4mospd · #11 01-12-2010, 12:37 PM

Modular homes have come a LONG way. Some of the better ones are damn near impossible to tell apart from a "real" home. Modular just means pre-assembled. It can range from trailer home to 10,000 sq ft hurricane/earthquake proof homes. With the quality of a lot of conventional homes I've seen these days, I wouldn't let the "modular" part influence your decision much. The neighborhood behind my house has 4-5 year old stick built homes that already need new siding and new roofs. That's pretty typical around my area.

Building a stick built home that's far away from all your contractors can get expensive, where as the modular home wouldn't change the cost much since the assembly time is so much shorter. You might be able to move into a modular home in as little as 3 months after you order it, with only a few weeks of on site construction time. A similar conventional home might take 6 to 9 months of on-site construction. In theory, a modular home could be built MUCH better due to the factory assembled conditions and the fact they have to be built to withstand shipping. There's a lot of crap builders out there and an even bigger bunch of crap assemblers. So do your research. Call around, ask to see previous homes that are 10-15+ years old.

Don't be afraid to spend an extra dime on the foundation. I'd rather have a home with a solid foundation than granite counter tops and a hot tub....