when selling a house here in SC there are questions that you must answer on the binding contract.....one that I remember was...Is this a modular home?. I agree that some are better however, most around here still do not see it that way and your resale value will be poor...not counting your property of course. Most see it as a high dollar mobile home. Buy a large dbl wide for around $35k and be happy with low rent. If that is what you want...low rent...then keep that goal at the front of the line. FWIW - JKE

 

Well come on up here, and I'll show you my $350,000 2 story mobile home! Maybe it's different in other parts of the country, but here in the northeast, they're basically stick-built homes that are built in sections off-site and then trucked to the home site. I have to concur with blackjack; today's modulars are built on fixtures resulting in precision assembly. And because of the ride over the road to the site, they're typically built more rugged than an on site stick-built house. Mine has 5/8" drywall with sub floors glued and nailed to the joists, 2x6 outer walls, insulation between floors...can you tell I like mine?

 

why dont you do a president or owner equity based home where you do what you can do on the house to gain equity like roof drywall ect. good luck

 

My parents bought a modular about 7 years ago, it still looks and feels great. They have had very little problems, the house is quiet, well insulated, comfortable, and low maintaiance. Dad did alot of changing to their design and made it match what he needed.
Good luck with whatever you do.

 

i would have to concede that for investment purposes , manufactured housing is not at the top of the list . however for economical housing it is hard to beat.

 

Blackjack, what kind of finish?

I am kinda fussy so the things that I would have changed would be the doors in the model they were plastic and I would have had at least Birch clad and stained. also the woodwork was pine and looked kinda chinsey. so I would have put something more to my liking. and the floor was not what I would have liked so I would have done something there prolly ceramic. But to each his own and I did not find the finish offensive just not me.

 

Lots of people think MOBILE when they hear MODULAR but this is not right. It's not that it has to meet highway standards (maybe it does, but more importantly...) it has to meet STATE and LOCAL building code standards.


Read this and many of the other pages on this site about modulars!
http://www.modularcenter.com/whatis.shtml

 

i went with a ADRIAN home. it has been sitting here since march. it doesnt have heat an air in the bath ,kitchen,computer room or the wash room.the roof in the living room is already bowed down. the sheat rock in three rooms was busted between the rafters all the way from one side to the other. all they would offer to do is tape an mud.they said they would tape and mud it as often as it recrackes up to a year.all the walls were busted up to.they sent four different crewsto fix it.home inspector said worst he had seen in twenty years.this was a custom built $88000 model.they will not fix an i will not close.i even gave them the option to come get it before i found out they used an unlicensed contractor to set it up in south carolina.

 

they are like these Dodges---most of them are good and then every once and a while------

 

I don't know how you can afford to live there! Here I have a 2500sq/ft Brick with a full basement and it only goes for $200000.
In Tenn. you can get close to 2500sq/ft modular homes for around $80000 to $100000. I can imagine what prop. taxes are up there. Here I pay $954 a year for county tax. I guess that is why you guys up there make the big bucks!

 

Yes, prices up here are spiraling upwards with no forseeable ceiling. I have a modest 2100 sq. ft. classic New England Cape Cod house with the steep 12/12 pitch roof in front. I'm located in a rural town 65 miles west of Boston and have to drive in nearly 40 miles each way to get to work. I couldn't afford the housing prices there. Land here goes for around $70,000 per acre and that's the smallest parcel allowed by our town. Taxes?....about $4000 for my house and it goes up from there. We're also taxed for our vehicles, based on their value. But my house also has a full basement and garage too. A visitor would have no idea it's modular construction unless they recongnized the 12" thick archways in the center wall of the house and see the bolts in the basement which anchor the lower 2 halves together. There is no de-rating in the value of the home when compare to a stick built home. Ater all mine is stick built too. It just came from somewhere else! There's a modular up the road from me that's over 4000 sq ft. It came in on 8 semi lo-boys. The assembly process is amazing with the semi's waiting in a staging area to be brought in when that section is required. A crane lifts each section into place where it's joined with it's mating sections. Wiring is predetermined and drops into the basement where the service entrance is planned. Much work remains after the factory assembly crew leaves. Now, your local conttractor takes over. There is no plumbing or heating in the house, and the walls need to be plastered and painted. There are no steps between floors or bathroom fixtures, but their location has been determined during construction back at the factory. Outside, much of the house has been pre-sided, but large areas near the joints are missing siding and Tyvek house wrap. Also, there are no roofing shingles. The roof itself hinges out of the box and is joined with the other half. It's shingled quickly to prevent weather damage to the interior. Last winter we had one installed the day after a 12" snowfall. They shoveled the foundation walls clear, set it down and were gone the same day. Trailer's are either left to be retireved on another delivery, or are stacked upon each other and carted home. It's quite a spectacle.

 

I bet that is quite a site watching them build a house in front of you in a day.

 

We have also been kicking around the options and have found that Palm Harbor makes a very nice unit when the better models are looked at. The construction is better than our existing house in most ways and its a expensive house. Palm Harbor uses 2x6 studs in the walls for example and regular door and window trim like in site built houses, check out their web page.