From: Jodi


Carl, what do you think of modular homes? How do they compare price wise with stick built?

Jodi

Hi Jodi,


I think modular homes are great!

 

   

Courtesy: Palm Harbor Homes

You know, modular homes are also “stick built”, just not "stick built" on your building site.

Modular houses are built out of boxes, called modules, which are constructed off site, transported to a building lot, and assembled into a finished home. All of the materials - from framing, roofing, and plumbing to cabinetry, interior finish, and electrical - are identical to what you would find in a conventional "stick-built" home. The most striking thing about a modular home is not anything you can see, nor how it is made, but where it is made: in a modern factory designed to build good-quality modular homes.



To compare “apples to apples” is not easy, but here is what I would do. Get a finished price (quote) of a completed modular home, on a foundation, from a modular dealer. Be sure the dealer lists the "specifications" of what goes into that house.

Then take that floor plan, price it out on #5 of the www.byoh.com “getting started” page .(www.byoh.com/gettingstarted.htm. That will give you "on site" building costs for the same house as the modular.

Try to use similar quality components. You can run as many variations as you want. I think you’ll find the modular less expensive.

Carl


Remember: By being the General Contractor (GC), determining building costs & hiring professionals (subcontractors) to do the actual work (That’s what a GC does), YOU can be your own General Contractor for ANY type of construction: New homebuilding to build your "Dream House"), room additions, remodeling older homes; Build log homes, kit homes, even renovate foreclosures. Since you are the "Boss," YOU can chose your own house plans or home plans, YOU can design your kitchen, YOU can decide to build "Green," build with Solar, Wind, geothermal heat pumps, or anything else YOU desire, and YOU can do it for a lot LESS!