Modular Homes----Anyone Built One?

[mirlee]

We have been talking a lot lately about moving to a new house. Dh's job looks like a keeper and I am about to get my tenure at the university , so we need to find a place that is somewhere between where both of us work.

One of the things were thinking of doing was a modular construction so that we can do some customizing of the house and get what we want.

Dh actually asked me to post to the group to see if anyone had any experience with this and what that experience was.

So, did you have an easy time? Do you like the house? Do you think it is solid construction? What problems did you have? Who was your company (Wayne Homes, Ritz..)? Also, do you think your insurance is more than with an already built home (our agent said it would cost more to insure a modular)?

Please share your experiences.

Mir

[Ruthla]

I've built houses out of blocks and out of legos. Does that count?

[twindaze]

My dh is in the construction industry. He says that modular houses can be very high quality, even better than site built because there's more quality control at the factory. There's lots of great options available nowadays too, very nice houses, so I'd consider it.

[grisandole]

Our ins. on a mobile home (not modular) was the same as a "regular" house......

We researched modular homes and they are really amazing. They are well built and you can't tell that they aren't "real" houses. Actually, I was at an acquantience's home for a playgroup, and was admiring it, envying that she had such a nice, "real" home when we were living in a mobile home at the time, and I asked her if she had it built, because it had a fantastic floor plan; and she told me that it was a modular. I was floored! It totally looked like a normal house, had an attached two car garage, nice deck off the back, etc. She told me that for financing/insurance purposes, it was considered a site built home. I believe that's becuase they are assembled on site (not like mobile homes where they come off a truck all ready, lol!).

If we ever buy again we will most likely do that, as it saves a bunch of money!

Kristi

[mirlee]

Thanks for the responses!

The floor plans for the Ritz-Craft company were quite nice and they allow you to customize to get the house the way you want it. I am sure that comes at a fee, but if all you have to do is pay a little money and the house will be perfect for you, then it is a small price to pay. The only issue we have with this company is that the garage isn't included. A two car garage is essential even if we don't use it as garage space competely. They do have very nice floor plans though.

The Wayne Homes plans were also interesting, though didn't seem to have the same polish as the Ritz-Craft plans. But, again, you can make changes to the plans, such as replacing a wall with colums, and it isn't a big deal. Theh one plan we wanted to do that with was one that nearly everyone who has built that house has done the same thing.

The other thing that is appealing is the price. We would be able to have a house that we can acutally live in and have enough space. Right now we have almost 1,000 sq. ft. I didn't realize how small our house was until we began looking at the plans.

Ruthla, that certainly counts in our house. Schmooey's room is FULL of Lego.

[Rebecca]

Modular homes are 'real' homes. They're just made in a factory rather than stick built on site. In a factory they can control the product better (like it doesn't rain all over your subfloor and studs and warp the wood) and often they can customize it in ways that a team of laborers wouldn't on site. Unlike a mobile home, modulars are made similarly to a 'stick built', and they are not 'mobile' once pieced together. There are some in this area (my girlfriend and her dh just built one) that are very high-end with 3000+ sq ft and you'd never know that they arrived in pieces on a truck unless you were watching it be built.

My dh used to sell Allouette modular homes almost 20 years ago and would recommend them any day. My girlfriend had one built by Epoch. Those are the only ones we know about, but from what we've seen and for the quality of the product, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Modular homes and Mobile/manufactured homes are NOT the same thing.