Instant House

by | Feb 22, 2011 | Builders, Interesting Houses, Modular Homes, Thinking of Building? | 20 comments

We’ve been following the modular/manufactured home idea, wondering if they will get to the point that they’ll look the same as a stick-built house.  Here’s the latest:

Hat tip to Natalie for the text-alert on the crane showing up today!

20 Comments

  1. Erin
    Erin on February 22, 2011 at 10:38 pm

    Very cool! Hope you are able to get some video of it being put together.
    My aunt and uncle live in a 2 story modular home in Maine they’ve had for, oh I don’t know, at least 15 years. It looks like any of the regular homes on their street, has a garage etc… Not anything like a single-wide trailer.

  2. lgs
    lgs on February 22, 2011 at 10:42 pm

    I may just have to have a modular house for the next one–that seems like pretty good prices for installed. There are lots of lots around VA where I’m moving and doing a “custom” modular house may be a lot more appealing than the standard 50 year old homes, regardless of how well maintained. I’ll be looking in to that!

  3. jerzo
    jerzo on February 23, 2011 at 6:51 am

    My wife and I are currently in escrow on a parcel of land that contains a stick-built main home, and a manufactured guest home. The main home has about 3 times the square footage of the guest home. In order to make the manufactured guest home match the main home a red tile roof and full stucco coats were applied to the manufactured home. Additionally, the manufactured home is bolted to a concrete stem-wall foundation.

    Here’s the rub: In spite of the fact that we have great credit, and are placing a large amount of cash as down payment, it has been very difficult to obtain a conventional loan on this property. Why? We have been told that the main reason is the presence of the manufactured home. The appraisal is fine, no problem there. The guest house is in very good condition, and the only problem appears to be in the “manufactured” name only.

    Apparently, the pendulum has swung at the banks. When given a property that does not fit into their pigeon holes, the bankers don’t know what to do. The lack of available financing has been very frustrating, and something to watch out for.

  4. Nicholas weaver
    Nicholas weaver on February 23, 2011 at 7:03 am

    Is the guest house “Manufactured” or “Modular”?

    Part of the key of the “Modular” is that it is legally considered site build, because it meets the same city-local specs, while “Manufactured” only meets the federal specs as a trailer-park home and is harder to finance.

    These, being modular, are legally treated like stick-built.

  5. Mozart
    Mozart on February 23, 2011 at 8:09 am

    The main drawback to this is that you really can’t take advantage of a site. Will there be windows off the living directed at the ocean view or will it be a small shower window facing west?

    They usually look like they are designed for somewhere cold in the mid-west, not open like it should be in California. More sentimental than functional.

    Better get that foundation precise too.

    I think you will also see the trailer-like qualities up close with emphasis on plastic and faux materials.

    Lastly, how will they hold up? With so many connection points they are bound shift and settle unevenly.

    Probably similar to investing in a new car but instead it’s your home.

  8. Travis
    Travis on February 23, 2011 at 8:34 am

    There was a nice looking modern prefab home installed on Carmel Valley Rd overlooking Torrey Pines lagoon within the last year or two. Maybe Jim featured a short video about it. I don’t think the finish and connections looked plastic or faux.

    I think the time to build on site is much shorter, but there are still several months to have the home built at the factory – especially for some of build-to-order designs that allow for a custom home built out of modular pieces.

  9. Sean
    Sean on February 23, 2011 at 8:49 am

    Any chance of a walk through of the interior on James? Many of the “green” modular models I have seen go for a very modern/contemporary interior design aesthetic.

  11. shadash
    shadash on February 23, 2011 at 8:57 am

    I’ve been looking seriously at modular homes. In SD there’s all kinds of small plots available. Even in established housing tracts. Generally the seller prices the land on what it would take to build a new house on site which generally equals established home values. While this is well and good everyone knows building budgets rarely = the number you’re accounting for. With a modular home it’s much easier to hit a specific build price because you’re dealing with only one or two contractors. Knowing the exact price makes buying land and building a new home much more appealing.

  12. Jinx
    Jinx on February 23, 2011 at 10:23 am

    As someone else brought up…How durable are they?

  13. NateTG
    NateTG on February 23, 2011 at 10:26 am

    I remember walking through Hanford, CA a few years back. The Sears Catalog Homes there seem to have stood the test of time quite well.

    I’ve got to say I’m not a huge fan of the way that other one looked. Makes me think of Darth Vader.

  14. Anonymous
    Anonymous on February 23, 2011 at 11:37 am

    does the one on magnolia have a raised foundation of some sort… kinda looked like a basement… but don’t know that could be?

  15. François Caron
    François Caron on February 23, 2011 at 11:43 am

    I’ve been studying the modular home market here in the province of Quebec for a while now, and unfortunately I can’t seem to find any valid info on the overall quality and reliability of these homes.

    However, over here, if a general contractor were in trouble with the law, all they have to do to escape justice is shut down the old business and start a new one under a different name. So taking into consideration that the same handful of modular home builders are still in business under their original names after decades of operation, that might be a positive indicator as to the overall quality of their homes. They didn’t take the money and run.

    The only real complaint I have with modular homes is that they sometimes look too modern whenever they try to mimic a traditional home style, especially the French Canadian style. Our pioneers did NOT use PVC siding! 🙂

  16. Jinx
    Jinx on February 23, 2011 at 2:07 pm

    The Sears Catalog homes were different. They shipped the house in numbered pieces which you then assembled on site. It looks like these modular homes are mostly assembled elsewhere and then just plopped on your lot.

  18. UCGal
    UCGal on February 23, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    One of the advantages to modular homes here in CA is that they are built to be transported – and handle the vibration of that transport… this translates to earthquake readiness. Since we live in a seismic area – that is a real advantage.

  20. Will
    Will on March 1, 2011 at 8:28 pm

    This home built in 4 months ….the white home next door 18 months. Both are beautiful homes – but why would you spend an additional 14 months doing a job that could be done in 4????

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