The Truth About Modular Homes

If you've ever considered buying a modular home, this is worth the three minutes it takes to read.

People often think the differences between having a home built and buying a modular home are price and speed.  There are striking differences, but it's NOT in the price or the speed. 

Most new homes in America are built “on-site,” meaning they are built on a lot from the ground up.  Often referred to "stick-built", it's a method of building that provides start-to-finish completion of the home with minimal involvement of the customer in the actual construction or construction management of the home.

When stick-building a home on-site, you work with a builder, like us, a single point of contact who manages the entire project from permitting through finish and move-in.

Modular homes, on the other hand are typically built in a factory or warehouse from pre-designed or “cookie-cutter” plans.  They are built in sections, loaded on trucks and placed on site with a crane. 

All modular companies operate a little different from each other, but basically when you buy a modular home you are buying a “product” and the delivery of that product, the price of which does not include all the required components of the construction project.  That’s where all the so-called “savings” in buying a modular goes right out the window. 

Besides buying the home/unit itself, you need all the other contractors and subcontractors required to complete and finish the home.  That is not part of that "low price" that attracted you to the modular dealer. 

In fact, before the modular sections can even be delivered you are required to hire contractors to clear the land, prepare it for construction, install a driveway base,and install a foundation to place the house on, something the modular company is not always involved with.  Then once the sections are delivered, they are bolted and nailed together and the seams inside are finished.  At this point the modular company’s job is complete... but the project and the home is not. 

Now you have to finish the home, add decks, a gravel driveway, a septic system, gutters, landscaping, back-fill and grading and make whatever interior finishes are necessary that were not completed under your contract with the modular company.

So, the important distinction is in the execution and management of the project, not the price or speed.

People who buy a modular unit are either forced to manage the construction project themselves, with limited guidance from the modular company, a daunting task to say the least, or hire a general contractor to oversee the entire process, which adds significantly to the cost.

Unlike modular units, stick-built homes are designed specifically to the wants and needs of the customer.  They have the enormous benefit of flexible floor plans, features and design,  and they can be scaled up or down in size. 

Unlike modular homes, the design and space can be customized in every detail, and depending upon your builder, often at no additional cost.

Modular homes do not share this same level of flexibility in design.

Modular homes seem less expensive and are therefore attractive from a marketing standpoint.  It's that "low price" that draws you in to begin with and makes you think your getting more home for less money.  But it's just not true.

The base price of the unit seems inexpensive as houses go, but in reality the price you see is just for the unit, not the construction of a completed home and everything that it requires.  Once you add in every other component of construction to get you a home you can actually move in to, you are going to spend much more than you thought, and more often than not, much more than it cost to construct a stick-built home.

Some modular homes blend into a neighborhood well and others do not.  When you're driving around you can identify some modular homes because they are often these plain, boxy homes that seem to be missing decks and other exterior features.   Why is that?  Because by the time they got to that point, the homeowners were out of money and could not afford the decks.   So thing like decks, landscaping, finished driveways and other expendable features went unfinished.  Sad, but true.

Modular home manufacturers claim that building a modular home is faster. That’s rarely the case because by comparison, framing a home on-site is done in as little as three days!  That's not an exaggeration.   Then there's two days required for roofing and siding.  By comparison, having a modular unit delivered and assembled takes about two days.  Not a big difference.

Some people think modular homes are built faster simply because they seem to instantly appear.  The fact is, the unit (which you prepaid for) was being built in a factory somewhere long before it arrived on site.  Sounds great, except before and after that unit arrives all the other parts of the building process still need to be considered, paid for and completed.  That includes such things as lot clearing, driveway installation, septic installation, excavation, foundation or basement, utilities, decks, grading, etc. 

The truth is that there is absolutely no time difference in any of the other components or requirements of the construction project between stick-built and modular homes.

.

Building a stick-built home on-site efficiently involves planning the entire process from start to finish, managed by one builder (like us).  Modular companies sell homes as a product, which gets delivered and assembled by the company or its own general contractor.  They are not typically involved in the entire project, have no responsibility for the completion of the home project or for obtaining your certificate of occupancy. 

Usually they refer you to a general contractor to take on all the other parts of the construction process, unless you want to do it yourself, that is.  Those costs are NOT included in the price of the home. 

Suddenly the price of that great, new home doesn't seem so great.

In some cases, they give you a line-by-line breakdown of costs or approximate costs, and hire the general contractor who they farm the management and hiring of other subcontractors to.  This can be a very multi-layered and disjointed relationship for home buyers.  Who is working for whom often becomes a guessing game.

Every customer wants the freedom to make changes to home plans.  Customizing them to meet specific needs gives you the house you want, the way you want it.  All of our clients are able to do that.  Whether they modify our floor plans, have plans of their own, or have plans they’ve seen online, we welcome the opportunity to design and customize homes for our customers.  That’s not something modular home companies can do.

Ironically, on occasion we even get modular unit plans that people want us to stick-build so they can customize them, something that modular home companies can’t do well either. 

The fact is there are severe limitations as to how and if a modular unit can be customized.  Remember, these units and their components have to be sized to be shipped on a truck, assembled on site, and fit together exactly in accordance with predetermined specifications.  Modular units are just not conducive to changes or customization like stick-built homes are.

So while modular units are well built and meet building code, they are more like mobile or manufactured homes in that they are fixed in their designs, are limited in their ability to be modified, and are built in a factory setting.

Site built homes can be built just about anywhere.  That’s not the case for modular homes. 

Modular home sites have to be relatively level and made easily accessible to the enormous trucks and cranes that are required to transport and set the parts of the unit.  This may even involve building bigger, more expensive construction roads or driveways to support the heavy machinery.

It’s also worth noting that many towns and private communities have restrictive zoning rules, regulations and covenants that may limit the ability to erect a modular unit.  And certain times of the year roads are closed to very heavy equipment, which may put off your plans for months at a time.

What!  Pre-pay?

Unlike stick-built homes, modular homes require big deposits and require that you pay in full before the unit is delivered. 

At Great Pocono Homes, we don’t take any deposits… and you only pay for work AFTER it is completed. In that regard, we are unlike nearly ALL Pennsylvania builders.

Financing modular units can also be more complicated.  Not all lenders finance modular homes.  And when you go to sell the home, you are required to disclose that the home is indeed modular.  That alone brings the value into question.

So as you can see, buying a modular unit isn’t as inexpensive or as simple as the ads make it out to be. 

You should know the pros and cons and decide for yourself what type of experience you want and how involved you want to actually be in the construction of a new home, in dealing with subcontractors, and in getting your home project completed. 

At Great Pocono Homes, that's our job.

At Great Pocono Homes, the price you see here is the price you pay.   No gimmicks, no hidden costs.