Anyone have an opinion of the quality and durability of a home that is
built in a factory & delivered to your vacant lot versus a 100% on
site, stick built, traditional home?

I purchased a vacant lot and was shopping around the different
builders in the area, when I happened to walk into a manufactured
model of a home. I must say that I was very impressed with the
exterior and interior of the factory built home. This was a Cape Cod
style. I guess I had always assumed that manufactured homes looked
more like 1 or 2 trailers next to one another - not a lot of style or
eye appeal. But that was not the case. The Cape Code was about 2100
square feet and was on sale from $130,000 to an unbeleivably low price
of $110,000. I was with my father who is a craftsman with an eye for
quality, and he was equally impressed (he had never walked thru a
factory built home either). He practically wanted to buy this after
looking through it for a couple hours. Am I wrong to think a
manufactured home will measure up against a site built home both in
curb appeal and durability?

I had planned to sell this home soon after it was completed - do
buyers typically have a negative opinion of manufactured homes? Or if
it looks nice enough and quality was put into the house, then is it a
non-factor?

Final question: does a seller need to disclose to a buyer that a home
is factory built or stick built?

Thanks for the information.

"Todd" bacile99 wrote in message
om...
Anyone have an opinion of the quality and durability of a home that is
built in a factory & delivered to your vacant lot versus a 100% on
site, stick built, traditional home?

I purchased a vacant lot and was shopping around the different
builders in the area, when I happened to walk into a manufactured
model of a home. I must say that I was very impressed with the
exterior and interior of the factory built home. This was a Cape Cod
style. I guess I had always assumed that manufactured homes looked
more like 1 or 2 trailers next to one another - not a lot of style or
eye appeal. But that was not the case. The Cape Code was about 2100
square feet and was on sale from $130,000 to an unbeleivably low price
of $110,000. I was with my father who is a craftsman with an eye for
quality, and he was equally impressed (he had never walked thru a
factory built home either). He practically wanted to buy this after
looking through it for a couple hours. Am I wrong to think a
manufactured home will measure up against a site built home both in
curb appeal and durability?

I had planned to sell this home soon after it was completed - do
buyers typically have a negative opinion of manufactured homes? Or if
it looks nice enough and quality was put into the house, then is it a
non-factor?

Final question: does a seller need to disclose to a buyer that a home
is factory built or stick built?

Thanks for the information.

There is no difference between modular and stick-built, other than build
time, which is shorter with a modular. Anything that can be said of a
stick-built can also be said of a modular. Any feature you want in a
stick-built can be ordered in a modular. Cost is about the same, unless you
figure in build time (and time is money). FWIW, that Cape you mention
sounds really pricey . . . I've seen them for about half that, with the
"catch" being that the second floor is unfinished. Modulars (especially
capes at the low end) start around 60K and go up from there, with the sky
being the limit. I've often seen capes or ranches in the 1800-2000SF range
(3 or 4 bedroom, 2 bath) on sale for 60-80K. These are the no-frills
models, of course. If you want the 8" exterior walls, Andersen windows,
hardwood floors, 50year guaranteed roof, etc, your cost will go up, the same
as it would if you stick-built.

Unfortunately, even though modulars are often built better, they do not seem
to appreciate as well as stick-built. The only downside to modular is if
you want to maximize short-term resale value. We're building modular soon.
But we don't intend to ever sell it, so resale value is not a factor. -Dave

(not top-posting, but due to length of OP, answers are in-line.)
"Todd" wrote in message
om...
Anyone have an opinion of the quality and durability of a home that is
built in a factory & delivered to your vacant lot versus a 100% on
site, stick built, traditional home?

IMHO, having grown up in the stick-built business, few modulars measure up
in quality and 'class'. Having said that, modulars are a whole lot better
than they used to be, and much of their bad rep is due to the 'glorified
mobile home' look of entry level models, with the tell-tale little peak over
the front door, the visible row of siding under the front door, and the
ultra-predictable interior layout and cheap materials and fittings to make
the low price points. High-end modulars overcome at least some of the
40-foot box floorplan problems and dinky roofs, but cost a lot more, almost
as much as stick built.

(snip)
Am I wrong to think a
manufactured home will measure up against a site built home both in
curb appeal and durability?

It depends. A high-end modular will probably be close to a wash in curb
appeal. Durability depends on how well it was built, how well the foundation
was built, and the skill of the crew that placed it, zipped up the seams,
and did the finish work seaming the interior, roof, etc, and stick-building
the garage.

I had planned to sell this home soon after it was completed - do
buyers typically have a negative opinion of manufactured homes? Or if
it looks nice enough and quality was put into the house, then is it a
non-factor?
Around here, modulars are considered a cut below stick-built on the food
chain, and the prices reflect that. Probably less of a consideration for a
high-end modular.

Final question: does a seller need to disclose to a buyer that a home
is factory built or stick built?

Anyone with any construction experience can tell a modular from a
stick-built with a few minutes inspection. Usually, but not always, obvious
from the street. Even on high-end modulars, a few minutes in the basement
and attic to see the joist structure or the patched-in spots in spots in the
foundation where the temporary install beams were placed gives it away.
Wiring and plumbing usually have very obvious umbilicals at the join points
as well. Around here, at least, realtors always list modulars as
'manufactured' in the listing, presumably so people can't claim they were
duped later.

If you decide to go ahead with a modular, make sure they write it up to
include the same level of interior finish as you saw in the model. The
interiors on the cheap ones they push in the ads are not impressive.

aem sends....

"ameijers" wrote in message
...
(not top-posting, but due to length of OP, answers are in-line.)
"Todd" wrote in message
om...
Anyone have an opinion of the quality and durability of a home that is
built in a factory & delivered to your vacant lot versus a 100% on
site, stick built, traditional home?

IMHO, having grown up in the stick-built business, few modulars measure up
in quality and 'class'. Having said that, modulars are a whole lot better
than they used to be, and much of their bad rep is due to the 'glorified
mobile home' look of entry level models, with the tell-tale little peak
over
the front door, the visible row of siding under the front door, and the
ultra-predictable interior layout and cheap materials and fittings to make
the low price points. High-end modulars overcome at least some of the
40-foot box floorplan problems and dinky roofs, but cost a lot more,
almost
as much as stick built.
==
In our case, our stick built was less. I took our specs to a local high
quality
modular builder and he said he couldn't come close to the price we were
getting on the
stick built. Last week I saw a show where a two story modular was being
erected.
They lifted each upper quad (?) section with a crane to rest on the lower
sections.
No one can tell me those sections are not well built. I certainly would not
trust my
stick built (which has built to very good specs) to hold together during
such a maneuver.
I would not hesitate to go with a quality modular builder and may even do so
when we
build our next house in 2-5 years. I like the quality control (I won't have
to be onsite
daily checking on the subs) and there should be fewer weather delays. I
expect construction time to
be less than the 6+ months it took to build the house we are in now. We are
fortunate
enough to have several good mod builders from which to chose so will take
our plans/specs around for
estimates and plant tours at planning time. I expect a custom modular to
cost more than a site built home.
If you haven't checked out modular builders lately, it is worth a look.
Here is a site with several.

http://modular-homes.netfirms.com/index.html
==
==

==
In our case, our stick built was less. I took our specs to a local high
quality
modular builder and he said he couldn't come close to the price we were
getting on the
stick built. Last week I saw a show where a two story modular was being
erected.
They lifted each upper quad (?) section with a crane to rest on the lower
sections.
No one can tell me those sections are not well built. I certainly would
not
trust my
stick built (which has built to very good specs) to hold together during
such a maneuver.

EXACTLY!!! Too many people falsely believe that modular isn't as high in
quality as stick-built. Actually, if you specify the same building
materials, you end up with the exact same home, just a bit stronger. The
problem is, if you accept the default configuration, which is cheaply built.
THEN you might end up with something that compares unfavorably to
stick-built. -Dave

"Dave C." wrote in message
...
==
In our case, our stick built was less. I took our specs to a local high
quality
modular builder and he said he couldn't come close to the price we were
getting on the
stick built. Last week I saw a show where a two story modular was being
erected.
They lifted each upper quad (?) section with a crane to rest on the
lower
sections.
No one can tell me those sections are not well built. I certainly would
not
trust my
stick built (which has built to very good specs) to hold together
during
such a maneuver.

EXACTLY!!! Too many people falsely believe that modular isn't as high in
quality as stick-built. Actually, if you specify the same building
materials, you end up with the exact same home, just a bit stronger. The
problem is, if you accept the default configuration, which is cheaply
built.
THEN you might end up with something that compares unfavorably to
stick-built. -Dave
==
Perhaps, but remember too, there are plenty of home builders who cut
corners and hide
problems that they don't want to take the time to do over. It's frequently
just a
matter of whether the owner or field super is around that day to catch the
problem.
This won't happen with a *good* builder--but it won't happen with a good mod
builder, either.
==

On 3 Jan 2004 20:18:10 -0800, someone wrote:

Anyone have an opinion of the quality and durability of a home that is
built in a factory & delivered to your vacant lot versus a 100% on
site, stick built, traditional home?

Quick answer: for a "standard" type of home (small spans, interior
walls in the usual places, plan breaks down easily into pieces 14 feet
wide or less) a modular can save time & money. For non-standard
and/or quite large designs one would be forcing a square peg into a
round hole to try to do it modular. The main contractor on my (stick)
house also does modular, and it was never a consideration to try it
that way. It was designed stick all the way.

But that's not my main concern, see below.


I had planned to sell this home soon after it was completed -

How do you expect to make money on that? You are not a builder. You
will pay retail for the house to be built and then turn around and
sell it at retail. Where is the profit in that. You might as well go
buy a new car and then turn around and sell it. Why would the buyer
pay YOU, he can just buy his own house and lot, what did you do to add
value? If you are going to sell, why bother to build, just sell the
lot.

If you build houses and sell them you better be a builder, that's
called "spec building" (on speculation) and you obviously are not one.

Never mind mod vs stick, first what is your rationale here?

-v.

I had planned to sell this home soon after it was completed -

How do you expect to make money on that? You are not a builder. You
will pay retail for the house to be built and then turn around and
sell it at retail. Where is the profit in that. You might as well go
buy a new car and then turn around and sell it. Why would the buyer
pay YOU, he can just buy his own house and lot, what did you do to add
value? If you are going to sell, why bother to build, just sell the
lot.

If you build houses and sell them you better be a builder, that's
called "spec building" (on speculation) and you obviously are not one.

Never mind mod vs stick, first what is your rationale here?

-v.

Thanks for everyones' input on this. I received the answers that I
was looking for.

My Dad and can do almost all of the build ourselves - we will sub out
everything we don't want to bother with. We will sub out the
foundation and framing. After that, depending on what price quotes we
get for each job (drywall, electric, plumbing, roof, exterior, etc),
if the price is higher than we like then we will do it ourselves. No,
I am not the builder, the Old Man is. We are shooting for $50 to $60
per square foot building costs and will likely sell for around $80 to
$90 per square foot (similar to prices for housing in that area). We
have done just about everything involved in building a home (excpet
the foundation and an entire frame job) over the years on our own
homes. Now he has just got his builders license, so we are going to
build one to sell. Thanks for your input.

All negative comments and nay-sayers are 100% welcomed to reply! I
love to prove people wrong, and always get a kick out established
builders telling me that I shouldn't even think about building a spec
home.

"Todd" wrote in message
om...
(snip)

Thanks for everyones' input on this. I received the answers that I
was looking for.

My Dad and can do almost all of the build ourselves - we will sub out
everything we don't want to bother with. We will sub out the
foundation and framing. After that, depending on what price quotes we
get for each job (drywall, electric, plumbing, roof, exterior, etc),
if the price is higher than we like then we will do it ourselves. No,
I am not the builder, the Old Man is. We are shooting for $50 to $60
per square foot building costs and will likely sell for around $80 to
$90 per square foot (similar to prices for housing in that area). We
have done just about everything involved in building a home (excpet
the foundation and an entire frame job) over the years on our own
homes. Now he has just got his builders license, so we are going to
build one to sell. Thanks for your input.

All negative comments and nay-sayers are 100% welcomed to reply! I
love to prove people wrong, and always get a kick out established
builders telling me that I shouldn't even think about building a spec
home.

Hey, all you can lose is money. I think that at worst you will break even,
and you will have had a chance to spend Quality Time with the Old Man. (and
that is priceless.) Go for it.

aem sends...

On 7 Jan 2004 09:50:43 -0800, someone wrote:

All negative comments and nay-sayers are 100% welcomed to reply! I
love to prove people wrong, and always get a kick out established
builders telling me that I shouldn't even think about building a spec
home.

Ah now the truth comes out. That's not what you posted, "I am going
to become a spec builder for the first time". Then we would have
wished you luck. Instead you posted as a prospective modular home
buyer.

Looks like you and your Dad are planning mainly to make money on your
own labor, and secondarily on the coordination of trades (not paying a
GC markup to do it for you). That does not match at all with your
post about your Dad loving the modular you looked at. If you buy the
modular there will be much less for you to do, and fewer sub-trades
for you to hire yourself. I suppose you could order a modular as
stripped as possible so as to leave you more to do and get paid for,
but that was not a goal clearly stated in your post.

Now, if you are saying you want to be a modular dealer/builder (who
gets the on-site trades lined up as well as sells the people the
modular house, why that's fine, but again that's not what you posted
about when you went to anther dealer's showroom and looked over their
offerings.

*Building* a spec house yourself is different from buying either a
modular or stick home from a builder and then turning around and
selling it. You did not make clear your intentions.

-v.

*Building* a spec house yourself is different from buying either a
modular or stick home from a builder and then turning around and
selling it. You did not make clear your intentions.

-v.
Yes, sorry about that. Pops and I stumbled upon the factory built
homes this past weekend when we were scouting out local subs and
different home designs. The kicker was we saw a cape cod (I assumed
stick built) next to my vacant property selling for $180,000. Later
that day is when we found the factory built cape cod. Including the
foundation and hook ups, this could have been ours for a total of
$123,000 on my lot in "ready to move in" condition. The only
noticeable difference that I could tell was the $180,000 cape cod
stick-built had a large front porch. Pops noticed a few different
things on the interior, but nothing that looked "bad", only
"different". I was just curious if we went ahead and got the Cape cod
factory built put on my lot and all hooked up if we could turn and
sell it for $160,000 to $170,00. That would be a nice, quick profit
with minimal effort in a short period of time. Your point of "someone
else could just buy land, buy the factory built home from the building
company and have it setup on their land for the same wholesale cost"
is valid. I was curious to know if someone drove by a nice piece of
property with a nice house that caught their eye for a reasonable
price, if they would purchase it, or consider doing the entire setup
from A to Z themselves to save $35,000? If it were me I would choose
to save the $$$, and you sound like the same type of person. But not
everyone has time, resources, or the know-how to find available land
at a good price, purchase it, find a mod home they like and purchase
it, setup the foundation work, then have the home delivered and setup
- all to save $35,000. If you spelled it out like that on paper and
showed it to a consumer, of course they would want to save the money.
But, some people have a set amount of money and if they find something
they like that fits in their budget with minimal time or effort, I
would think they would be happy to purchase the mod home that was
already setup vs doing all the work themselves. But I could be wrong.
Anyways, we were leaning towards doing the stick-built before, and
after doing the research and talking to helpful people like yourself I
think we are still looking to do a stick-built. Thanks for your
input, it helped alot.