Does anyone have experience with buying a new construction manufactured or modular home?

Fireballsocal

Fireballsocal

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I'm thinking outside of the box a bit and have been interested in manufactured or modular housing. New construction, to be placed on my private land on a permanent foundation. As I understand, a modular home will be built to local building codes, be worth more upon completion, and will appreciate much like a normal stick built home. A manufactured home seems to be of differing opinions and is built to HUD specs, not local codes. Some say that once it is mounted on a permanent foundation, it is considered "real property" and appreciates in value however not at the same rate as a stick built. Some say they never appreciate, only depreciate. I don't know what to believe. 

  These manufactured houses are highly customizable, and vary in quality from junk with 1X2 interior walls and formica cabinets to build quality rivaling mid line stick built homes. I'm confident that I can spec out a manufactured or modular to be well built. 2X8 or 2X10 floor joists, 3/4" tongue and groove OSB flooring, 2X6 exterior walls with R40+ ceiling insulation, etc. The way the information is presented from all of the manufacturers makes me wary though. It seems they go out of their way to not provide construction specs, pricing (Though I'm sure that goes way up and way down depending on supply/demand) or allow real reviews. 

  So what is your informed opinion of manufactured and/or modular homes?

 
Pretty familiar with this subject but not so much on the appreciation side of things been doing foundation for them for the last 16 years like you said some are really nice some not so much here in NV they have to be built for zones wind/snow load /temperatures generally the only difference between mobile and modular were electrical and plumbing where done by license people.lots of difference in manufacturers some leave frame on some take off and set on stud walls 

 
Justdirt said:
Pretty familiar with this subject but not so much on the appreciation side of things been doing foundation for them for the last 16 years like you said some are really nice some not so much here in NV they have to be built for zones wind/snow load /temperatures generally the only difference between mobile and modular were electrical and plumbing where done by license people.lots of difference in manufacturers some leave frame on some take off and set on stud walls 
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Do you handle just the digging and fill or do you pour foundations also? I wanted as low to the ground as possible and one of the sales people recommended a low profile permanent foundation at anywhere from 9-20K. She said that would place the home 8" above grade. 

 
The Ex wife's friend has one in Prescott Valley. Looked nice from the outside guess it was one of the nicer ones. Looked like a real house. Until you walked in then you could tell. 

 
I looked into these for a property I have, over $200 a square foot. I’m waiting for prices to drop and build it myself at a target of $90 a square foot. 

 
I looked years ago at doing this, out west of Phoenix before it ever was built up.

I know at the time, the manufacturer that seemed best IMHO (that was available in AZ) was Silvercrest.

https://www.silvercrest.com/

Like I said though, this was years ago - I have no idea now?

They surely were not "cheap" but you could tell that too when you walked in compared to the normal, run of the mill, next to the free way mobile home units.

IIRC, Jimmy Miller's parents (of Jimmy & Kelly...lol) bought one for their property outside Yuma - but I could be completely wrong on that.

Definitely lots of research and time to find the right builder for you.

 
I have a manufactured home on a weekend place we have. It has appreciated just as well as the stick built houses in our community. It's all relative to the starting value of course. Manufactured houses are generally going to cost less so the total dollar value appreciation will be less but should be on par as a %. 

Both manufactured and modular have come a long way from what they used to be. You can still buy relatively cheap versions or better, higher dollar. Modular especially has a wide range of what you can get. 

You mentioned putting it on a foundation which is a good thing. In many areas, banks will not give you a loan if you don't have a foundation. Even if you don't need a loan, it could reduce your buyer pool when time comes for resale if someone can't get a loan. 

 
Fireballsocal said:
Do you handle just the digging and fill or do you pour foundations also? I wanted as low to the ground as possible and one of the sales people recommended a low profile permanent foundation at anywhere from 9-20K. She said that would place the home 8" above grade. 
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I understand trying to keep it a low profile and I understand "bypassing" local/county rules.  Just a couple comments/questions.  What does the drainage look like in the area?  Have you checked to see if you are in a flood plain?  8" might be cutting it a little close.  Yes, as you raise it, you will either have to bring in dirt or some other material to help match the foundation and grade around the house.  ALSO, if you are thinking of just stealing dirt, IE grading extra dirt around your property to make that work, it can lead to issues with simple permits with the county later down the road, as they like to monitor previous aerial mapping and then ding you for everything on a, lets say, a wall or gate permit or septic or propane or whatever cant be included in the modular building.  

The reasons I ask is so that you dont back yourself into a corner.  Im working with a client right now on county land outside of Phoenix.  Had a fence permit.  Decided to construct a block wall.  Added some lights.  Brought in some connexes, also poured a little foundation.  Now they are trying to get permits for a house.  Block wall not permited, lights not permited, size of connexes not permited, same with foundation.  Its a mess and they are talking about jsut selling the property WITH the issues cause they dont want to deal with it.

 
A long time ago, one of my wife's friends bought a modular home and we stayed with them for a week. I was very impressed with the fit and finish and the price. It was just over 2,000 sft with a very large kitchen and a huge master suite, with a walk in closet, a huge bathroom and a whirlpool tub big enough for two. They had solar tube skylights in the master bath, the hallway and in the kitchen. Her husband showed me the house was so airtight, you couldn't slam the front door. It would get within a couple of inches of the frame and slow down and stop just before the jam.

If you can get in touch with Tim Mesic, he's an expert on all of the different brands on the market, he could tell you which ones are the best and which to stay away from.

 
We have a 1978ish modular home sitting on a walk out finished basement. About 2100sqft. It was pretty original when I bought it 20 years ago for 187k. I did a light redo when I bought it and a complete custom remodel 11 years ago with out add ons or structure changes. You would never know it was a modular on the inside. I'd say I've spent less than 100k on the remodel 900sqft deck, 2 car detached garage and detached work shop.

Just looked and Zillow says it worth 591k.  

 
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