Modular Home Costs (Franklin: credit, calculated, tax)

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by Jerseyt719

I have a piece of land I'm interested in already in Warren County.

I'm not looking for the total cost, land and home. I'm looking for a rough idea of the contractor/finishing costs once the home is purchased.

Just the contractor/finishing costs. I know the house and land are separate.

We looked at a house that was a modular and I wouldn't have known had they not told me. I came on here then to ask if anyone would hesitate in buying one already in place and the general consensus was no hesitation.

I was talking to a realtor after looking at a house that had MAJOR repairs needed and just told him that we were thinking about buying land and putting a modular on it and he said "smart move". I like the fact that the home would be brand new and exactly the way we want it with warranties but I wanted to know the extras involved with the general contractor stuff. I know we can act as our own, but don't really want the headache of coordinating all of that.
If anyone has any experience with this or knows someone that has, ballparks would be greatly appreciated.
Like I said originally, two story colonial style two car garage (done by the modular manufacturer), 4 beds, 2.5 baths.

Thanks everyone.

You may be getting too far ahead of the game.
Do you have a modular company picked out?
If not you really should start there to see if they only sell to contractors they know. Then you check the contractors out to see how they do it.

We were going to do modular but we couldn't find land we liked.
Most modular companies I looked at online had a contractor/area list.

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by Roselvr

You may be getting too far ahead of the game.
Do you have a modular company picked out?
If not you really should start there to see if they only sell to contractors they know. Then you check the contractors out to see how they do it.

We were going to do modular but we couldn't find land we liked.
Most modular companies I looked at online had a contractor/area list.

It does add up huh?
My best questimates would be:
Land $100K
Engineer $5K?
Exc. contractor for fnd and grading $5K to 10Kish
Tree Clearing $5Kish
Fnd. $10K to 20Kish
Septic $30K
Well $5K
Modular???? 150K?
HVAC $15Kish
Electrician $5K to 8K
Permits $15K or more depending on the twp.

Rough Guess... $350K to 375K plus or minus?

[JamesBoyer]

Originally Posted by wileynj

It does add up huh?
My best questimates would be:
Land $100K
Engineer $5K?
Exc. contractor for fnd and grading $5K to 10Kish
Tree Clearing $5Kish
Fnd. $10K to 20Kish
Septic $30K
Well $5K
Modular???? 150K?
HVAC $15Kish
Electrician $5K to 8K
Permits $15K or more depending on the twp.

Rough Guess... $350K to 375K plus or minus?

ok, not being critical at all, just observing.

• Electrician seems to cheep.
• Well seems cheep
• Septic seems cheep
• HVAC a little too expensive, the mod should have the duct work already.

Just for kitchen remodel, changing out electric panel, and running a dedicated line to the second floor we ended up spending almost 10K.

My dads new septic system in Wisconsin was 45K and the well was almost 10K. His stuff was done last year.

[Jerseyt719]

The septic seems about right and so does the well. We had a friend build his own house and those were about the costs.

Really, the electric is a low guess also? The electric is already done in the modular and the electrician needs to hook the panel up and tie everything in.

I think the other poster is right, we need to go to a modular company. They all tell you that you can act as your own general contractor or hire one.

Thanks, wiley. I am going to look at the groundwater contamination issues.
Anyone else have ideas on the costs?

[Jerseyt719]

OH - and what in the world do I need an engineer for?????

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by Jerseyt719

OH - and what in the world do I need an engineer for?????

You need an engineer to do the site plan and sewage disposal system design..then you'll need them or a surveyor to stake out the house corners..possibly do a cut sheet.. may need a topo survey of the property for grading plan, etc. Plus you'll need an "as built" once everything is done to submit to the twp. At least it was done this way back in my day : ) I use to work for a civil eng. firm and residential site plans/septic designs was my specialty : )) I was known as the septic queen..lol : ) The prices I gave you are for a conventional septic and standard well installation.. I would budget plus 20% for unforseen stuff!

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by JamesBoyer

ok, not being critical at all, just observing.

• Electrician seems to cheep.
• Well seems cheep
• Septic seems cheep
• HVAC a little too expensive, the mod should have the duct work already.

Just for kitchen remodel, changing out electric panel, and running a dedicated line to the second floor we ended up spending almost 10K.

My dads new septic system in Wisconsin was 45K and the well was almost 10K. His stuff was done last year.

Not cheap for this area of NJ... you folks in the northeast get special prices because you drive fancy cars..lol : )
And the HVAC isn't too expensive if he goes with 2 zones / 2 systems. Everything is high efficiency now and the cost of the equipment has gone up.

[JamesBoyer]

Originally Posted by wileynj

Not cheap for this area of NJ... you folks in the northeast get special prices because you drive fancy cars..lol : )
And the HVAC isn't too expensive if he goes with 2 zones / 2 systems. Everything is high efficiency now and the cost of the equipment has gone up.

Honestly, don't go with the high efficiancy, at least not the stuff the is 93% and above. The maintanence will more then eat up the savings.

Look into Geo Thermal heating and cooling. What they do is drill wells and extract the heat from the ground. If the ground temp 25 feet down is 55 degrees they can use a heat exchanger to bring that up to 90 to heat your home. I hear estimates of 70% savings over normal high efficiency.

Also do look into the SIPs kits. Even if it is more expensive by 10% to go that way, you will make up the difference in a few years time. Also it is a selling point down the road, and these days, Green sells!!

James Boyer

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by JamesBoyer

Honestly, don't go with the high efficiancy, at least not the stuff the is 93% and above. The maintanence will more then eat up the savings.

Look into Geo Thermal heating and cooling. What they do is drill wells and extract the heat from the ground. If the ground temp 25 feet down is 55 degrees they can use a heat exchanger to bring that up to 90 to heat your home. I hear estimates of 70% savings over normal high efficiency.

Also do look into the SIPs kits. Even if it is more expensive by 10% to go that way, you will make up the difference in a few years time. Also it is a selling point down the road, and these days, Green sells!!

James Boyer

Agreed but only IF he plans on staying in the home for more than 10 yrs. so he can get his money back on the cost of a geo thermal system. If the OP plans on moving again in 5 to 7 yrs. - the next owners will get the savings not the OP.

[JamesBoyer]

Originally Posted by wileynj

Agreed but only IF he plans on staying in the home for more than 10 yrs. so he can get his money back on the cost of a geo thermal system. If the OP plans on moving again in 5 to 7 yrs. - the next owners will get the savings not the OP.

Oh, unless the home is not marketed right he would get paid a good percentage of the geothermal in selling price. Like I said, people are willing to pay for green. If you can show people the benefit, you can sell them on it. Right now, with energy costs the way they are, it is so easy to sell them on efficiency, because it just makes sence.