Modular Homes in Southwest Utah (Vernon: hardwood floors, real estate, prebuilt)

[Aerorick]

I, and I'm sure others, would love to read about Utah residents experiances with shopping, buying and having a modular home installed on thier property. We have experiance with just the shopping part in Iron County.

[Bridget]

I will have to let you know what my sisters experience is when it is done. I think they will be starting by the end of the month in Vernon, UT. She was going to build a carriage house and it was turning into a lot of expense and a nightmare so she went with the modular home instead and was really pleased with the floor plan she found. I will have to let you know if she ends up experiencing any difficulty along the way.

[Aerorick]

Please, and this is only my opinion, have your sister consult a lawyer and NOT sign anything or give a deposit for a modular until then. It's based on personal experiance. A modular is NOT like one of the "mobile homes" that are rolled into a park and put up on blocks and skirted. They are prebuilt homes that require the same foundation, permits, electrical, water and sewer hook- ups as a site-built home. They have to transported from where they're built, often Idaho or Arizona, and then set-up. Some dealers don't tell you that until you commit a check of thousands to "Hold" the price. If you do that you have to stick with them for the whole process or you lose the money. And they are not contractors. But they know contractors who will do it for you. They also are not licensed real estate agents. But the home is no differant from buying or building one. Please, ask the same questions as if you were buying or building a new home.

[toby04]

I think modular and mobile homes are two different things. I know of a "modular" home out here that was built many years ago. A foundation was poured and walls, trusses and roof panels brought out and assembled on site. You would now look at it and think it was "stick built".
10 years ago my father in law purchased a new double wide mobile home. He had delivered in two parts and had it set up. He had cement "strips" poured and tie downs set in the concrete, then had the tongue and wheels removed, this made it a permanent fixture. Big difference when selling or financing.
It was a huge headache trying to get the work done in our rural area.
Last time I checked Iron County code, your home must be at least 14 feet wide, no single wides. Forget legally moving an older trailer on to your property, you will not get approved, although many here do it illegally.
As far as construction of mobiles, they are built on an assembly line under controlled enviroments, usually 2x4 walls. They upcharge on the packages, better carpet, appliances, etc. Some say the quality control is better.

[coolcats]

I was in two different homes recently. Both beautiful homes, nicer than my own. It turns out they were both modular homes. One was built at the state prison of all places. The pieces were then brought to the building site.

The second home was built in a similar manner, but built by the Salt Lake Community College's trade school programs. In both cases I would have never guessed they were not regular stick builds. They had high end features -- nice hardwood floors, cabinets, crown molding etc.

[Aerorick]

I never said the modulars weren't beautiful. And they are built to specific codes for where they're being set-up. But I was advising based on my experiance that if people go into a dealership they ought to know that the only differance between a modular and a site-built house is that a modular is put together somewhere else and brought to the site. You still need everything else nessesary in place before exactly as if you were building a custom house. And that part isn't any cheaper just because your going to put a modular on it. And salespeople we talked to don't tell you that a $60,000 modular can easily cost $60,000 in site preperation before you can even have it delivered.