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It seems since housing prices have gotten so expensive, I see people trying different ideas to own a home. One example is they purchase a modular building that used to be a classroom or an office and convert it into a house. The final cost is well below what you can build a traditional house for. The building is solid and built to the same standards of a stick built dwelling. (not a HUD home like a mobile home) It's already plumbed and wired too. Is this really a wise investment? What about resale in the future?
To me a modular home is a traditional stick framed building that's fabricated in sections in a controlled environment (a big warehouse or shop), then shipped and assembled on site. There really is no difference between that and a site built house. The savings comes from efficiency of construction and assembly. Also, the house can be ready to occupy faster.
The temporary classrooms and offices you referred to are typically office trailers, which are just mobile homes fitted out differently.
I can't comment of if it's a wise investment or not, but a modular home should have resale value similar to a comparable traditionally built home.
If you’re referring to buying a modular classroom or construction field office units, you still need the land, a foundation, utilities, along with modifications to comply to residential codes, etc. So where are the savings?
From what I've seen of mods during their builds (used to work next to a fab location) and in doing things like maintenance on them, they are much more lightly built than even budget residential construction, particularly the trusses and roofing.
I think any small savings in buying prefab modules would be eaten up by joining/updating them to meet all code (as Rickcin said), and with heavy maintenance and loss of structural integrity within a lifespan much shorter than stick-built (10 years? 15 before complete overhead replacement?)
It really depends.
If you are buying a used one, you will need a house mover to get it to your new place. If the home itself was in good shape, and the moving costs were not that much, you might save some money.
The site work, foundation, utilities will be the same as building from scratch.
In a past life, I coordinated moving school portables around southern CA. We moved 30x30 and 30x40 buildings all over Los Angeles County.
On another project we contracted with a modular building company to provide new buildings. These were built inside a factory with a OSA State Inspector (Office of the State Architect) on site, signing off on construction. Modular buildings are actually build a little stronger in some ways to accommodate the earthquake like loads they encounter on trucks bringing them to the site.
Some modular buildings have an interesting roof truss system that actually lays flat during transport, then folds up into portions. Not flimsy at all, just look kind of weird. They are well engineered./
There is a huge difference between mobile and modular as well.
However, unless you are getting the building really cheap, and its close by. the savings may not be that great.
Also, at least in Tennessee, you have to disclose the building was not a site built building
Thanks for the responses. The other question would be, would it appraise like a modular/stick built home if it met all codes?
Appraisers don’t care about “codes”, they care about perceptions of value amongst the largely uninformed general public. Much of the public has been enthralled by the myth that old = quality, and conversely, that anything not built on site is a “trailer”.
You’re literally looking at fifty years of propaganda and counter-propaganda, good ideas and terrible ones, all mixed up into a dog’s-breakfast that is nearly impossible to dig yourself out of.
The “manufactured home” industry is responsible for much of the confusion- trying to attach the “modular” attributes to “trailers” and subsequently de-valuing anything that isn’t built on site by the local alcoholics union.
I had the unique opportunity 20+ years ago to help my parents with purchasing and setting up a “modular” home that was delivered on a “trailer”.. It met all the same codes as any “stick built” house would have been required to meet (exceeded many of them as well) - to this day, there are still doubting questions from insurance companies, appraisers, tax authorities, and contractors coming out to make repairs.
At the time, the company that built the parent’s house made both “hud code” trailers and “state code” modulars - you paid significantly more to get a house made to the state building code, and I’m not certain that there was or is a benefit.. real estate agents and bankers and insurers just assume “it’s a trailer” and go off on fishing expeditions looking for titles and stickers in the kitchen cabinets and steel beams in the basement. Even a package of blueprints and original building permits often won’t shut them up.
Short answer: the building code is irrelevant, as evidenced by old homes made of old pallets and billboards carrying the mystique of “quality craftsmanship”. Appraisers aren’t going to tell you that 2x6” floor joists 24” apart equals a terminally bouncy/squeaky floor and that you would be better off in a house that came with Michelins. They’re simply going to pull a big number out of their behinds as a deduction against the value of the property and let you prove them wrong.
Thanks for the responses. The other question would be, would it appraise like a modular/stick built home if it met all codes?
A modular home is NOT the modular offices you're talking about. The modular offices are more of a manufactured home which are commonly referred to as trailers. They do NOT appreciate. They depreciate. They do not appraise the same a modular or stick built home. They're not considered to be the same thing by banks or the government.
Thanks for the responses. The other question would be, would it appraise like a modular/stick built home if it met all codes?
No. There would be no appraisal at all. The appraiser wouldn't even get out of his/her vehicle upon arrival!
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