Financial Information

The construction of a modular home is mostly done in a climate-controlled factory or plant where materials shortages and weather events are less likely to happen. Naturally, this reduces the construction cost and purchase price of the home, and in many cases, it speeds up the construction. Builders of modular homes often have their own in-house inspectors whose task is to ensure quality throughout the construction process.

When it comes to financing, banks generally treat modular homes in the manner like they do to a home that is directly constructed on your land, what is referred to as a "stick-built" home. This means that the value of a modular home tends to appreciate when compared to a mobile home for example. A mobile home depreciates over time as it moves all over the place. A modular home should indeed be viewed just like any other onsite home.

The Foundation Matters
People have for many years assumed that the actual value of a manufactured or modular home depreciates over time. This may not necessarily be a correct assumption because maintenance has also got a major role to play.

For a modular house, if it has been set up on a solid and permanent foundation, properly anchored - it is a good investment. The modular home is not different from any site built home. All things held constant, the modular home will appreciate in value at a rate that is similar to any site built home found in the same locality.

The Cost Advantage
Typically, the cost of modular homes is likely to be significantly lower compared to that of site-built houses. This automatically gives modular homes an instant appreciation between what was the actual cost of the home and its market value.

In a number of cases, a multi-section modular home has ended up selling for more during the second sale time than during the first transaction. When the home is designed well and the construction process is properly managed, it could turn out to be a profitable investment by building your new home for less than the same stick built home.

More Financing Options
Modular homes are financed just like any other real estate construction project. Under state law, when the home is setup on a foundation that is permanent, the land and home are treated like a single piece of real estate. A major advantage of modular homes is that they come with an extra financing option which other types of homes are not in a position of offering. This is financing that is offered through the modular home factory.

Of course a modular home qualifies for standard mortgages and home financing, but in several cases the homes manufacturer offers a deal that is better. The factory needs to stay busy so if you happen upon a lull in new home orders, they may offer you a special discount to keep the factory busy. Always ensure that you carefully read the loan papers, and remember there is no harm in asking your banker to shed more light on financing decisions.

Most are Better than Stick Built Houses
In reality, the majority of manufactured homes have been put together to a quality that is comparatively higher than the standard site-built house. Most modular factories use 2x6 or 2x8 constructions on the exterior walls, which is much stronger than the 2x4 employed in a typical site-built home. Modular factories tend to overbuild the homes like using glue and screws instead of just screws that are used with local builders.

The majority of components utilized in the construction of a modular house are in most cases similar or better to what is utilized in site-built version of homes. This goes to ensure workmanship consistency and quality just like would be found in any site-built home. Naturally, this boosts their value.

More Safety Oriented
Studies have revealed that modular homes are in fact safer compared to most site-built homes in many ways. This is because the modular factory is building for many different states. Instead of building to the lowest standard for each state, it is more efficient to build to the highest building requirements from all of the combined local building codes. For example if another state has a more strict electrical building code, the modular factory will build your home to meet that standard. It is cheaper, easier and safer for the factory to make sure every home they build can be delivered to any state so they simply build to the strictest combined building codes. This results in better homes than the ones that are built to only pass your local building codes.

Final Verdict
There are modular home floorplans in their hundreds to select from. It is possible to get ranch style homes, California bungalows, Cape Cods and even mansions. Because it's possible to fully customize a modular home through ordering the desired design from the home factory and the quality is as good if not better than stick built homes, their value rises over time.