Buying a Modular Home

 

BILL: I’m thinking about buying a modular home and I was just trying to weigh the differences between a modular and a stick-built home.

 

TOM: OK.

 

BILL: And that would be in three different categories: one would be cost; the next would be structural integrity; and then the third being resale. And I was just wondering if you guys could help me out on that.

 

TOM: Well, I think, first of all, that modular homes can be as well built if not better built than conventional stick-built homes. The reason for that, Bill, is because they’re constructed in a factory where …

 

LESLIE: In a controlled environment.

 

TOM: Yeah, the quality is totally controlled. You know, they’re going to manufacture the wall exactly to what it needs to be without having to worry about weather and material fluctuations and things of this nature. You know, those modular companies also have very good buying power because they’re just buying a lot of lumber all at the same time; not just one house at a time but tens and hundreds of homes at a time. So I think the quality is really quite good.

 

BILL: Great.

 

LESLIE: And as far as resale value, I think, you know, modern homebuyers are really open to a good-quality home, good construction, energy efficiency. And if the home offers all of that, I don’t think it matters to them if it’s modular or stick-built. As long as it meets the criteria for energy efficiency, carbon output, are we being environmentally conscious, I think it really does make a good effort if the home is just well put-together regardless of how it’s built.

 

TOM: And Bill, I can tell you, after being a home inspector for 20 years, that very many times I would inspect homes and I’d be the first one to tell the prospective homebuyer that it was a modular home. They’d have no idea because it’s just not that obvious.

 

BILL: OK, well great. That helps a lot. I appreciate it.

 

TOM: Alright, Bill. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.