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This digital document is an article from Hawaii Business, published by Hawaii Business Publishing Co. on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 637 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Remodel behavior: with interest rates at their lowest levels in decades and new home prices rising steadily, more and more homeowners are thinking about home repair and renovation. (Industry Focus: Construction).
Author: David K. Choo
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Remodel behavior: with interest rates at their lowest levels in decades and new home prices rising steadily, more and more homeowners are thinking about … An article from: Hawaii Business
Posted by admin on February 11th, 2010
Myths And Facts About Modular Homes
Posted by admin on January 8th, 2010
A home is one of the largest purchases that someone will make in their lifetime so it’s important to know the facts – all the facts – before buying. Most people will buy a stick-built home just because it’s all they are aware of. But what they don’t know is that they could save money and time by spending a few minutes looking at another option.
Custom modular homes. There are misconceptions around custom modular homes and this article aims to correct that.
Myth: “Custom” means it is expensive, right? After all, if I choose something for my unique needs, it should cost more.
Fact: The buyer works with a designer to take units and assemble them into a floor plan that suits them. In this way, homes are fully customizable. Homeowners can design the house of their dreams. A popular trend among consumers is customization. In many ways, it’s as if businesses must cater to a “niche of one”. Their products and services need to be customizable so that the personal tastes and interests of each individual client can shine through. Look at something as small as an mp3 player, for example. These devices do not just provide music; they’ve become personal statement and even a type of clothing accessory. It’s the same with cell phones. Not only do they display the unique tastes of the individual, but the applications can differ from one phone to the next, based on the interests of each consumer.
Myth: Isn’t a modular home a mobile home?
Fact: No! Modular homes look just like regular homes. They have a foundation, they are 1 or 2 stories, they may have an attached garage. In fact, if you drove down the street, you wouldn’t be able to tell a stick built from a modular home.
Myth: Modular homes are poorly constructed compared to stick built homes.
Fact: Modular homes are, in fact, constructed to be stronger than stick built homes. They’re built in units by professionals (and these professionals are supervised by qualified inspectors). They’re built in a controlled setting which means that the building materials stay dry (wood doesn’t warp and insulation doesn’t lose its R value that way). And, they come with a 10 year warranty, compared with most 1 year warranties that come with a stick built home.
Myth: Stick built homes are easier to build.
Fact: While it may seem that way because materials are brought to the site and assembled there, it actually takes far more work. Every delay – from weather to crew problems – pushes the project back, and that is costly and management-intensive. However, a modular home is built in a setting that is not weather-dependent. Rain or shine, dry home modules are built! Then, they are assembled onsite in just a couple of days.
Myth: Modular homes are less efficient because they are modules that are stuck together.
Fact: Modular homes are more efficient. A recent study shows that modular homes exchange the air only 7 times per hour while a stick built home exchanges air 11 times per hour. That will translate into real savings on heating and cooling costs. And, because the home is built in a weather-free setting, insulation doesn’t lose its R-value by getting wet.
A customized home at a low cost that is built faster and more efficiently than a stick built home? Wow! It can’t get better than that. Actually it can: these homes are also better on the environment.
About Modular Homes
Posted by admin on January 8th, 2010
Aren’t modular homes the same as mobile homes? Not by a long shot! Modular homes are a revolutionary new product for the new home construction industry. Have you seen videos or television depictions of a state-of-the-art automobile manufacturing plant? If you have, imagine a brand new home being built the same way. But instead of the final home product being of a lesser quality, the home is built better and in less than half the time compared to standard new home construction. If you can envision this, then you are beginning to get the concept of modular homes.
Modular homes are more than 80 percent constructed in a large factory indoors away from the elements of the weather. The completed modular are then loaded onto a truck and lifted onto a foundation where the new homeowner awaits the finishing touches to complete the construction. Because the modules are transported to the site, the durability and strength have to be greater than a home built on-site. Estimates indicate these homes are therefore 20 percent stronger than your typical “site-built” home. Modules are then secured together with water, electricity, and sewage “tied in” after it has arrived. By the end, no one can tell the difference between a modular home and a site-built home.
But I am sure the designs are limited with this type of construction, right? Nope. Any design can be made into a modular home. Whether you bring plans to a modular home manufacturer, or select from the thousands of designs available, your dream home can be constructed by modular technology. Design architects who create wonderful modular homes are abundant, and many have selectively embraced this new method of home building. Having the ability to provide the homeowner with vast choices in design while saving resources in energy, labor, time and materials makes modular homes an easy choice.
Not only are modular home stronger than site-built homes and equal in design choices, but they cut the time of construction by more than half. Having the ability to work in a factory enables construction to be most efficient. No rain delays or freezing temperatures, no scheduling conflicts with subcontractors between different jobs, and no lost tools or having to travel to different job sites. Some large manufacturers produce as many as 6 to 8 homes a week. In the end, the homeowner wins because there is less time for construction loans to accrue interest and less time needed to pay for temporary housing during construction. Time is money.
Not only do modular homes save time and relate costs, but the total costs for a new home identical to a comparable site-built home is 10 to 20 percent less. These savings are immediately appreciated, but they are also a nice surprise when you plan to sell your home later. Modular homes accrue value as well (if not better) than site built homes, so putting in less money on the front end increases your equity on the back end. All in all, modular homes make perfect sense. If you are in the new home market, you should strongly consider modular home construction.
