I was on one of my other forums earlier today and I came across this:

http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/fablist/146-Breezehouse-fablist/breezehousestatus.htm

This pre-fabbed house will cost you about 140k. Just buy a patch of land and presto.

From what i've read so far, these aren't like cheapo trailers. They're built in controlled environments and quality control has gotten a ton better over the years.

I will definately take this into consideration when I start looking for a house, hopefully next year.

Opinions?

don't houses need to have a solid underground foundation to be steady? it seems strange to just drop a house on a plot of land.

the house in those pics looks a little cheap and cheezy if you ask me...

I haven't read too much into it yet, but from what I can tell, if the company approves the land, you're golden.

They have some others that don't look quite as cheesy. That one above has a pretty nice interior, so does the one below...

I liked this one:

http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/fabzone/136-NOWHouse/NowHouse%20status.htm

The exterior isn't too bad, but I only look at the house when i'm coming and going :D Interior looks pretty damn good too.

Also, I found a book called "Case Study Houses" that apparently discusses these types of homes. I'm gonna give it a read and see if this is as good as it's cracked up to be. Right now, I don't see many drawbacks.

don't houses need to have a solid underground foundation to be steady? it seems strange to just drop a house on a plot of land.

the house in those pics looks a little cheap and cheezy if you ask me...
I'm sure they don't just drop'em on the ground....They must(building code) build some sort of foundation the pre-fab sits on.
I don't think they look cheap and cheezy....just 'contemporary';). But for $140k, I would think you could build a house traditionally for the same price(sans property).

140k doesn't buy much house around here, and cost of living is pretty cheap in South Carolina. If you buy 140k with land, you're getting the true definition of a "Starter house".

Well I guess i'll re-word that...

140k doesn't buy you much house with land here in South Carolina.

RRJ is building his house from scratch for $187K....4 bedrooms with a HUGE 2 car garage...in WA. I'm sure you could build something nice in SC for $140k.

^ Yeah, I had to re-word what I said. I'm sure 140k will get you a good bit without land.

Pre-fab houses are fine. Just make ABSALUTELY SURE you're dealing with a quality vendor.

140k doesn't buy much house around here, and cost of living is pretty cheap in South Carolina. If you buy 140k with land, you're getting the true definition of a "Starter house".




Well looks like someone either needs to start looking into starter homes or start making mor3e money.

You'll need:

a plot of land
the land has to be surveyed
septic - not only the tank, but in most states, the land has to be approved by the state/county
foundation - YES, You MUST have one
the house
shipping costs
construction costs

You are still gonna be looking at spending $180,000 to $200,000. Sometimes, the shipping and construction are included in the cost of the house, sometimes they aren't. Even things like the deck, or the fireplace are sometimes considered upgrades and can only be included in your home for an additional cost. It all really depends on the vendor. Be sure you do your research before you settle or sign a contract.

Autoclave aerated Concrete pwns all.

In principle, prefab makes a lot of sense. Bringing all the raw materials to a site to fab a house makes as much sense as building a car from scratch in your driveway. Cost is higher, quality control is lower.

I dunno why they don't pre-fab walls, complete with insulation, wiring, etc. installed, to 'flat ship' to the foundation site, then click the walls in place and lower the roof on top.

dp

RRJ is building his house from scratch for $187K....4 bedrooms with a HUGE 2 car garage...in WA. I'm sure you could build something nice in SC for $140k.



And where in Washington? I'm betting that it's not in the Seattle area...

Definately not in Redmond or Bellevue, thanks to Gates and friends.......

And where in Washington? I'm betting that it's not in the Seattle area...He lives in the sticks, and it's an uninspired box with a medium sized garage.

certainly not the the grand mansion of monopoly man :DWhy Mark, is that your jealousy making another guest appearance?

trailer.

trailer.
Trailer or not, I would live in one of those(Location depending). I would rather build my own house.

no, it's your arrogance/condescension making it's usual oneEvidently you haven't seen the pictures. I was just telling the truth.

Of course, you weren't here to see Josh shoot himself in the foot and forfeit any tolerance for bragging about his precious box either...

The only thing you have to worry about when it comes to prefab is the perception of people when you go to sell your house.If the puplic thinks they are crap it won't matter how well it is built.

I'll have to look into this a lot more before I really consider buying one as my first home. I'm more than sure it's worth a look, but I really need to find out more.

Oh well, I have plently of time.

I deal with modular homes very extensively, since we finance them. I've got a large network of dealers up here, and I'm sure I could point you in the right direction down there as well. The absolute best manufacturers in the business right now would be Palm Harbor, R-Anell, Commodore, and Liberty.

One piece of advice I can give, is to make sure that dealer is a licensed contractor. That way you are getting a quality job, rather than having some dipshit with a crew of Mexicans setting your house up.

Other than that, they are great quality. As a matter of fact, most modern modular homes blow site-built homes right out of the water. There is just no comparison at all. And as far as resale goes, don't even worry about it. 99% of the people on this planet would not be able to tell a modular from a site built home, provided it's done correctly.

And no, it's not a trailer. Most have basements, second floors, and some pretty crazy floor plans. They are better built and most times more nicely equipped than site built houses.

The frame work on a lot of these site built houses are prefab now. If you want a quality home buy an older one. I had one built sometime in the 40's . The frame was all redwood unlike new homes that use cheap pine. The roof was all 2X6 instead of partical board. These new homes are thrown together in 6 weeks or less from the time the foundation is poured till you can move in.

6 weeks is a bad thing? Around these parts, homes were built in a few weeks even decades ago using 'balloon construction' - building and insulating the entire outside first, then putting up interior walls, staircases, etc. (mainly so a house could be started in fall and completed even if there was a heavy snowfall)

I don't see anything wrong with prefab, but the savings isn't as great as you might think, at least up here. I personally would rather spend a little more and get an older home in an established neighbourhood. Where I'm renting now is filled with well-maintained character style 1920's homes, mature elm trees and nice parks. Once I'm more established I'd definately look into buying here rather than a new development out in the sticks somewhere where there are no mature trees and the houses all look alike.

A friend of mine just got a house in the sticks. It's a crappy house, but he got 1.5 acres for 43k, so he pretty much got the house thrown in for free.

He's thinking about tearing down the house and buying a prefab.

I personally would rather spend a little more and get an older home in an established neighbourhood. Where I'm renting now is filled with well-maintained character style 1920's homes, mature elm trees and nice parks. Once I'm more established I'd definately look into buying here rather than a new development out in the sticks somewhere where there are no mature trees and the houses all look alike.

I agree 100%. I live in a historic district and wouldn't have it any other way. If anything, I want to move further into downtown. They're puhing out all he trash and renovating everything.