My current house is a prefab, modular home. It was trailered up from Indiana. A crane put the pieces together in a day (two halves on the first floor and four dormers on the second floor). The cost of the crane was about $5000. The cost of the 1500 square-foot cape cod was about $130,000. The entire project was around $330,000, but the property was raw land in an unincorporated area, which means there are certain line items that really jack up the bottom line.
We didn't save that much by going with a prefab home. We also didn't save much time, because we got stuck waiting for a sub-contractor and inspector during the finishing process. If I'm not saving money or time, well, what's the point?
It's a decent-quality house; as good as anything built on site. But nothing special. One of the main reasons to go down the pre-fab path at this price range is because there are relatively few custom home builders who will bother with homes that don't cost at least $500,000. Their margins are about 20%, but regardless of the size of the house, they are completing only three or four a year. They need higher top line projects, otherwise the don't see much bottom line.
We didn't save that much by going with a prefab home. We also didn't save much time, because we got stuck waiting for a sub-contractor and inspector during the finishing process. If I'm not saving money or time, well, what's the point?
It's a decent-quality house; as good as anything built on site. But nothing special. One of the main reasons to go down the pre-fab path at this price range is because there are relatively few custom home builders who will bother with homes that don't cost at least $500,000. Their margins are about 20%, but regardless of the size of the house, they are completing only three or four a year. They need higher top line projects, otherwise the don't see much bottom line.