They devalue, like a car. Build small, plain, and conventional. Whatever you can afford now. Expand as needs and budget allow expansion. Just design the small for now so that it *can* be expanded.

We were planning a modular home and have two friends in our town who have recently built one (one is waiting for her CO any day now). You truly can not tell the difference once they are built. The only reason we pivoted to a stick built was because the modular factories were backed up after COVID closedowns in 2020. Also our price was the same for modular vs stick built. Our plan was a modular plan. A manufactured home is very different- I know in the NE were I live they are not regarded as a permanent property. All homes in my area need to be built on a full basement foundation no slabs.

Manufactured homes can be real (permanent) property just like modular or stick built homes. Generally if the manufactured homes is on personally owned property, on a permanent foundation, has permanent utility hooked up, and unmovable (wheels and axial removed) it is considered real property. Requirements varies state to state. If it doesn't meet the above requirements then it is considered personal property and titled through the DMV. Real property manufactured homes have real estate deeds , pay taxes, insured, increase or decrease in value depending on the current real estate market, and can have a mortgage just like a stick built or modular home.

Stick built, modular, and real property manufactured homes usually increase in value. One difference is where they are assembled. A stick built is assembled on site, a modular is partially assembled off and partially on site, and a manufactured home is assembled off site. Another is stick built and modular homes use local building codes and manufactured homes use HUD building codes.

Our camp (second home) in the NE is a manufactured home and is real property. I call it our hybrid home. . It has part block crawl and part block basement foundation, stick built add on living room , nice size concrete covered porch and the hot water tank and well pump are in the basement, but the furnace and electric panel are still upstairs. We bought it in August of 2020 and it has appreciated $11,700.

Thank you! If your friend builds homes that can be installed in Washington State, please put them in touch with me!

Glori-

I heard back from my friend. Unfortunately, he is working on other types of construction because Covid has completely messed up the supply chain for his modular builds.

I watched a very interesting "Grand Designs"program years ago - a German company building a modular home in the UK. Well designed, well built, just a lot of pre fab rather than on-site framing. They put the house up on a prepared slab in 4 days, ready for plumbing and electrical. I can't imagine any reason why that particular home would have been any less valuable, or depreciated any more than a stick built home. Manufactured is a different kettle of fish.

I'm a retired inspector and plans reviewer, well experienced in both industries. I started in mobile homes back in 1973 when mobile homes were built under the A119.5 code and have certifications thru ICC in all areas of construction, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and energy (both residential and commercial). I have conducted literally thousands of inspections and plan reviews.

Manufactured housing is built to a federal construction code. It allows for materials and construction methods not permitted in modular construction.

Modular construction is based on national building codes (IRC, NEC, etc.), the same as your state and county site-built codes. In modular construction, the home is built in a factory, and is considered as as an element of the completed home. (Manufactured Homes are stand alone construction, completely finished when it reaches the homesite).

Modular housing is better. Better materials, better workmanship; much more stringent codes to meet.

Also because a modular home is attached to the earth as a condition of design, it automatically qualifies for lower loan rates (easier to obtain as well).

There are only a limited number of financial institutions which will finance Manufactured Homes. Whereas any bank will usually finance a Modular at the same or better rate as a site-built.

I'm familiar with the manufacturer’s you mentioned. Some good, some better. I recommend you do your do-diligence in comparing each.

And more importantly, check out the reputation of the dealer you use to purchase and install the home. Dealers are usually the weak link. Reputation and history are the top considerations in the entire process.

jmm1837-

I agree...having it built in a factory rather than on-site mainly means that the framing is better controlled and ends up more consistent. I saw a video a couple of years ago about one of these factories and the walls were built on giant, horizontal frames that helped make the wall uniform and dead flat. They also used lumber that was uniform, rather than variable like what you get when a couple of pallets of 2X4's get dumped on a construction site. The result was sort of like Ikea precision on a different scale and for a different purpose.

If only that was true in the real world. I'm sure all those videos the modular companies have produced look great but from what I've seen, the quality is poor. Also, these mass produced boxes are a nightmare to remodel, which they usually need in about 10 years. Never, ever, buy a used one...

We did a modular cape cod back in the 90’s and later added a monster bump out upstairs on back with sunroom below. Loved the quality. If I did again would prefer getting just the shell so we could get our own interior finishes.

We live in a modular home we put on our acreage back in 2005. The company built the shell from our architect's plans, trucked it to the site and craned the exterior wall sections, floor joists and roof trusses onto our foundation. It's 1200 sq.ft., so I think that all took less than a week. A crew stayed another couple weeks to sheath, build interior walls, frame rough stairs and install the windows and doors. DH was the GC and the plumbing, HVAC and roofing crews came next. We finished the interior ourselves over several years of weekends.

We lived in a custom stick built home before this. We have not encountered any building quality issues in either.

ksc36-

What's the basis for your comments? I've toured some modular homes, including ones built by a contractor friend, and the build quality was superior to many conventional homes. And the video I referred to was an independent look at this style of construction, not some promo piece by a specific builder.

This is a touchy topic among builders and I understand why. I’m not saying Modular’s are better than stick built, I’ve done both. But I would certainly consider modular again.

My first home was a modular. I loved that little cape cod. It was very solidly built. We added a lot of site built finishes (porch, garage), and the builder that finished off the inside for us took great pride in doing good work. I sold that house to build something a little bit nicer and closer to work. However there were many times I wished I could have moved that house with us.

I would have no qualms about buying another modular if I could get all the finishes and floor plan that I wanted.

So many people do confuse modular with manufactured. They are so not the same.