One of the most important decisions you will make in building your dream home is the floor plan. They say that it takes a potential buyer just 6 seconds upon entering a home to decide if they like a house. Similarly, when you enter a modular show home, you will know almost immediately if you like the floor plan of that home.
Over many weekend drives my husband and I looked at a lot of modular homes. I assure you we could walk in the front door of a modular show home and instantly say to one another, with a hopeful look, “YES”, or conversely, “nah” with a disappointed face, and maybe a slightly curled lip.
Either way, you should walk through the models, even if you don’t immediately get that warm and fuzzy feeling. I fell in love with a counter top that I now have, in a show home that couldn’t have been further from our ideal. To that end, carry a notepad and a measuring tape with you if you’re in the market to build a modular home! This is a good and essential reminder - how many times have you wished you had either but forgot?
Of course when you are in the market for a pre-fabricated or modular home, you want to choose a show home that has a floor plan closest to what you envision as your dream home. Down the road, you can certainly modify the original floor plan to better suit your needs. It will help you immensely to compile a list of “musts”, and a list of “wants”. First ,consider what you absolutely must have to accommodate your family and your lifestyle. Then consider the floor plan details you want that would make your life easier.
Musts:
- location of main entry
In my opinion, when the front door opens to a dark stairway or a long hallway, I don’t consider this inviting. I look for an entryway that leads to the heart of the home, so that when you enter you immediately get a feel for the home and the owners personality.
- how many bedrooms
We have 5 children, 2 are in college. We needed a minimum of 4 bedrooms, and at least one spare room, for the returning students and any overnight guests.
- how many bathrooms
Whenever possible it is preferable to have more than one bathroom. We have a master bath, two bathrooms for the other bedrooms, and a half-bath right off the side door (handy for kids who have to run inside to use the facilities with muddy shoes).
- size of kitchen
As we have a large immediate family, a large kitchen was a must.
- size of living room
Our living room had to accommodate two sofas, and plenty of play room.
- master bedroom upstairs or downstairs
Although we’re not quite stepping on the proverbial banana peel yet, we chose a master bedroom that was downstairs, so that down the road, stairs will not be an issue for us.
- attached or separate garage
My husband is a firefighter and 911 dispatcher (yes and a licensed electrician and plumber). He was and is adamant that a garage should be separate from the house. Many house fires begin in the garage and this was something he insisted upon.
- open floor plan or more separate
I have a small family, but my husbands family is HUGE (not by weight, but in sheer numbers!). We chose a floor plan that was open. The dining room, kitchen and living room are open to one another so that we can have 40 people for a birthday party, and we can all sit and eat, and still see one another.
- windows and views
Remember what you want to be looking at. Do you want a bay window so that you can see the backyard, or the next door neighbors garage? Just something to keep in mind! That reminds me, I once had a house where if I was doing dishes I could look across the driveway at my neighbor doing dishes. It wasn’t as awkward as it could have been, but it was still kinda weird!
Wants:
- storage
Well, as you can imagine, with five kids, we need storage!
- tv room
We don’t have a TV room, but we did choose a large open living room, so that there’s room for us all to sit and hang out and watch TV (I mean play scrabble and hold debates).
- a walk in pantry
Did I mention we needed storage? If you can afford a pantry, you can load up on all of those deals in bulk! We were never able to shop at BJ’s because we just didn’t have the room for the bulk goods. Now we have a pantry, and we can shop! (You can imagine my darling husband is thrilled with the new pantry, thus enabling me to shop more often!!!)
- washer/dryer on the first or second floor
We have our washer and dryer right off the kitchen. I looove being able to do laundry and not have to haul it up or down stairs! (okay, that’s a lie. I don’t “looove being able to do laundry... it’s just more tolerable without stairs.)
- size of eating area
We chose a kitchen with an eat-at island, a breakfast area, and a breakfast bar. All of us can eat together in the kitchen when we don’t feel like eating in the dining room. Plus there’s plenty of room for me to cook, while kids tackle homework.
Now that you have an idea of your musts and wants, there are a couple of things you might also like to think about...
I was daydreaming, I mean paying full attention, when my very smart husband suggested that the pitch of the roof would be something important to consider when choosing the floor plan. If you are considering a ranch for example, just changing the pitch of the roof could give you some extra space, such as an office area, or for much more, much needed storage. The pitch of the roof may also be important to consider with regard to your geographic region. A pitch steep enough will allow snow to melt and run off, and prevent excess weight on your roof! This will cost a little extra, but it is worth asking your modular home dealer for details.
Also beware of rooms with odd dimensions or shapes. You’re going to have a hard time arranging furniture if the rooms are irregularly shaped. Furthermore, you will need to consider the traffic flow for that room.
When looking at modular homes we discovered a way to arrange our floor plan to accommodate our children that made life much easier for us. Our older children are 22, 17, 14 and 11, so we put their bedrooms upstairs, with a bathroom and “game” area. This way the teenagers have their own space, and an area for their friends to hang out (while, more importantly, Dad and Mom have the living room TV and sofa to themselves in the evening). We put our master bedroom downstairs, as well as our 3 year olds room down the hall from us. This way he has a more quiet space for sleeping and isn’t disturbed by the older kids for naps. And at night, we can listen out for him.
Consider too your closets (I know, yawn)... just an FYI, make sure closets on interior walls where they can provide a noise barrier.
And one last thought, if you are like us, and can’t find a cure for the common birthday, you may want to think about wider hallways and wider doors. Someday they might come in handy, for wheelchairs, walkers, middle-age spread... all that fun stuff! Or, perhaps you’re a chronic room re-arranger, like me? Wider halls and doors makes moving furniture much easier! And, as an added bonus, you can rearrange the furniture at night, while the hubby is at work. Imagine his surprise when he comes home, in the dark, to newly arranged furniture! But I digress...
Okay, well for now I hope this helps with contemplating the floor plan for your new modular home! And please feel free to share any other floor plan ideas with me!
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Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
So many questions...
Be an Educated Buyer when Choosing a Modular Home Dealer! Ask questions!
- What does the modular home builder include in their base price? We had a lengthy list of inclusions based on the floor plan we had chosen.
- Are there any additional fees for modifying or drawing your own modular home floor plan? There were some charges for changes we made to our floor plan. For instance there was a charge for us to "mirror" the floor plan. And, I can’t tell you how many times we changed our “inclusions”, and had to have the price adjusted. Sometimes we saved money, and sometimes we did not! I had to have a certain kitchen island that was not included in our original price, and my husband had to have a certain layout to the bathroom that was not included. We spent more money on these particular options, but we saved some cash by choosing carpet instead of Pergo in our living room, and by .. uh, well, I guess we didn't save much money!
- Does the modular home builder offer a "Turn Key" construction package? If so, what does it include, or do you have to find your own sub-contractors? We did not want to deal with sub-contracting! When we moved into our house, everything was done, all we had to do was “turn the key” to move in. The carpets were down, the mirrors were up, the walls were primed. One of the reasons we chose our dealer was because of the turn key service.
- How much upfront or down payment cash is needed to receive blue-prints or to order the modular home? Is any part of the down payment refundable?
- When looking at a modular home model, is the quoted cost "as shown" or is it the base price without options included? The show homes we saw were quoted as shown. However, because we had so many changes, the dealer ended up giving us a base price and provided us with a list of all the inclusions with prices.
- How long have sub-contractors been with the builder?
- Does the modular home builder have a field supervisor? The field supervisor we met oversaw the house being set on the foundation, and he made sure the house was as we expected before we moved in. In fact, I realized (much to my horror!) our kitchen island was made of the wrong wood when we had our walk through, and the supervisor had it delivered and changed that week. Total freak-out averted!
- Is the building site inspected for potential additional costs prior to signing a purchase agreement? Our site was inspected and we were warned about several additional costs, such as trees that needed to come down, which although it was more money, it was much better to have the warning than to be surprised!
- Is the modular home builder quoting you allowances or actual costs? (example: lighting, cabinets, flooring - we chose all of this and were aware of the actual costs.)
- Is a sump pump included in the package? (Our package did, but we chose not to have one, more on that later!)
- Is there an additional delivery charge for the modular home, or extra cost for blueprints for basement or house?
- Is there an additional charge for the crane used to place the modular home on the foundation?
- Is trash removal included in the cost? Is the modular home cleaned when construction is finished? When we had our walk through of our newly set home, the house was very dusty, and there was a fair amount of trash, such as carpet remnants, inside. However, our house was spotless when we moved in.
- How is the service and warranty work handled (by the company or sub- contractors?). In our case, the warranty is all handled by our builder.
- Is repairing drywall cracks included as part of the service warranty? After one year of living in our home, the builder returns to repair any drywall cracks.
My hubby had A LOT of other questions, some regarding the plumbing and electrical work, which I will have to interrogate him about at a later date (because all I heard at the time was "blah, blah, blah, blah? nah, nah, nah?" ! However, this list of questions should be a good starting point for now!
Our dealer, Key Homes, www.keymodularhomes.com , has a lot of information on their website, including this list of questions. Feel free to check them out!
Check out the local modular home dealers!
Modular home manufacturers supply the home modules to your local builder, who then set your home on your chosen permanent foundation. You will want to find a modular home builder or dealer in your area. As I mentioned before, we found several modular home dealers by driving around our area and dropping into the various show home sites. However, if you haven’t noticed any local modular home dealers in your area, go to the following websites to click on a map to find a list of dealers or builders for you to call.
www.nahb.org Use this website to find modular home builders in your state.
www.modularhousing.com Use this website to find modular home builders in your area.
In our area, I’ve noticed many modular homes being set, and the builder will have a sign posted on the building site. If your timing is right, you may be able to see someones house being set. Alternatively, call your local builders and they should be happy to give you a list of people in your area who have built modular homes for you to drive by. When we were building our home, many people stopped by our property to ask questions about our modular home building process and which dealer we used.
Just like I mentioned earlier, most importantly, choose a dealer you feel comfortable with. This is one of the biggest events of your life and you don't want to be giving possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars to someone who makes you uncomfortable!
www.nahb.org Use this website to find modular home builders in your state.
www.modularhousing.com Use this website to find modular home builders in your area.
In our area, I’ve noticed many modular homes being set, and the builder will have a sign posted on the building site. If your timing is right, you may be able to see someones house being set. Alternatively, call your local builders and they should be happy to give you a list of people in your area who have built modular homes for you to drive by. When we were building our home, many people stopped by our property to ask questions about our modular home building process and which dealer we used.
Just like I mentioned earlier, most importantly, choose a dealer you feel comfortable with. This is one of the biggest events of your life and you don't want to be giving possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars to someone who makes you uncomfortable!
What IS a Modular Home?
Modular homes should not be confused with manufactured homes (which are mobile homes or trailers). You cannot tell the difference between an off-site built (modular) home and a stick built (on-site) home, because they are exactly the same thing, just built in two different places!
A modular home is constructed of pre-made parts and unit modules. They are built in sections, in a factory where, most importantly, they are never subjected to weather. (Imagine! No delays or damage because of good old Mother Nature!) Each module is built on a track that moves it through the factory, where quality control inspectors check them every step of the way. Wall units, trusses and other pre-fabricated parts of the house are then wrapped and transported to your building site on a flatbed truck.
When they arrive at the site, the modules are lifted by crane onto the load bearing, permanent foundation where they are then anchored. Your modular home is set with bathrooms, cabinets and siding already in place. Once on the foundation, the builders put the finishing touches on the home, such as installing carpets, and putting in screens. When you move in, even the primer is on the walls, so for the most part, all you have to do is paint!
Modular homes must conform to local building codes, and more than often exceed those standards. They are built to the same state building codes as conventional site builders. In fact, it is believed that modular homes are stronger than traditional homes because, for example, in modular homes, nails are replaced with screws and glue is added to joints. Furthermore, modular homes are built with 10 to 20% more lumber than traditional stick-built homes.
Just like any traditionally built home, a buyer is able to customize their home: the floor plan, the amount of stories, bedrooms, ceiling height, add extra insulation, etc.
Additionally, modular homes are financed in exactly the same way as conventional built sites, and they appreciate at the same value as a conventional site-built home.
Back to that weather thing! Recently I saw the following written about modular homes and thought it was fair to include it here: Consider buying a new car. You wouldn’t want a pile of parts delivered to your driveway and then put together outside! So, why are we still building our homes outside, with rain, heat, cold, snow, ice, and mud compromising the construction materials and creating tons of work delays? We should be building our homes the way we build our cars – in highly controlled factory conditions with a strict quality assurance program and dozens of inspections (in addition to the mere handful of inspections required by the city) throughout the construction process.
And, that, is that! In my humble opinion, modular homes are the same as traditionally built homes, only BETTER!
A modular home is constructed of pre-made parts and unit modules. They are built in sections, in a factory where, most importantly, they are never subjected to weather. (Imagine! No delays or damage because of good old Mother Nature!) Each module is built on a track that moves it through the factory, where quality control inspectors check them every step of the way. Wall units, trusses and other pre-fabricated parts of the house are then wrapped and transported to your building site on a flatbed truck.
When they arrive at the site, the modules are lifted by crane onto the load bearing, permanent foundation where they are then anchored. Your modular home is set with bathrooms, cabinets and siding already in place. Once on the foundation, the builders put the finishing touches on the home, such as installing carpets, and putting in screens. When you move in, even the primer is on the walls, so for the most part, all you have to do is paint!
Modular homes must conform to local building codes, and more than often exceed those standards. They are built to the same state building codes as conventional site builders. In fact, it is believed that modular homes are stronger than traditional homes because, for example, in modular homes, nails are replaced with screws and glue is added to joints. Furthermore, modular homes are built with 10 to 20% more lumber than traditional stick-built homes.
Just like any traditionally built home, a buyer is able to customize their home: the floor plan, the amount of stories, bedrooms, ceiling height, add extra insulation, etc.
Additionally, modular homes are financed in exactly the same way as conventional built sites, and they appreciate at the same value as a conventional site-built home.
Back to that weather thing! Recently I saw the following written about modular homes and thought it was fair to include it here: Consider buying a new car. You wouldn’t want a pile of parts delivered to your driveway and then put together outside! So, why are we still building our homes outside, with rain, heat, cold, snow, ice, and mud compromising the construction materials and creating tons of work delays? We should be building our homes the way we build our cars – in highly controlled factory conditions with a strict quality assurance program and dozens of inspections (in addition to the mere handful of inspections required by the city) throughout the construction process.
And, that, is that! In my humble opinion, modular homes are the same as traditionally built homes, only BETTER!
Got land?
You’re gonna need some land!
Having a real estate agent to help you find a suitable plot of land is vital.
The most important thing to consider when choosing a plot is making sure the land is zoned for this type of home. A real estate agent can look into if the land is flood zoned, if the land has any bylaws or zoning ordinances prohibiting the erection of modular homes, and whether the land is suitable for a modular home at all.
There are a number of costs, that vary significantly from lot to lot. For example, the costs to excavate the foundation and bring water and sewage capability to a home can vary significantly from one lot to another. Will you have to drill a well? How big of a septic system will you need? Is utility hook up available? These questions will have to be considered when buying your land as well, and will be covered individually and more in depth in the near future.
As I mentioned we had a piece of land prior to choosing a modular home. Although we are located in “the country”, we were able to utilize city water and did not have to dig a well (phew!). However, we did not anticipate that we had to pay the city to run a water line under the main road to our property (dang!). This was an additional cost that we didn’t necessarily prepare for! As you can imagine, thes variable costs can add up to some jaw-dropping numbers. They will only be surprising, however, if you are unaware of what is involved in developing land into a building lot.
Again, a good real estate agent, and your modular home dealer/builder should be able to help you in this process.
However, one thing your real estate agent may not think to warn you is that you want to consider the delivery route to your property, as well as its size and shape, as this can occasionally pose delivery difficulties. And it goes without saying that for those on a budget, the price of the building lot will affect how much money is left over to build a house!
Having a real estate agent to help you find a suitable plot of land is vital.
The most important thing to consider when choosing a plot is making sure the land is zoned for this type of home. A real estate agent can look into if the land is flood zoned, if the land has any bylaws or zoning ordinances prohibiting the erection of modular homes, and whether the land is suitable for a modular home at all.
There are a number of costs, that vary significantly from lot to lot. For example, the costs to excavate the foundation and bring water and sewage capability to a home can vary significantly from one lot to another. Will you have to drill a well? How big of a septic system will you need? Is utility hook up available? These questions will have to be considered when buying your land as well, and will be covered individually and more in depth in the near future.
As I mentioned we had a piece of land prior to choosing a modular home. Although we are located in “the country”, we were able to utilize city water and did not have to dig a well (phew!). However, we did not anticipate that we had to pay the city to run a water line under the main road to our property (dang!). This was an additional cost that we didn’t necessarily prepare for! As you can imagine, thes variable costs can add up to some jaw-dropping numbers. They will only be surprising, however, if you are unaware of what is involved in developing land into a building lot.
Again, a good real estate agent, and your modular home dealer/builder should be able to help you in this process.
However, one thing your real estate agent may not think to warn you is that you want to consider the delivery route to your property, as well as its size and shape, as this can occasionally pose delivery difficulties. And it goes without saying that for those on a budget, the price of the building lot will affect how much money is left over to build a house!
Modular Homes?
Modular Homes? Isn’t “modular home” just a fancier way of saying “trailer” or “double wide”? Well, as it turns out, no. I was completely misguided and fell prey to a fairly common misconception. Modular homes are exactly the same as a traditionally built homes, except they are built in a factory (off-site) and then assembled on your property on a permanent foundation.
First let me say this: I don’t work for or represent any modular home builder or dealer. But, here’s why I’m going to write about them: They say that moving (read: building a house) is one of the top stresses in life, right up there with losing your job, or the death of a family member. But I’m here to tell you, it doesn't have to be, and it shouldn't be! This blog is intended not only to tell you about our experience building a modular home, but also to inform you about the advantages, the disadvantages, and the whole process involved with building a modular home.
When my husband and I first started googling for information about modulars I wished there had been an informative blog about the process, but I couldn’t find one. Having been through the experience and having spent several years researching modulars, I simply hope this blog will help others with their projects.
Ten years ago my husband purchased four acres of land, two miles from the nearest town with no neighbors in sight, and only the sound of a creek nearby. The property was largely brush and undergrowth, but somehow, he saw through all the mess, and pictured a beautiful sweep of land, dappled with sunlight peeking through the trees. It took him several years, two tractors, a brush hog, and three bouts with poison ivy to clear it fully. But when it was cleared, it was obvious that we had a beautiful place to build a home!
My husband had looked at modular homes in the past, and wanted me to give it some thought. I was less than enthusiastic about the idea, but I did a little research. It wasn’t long before I was very interested in the idea of modular homes. Not only were the modulars more affordable, but they looked every bit as beautiful as anything we’d ever seen stick-built.
There were several modular dealers in our area so we began to have a look around. We made it our ritual on weekends to hit a diner for a big breakfast and then drive to the various dealers. We’d browse through the different show homes, and collect their literature. We had a house to sell, so we had plenty of time to do our homework. In fact we spent two years "shopping"! (That's A LOT of breakfasts my friends!)
Several of the local dealers were eliminated from the running almost immediately. Not only was obvious that some of the homes were better looking and had better floor plans than others, but some dealers turned us off immediately with their “used car salesman” demeanor. However, just like looking for a car, you know when you feel comfortable with a dealer. Finally we found a modular home dealer (Key Homes) that we felt really comfortable with. The salesman we met was very knowledgeable about his product, and my husband was impressed that he could answer anything about construction or plumbing or electricity, and he was honest and helpful. (My hubby is a licensed electrician and plumber). And, to our relief, this modular home salesman did not trying to hard sell us! *Take note here salespeople... we all HATE the hard sell!
We had been through one particular show home of Key Homes that we loved, but we had a LOT of changes we wanted to make. We were assured that we could take our time and make all the changes we wanted. It took us over a year to finalize what we envisioned as our dream home, and our dealer happily accommodated all of our changes, providing CAD drawings along the way until we were happy. Once we were completely finished with the floor plan - blueprints! Of course, we then had many weekends picking out flooring, paint, hardware etc. Once we finished with all of our changes, additions and deletions, it only took a matter of months - from putting down the initial deposit, to the foundation being dug, to the house being built and set! Because of Key Homes, the whole building process was stress-free and even FUN!
With this blog will I hope to help you with your project and that you will find the experience as happy as we did! Future posts will cover everything from getting a mortgage to picking out paint colors! Please feel free to comment and let me know about your experiences with building a home.
First let me say this: I don’t work for or represent any modular home builder or dealer. But, here’s why I’m going to write about them: They say that moving (read: building a house) is one of the top stresses in life, right up there with losing your job, or the death of a family member. But I’m here to tell you, it doesn't have to be, and it shouldn't be! This blog is intended not only to tell you about our experience building a modular home, but also to inform you about the advantages, the disadvantages, and the whole process involved with building a modular home.
When my husband and I first started googling for information about modulars I wished there had been an informative blog about the process, but I couldn’t find one. Having been through the experience and having spent several years researching modulars, I simply hope this blog will help others with their projects.
Ten years ago my husband purchased four acres of land, two miles from the nearest town with no neighbors in sight, and only the sound of a creek nearby. The property was largely brush and undergrowth, but somehow, he saw through all the mess, and pictured a beautiful sweep of land, dappled with sunlight peeking through the trees. It took him several years, two tractors, a brush hog, and three bouts with poison ivy to clear it fully. But when it was cleared, it was obvious that we had a beautiful place to build a home!
My husband had looked at modular homes in the past, and wanted me to give it some thought. I was less than enthusiastic about the idea, but I did a little research. It wasn’t long before I was very interested in the idea of modular homes. Not only were the modulars more affordable, but they looked every bit as beautiful as anything we’d ever seen stick-built.
There were several modular dealers in our area so we began to have a look around. We made it our ritual on weekends to hit a diner for a big breakfast and then drive to the various dealers. We’d browse through the different show homes, and collect their literature. We had a house to sell, so we had plenty of time to do our homework. In fact we spent two years "shopping"! (That's A LOT of breakfasts my friends!)
Several of the local dealers were eliminated from the running almost immediately. Not only was obvious that some of the homes were better looking and had better floor plans than others, but some dealers turned us off immediately with their “used car salesman” demeanor. However, just like looking for a car, you know when you feel comfortable with a dealer. Finally we found a modular home dealer (Key Homes) that we felt really comfortable with. The salesman we met was very knowledgeable about his product, and my husband was impressed that he could answer anything about construction or plumbing or electricity, and he was honest and helpful. (My hubby is a licensed electrician and plumber). And, to our relief, this modular home salesman did not trying to hard sell us! *Take note here salespeople... we all HATE the hard sell!
We had been through one particular show home of Key Homes that we loved, but we had a LOT of changes we wanted to make. We were assured that we could take our time and make all the changes we wanted. It took us over a year to finalize what we envisioned as our dream home, and our dealer happily accommodated all of our changes, providing CAD drawings along the way until we were happy. Once we were completely finished with the floor plan - blueprints! Of course, we then had many weekends picking out flooring, paint, hardware etc. Once we finished with all of our changes, additions and deletions, it only took a matter of months - from putting down the initial deposit, to the foundation being dug, to the house being built and set! Because of Key Homes, the whole building process was stress-free and even FUN!
With this blog will I hope to help you with your project and that you will find the experience as happy as we did! Future posts will cover everything from getting a mortgage to picking out paint colors! Please feel free to comment and let me know about your experiences with building a home.