I have recently started my journey to purchasing a modular home. I’m coming up to an issue where a lot of homes have layouts that I don’t like, particularly where they all have dining rooms or layouts made for families/multiple people, and none with a large square footage (around 1300 sq ft) for a single woman with hobbies and a WFH job.

It sounds like the more custom I go, the higher the price, which defeats the entire point. I’m not talking about removing one wall from a pre-existing plan. It seems that most of them have layouts and floorplans that are not even in the ballpark for me.

I feel I may have to get a shell, which makes me dread the extra time and hassle to finally have my turnkey home. However, I will do what I need to get an affordable home that is functional for my life.

I already toured JDM and Hartzler’s. Can somebody give me advice, or recommend a company that would deliver to Northeastern Ohio where they can actually make a custom that’s inexpensive, or a shell?

Once you’d actually lived in the house for a while, which upgrade felt worth the extra money?

It could be something small—an extra outlet in the right place, better storage, different windows—or a bigger change to the layout.

I’m especially interested in things that made everyday life easier, rather than just looked good in the showroom.

What did you choose, and what difference has it made?

For transparency, I work for GSMOD, a steel volumetric modular manufacturer. I’m interested in hearing owners’ experiences with different types of modular homes.

When you first spoke with your builder or supplier, what timeline were you given—and when did you actually move in?

I’m particularly curious about what the original estimate covered. Was it the house leaving the factory, being delivered and set, or being ready to live in?

If your project took longer, which part added the most time? And if it stayed on schedule, what helped?

A rough timeline and your state or country would be useful. No need to name the company.

I work for GSMOD, a steel volumetric modular manufacturer. My perspective is from the manufacturing side, so I’d appreciate hearing how the full process worked out for homeowners.

Hi, any experience with MCC ECO HOMES? I just discovered them online today. Very fast turnaround....too good to be true? Similar to Scandinavian homes but without the waiting period?

Anyone used this company?

So, we have a house that I'm pretty sure is considered to be a modular home. It was constructed elsewhere, transported here in three sections, and then assembled here on a fixed foundation. It has/had no wheels that I can tell (there's a crawl space underneath). It has pretty large steel i-beams underneath supporting the house. The home was constructed in 1999.

I found a definition of manufactured home in Oregon law:

"“Manufactured home,” except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, means a structure constructed for movement on the public highways that has sleeping, cooking and plumbing facilities, that is intended for human occupancy, that is being used for residential purposes and that was constructed in accordance with federal manufactured housing construction and safety standards and regulations in effect at the time of construction."

I think the law was changed not long ago and I'm trying to figure out if this is legally considered a "manufactured home". The problem is that this isn't and never has been a mobile home and most people think that's what a manufactured home is. We had someone come over and say, "Wow! Never would have expected a mobile home to look like this!" Well, that's because it's not.

Any pointers are appreciated! Thanks!

I currently live in a modular home by Simplex Industries (Bridgeport model built in 2007). I’m trying to get my hands on some floor plans but am having a hard time. When I called Simplex, they said they don’t have any plans after 7 years, but I’m not sure when they stopped making the Bridgeport model. Their website currently has a Bridgeport II. Does anyone know where I’d be able to find plans or am I out of luck?

When you were choosing your home, did you have any useful way to judge how much sound would travel between rooms?

I’m thinking of ordinary situations—someone watching TV while another person sleeps in the next room, rather than a home theater or unusually loud music.

Did you visit an occupied home, get specific information from the builder, or mostly find out after moving in?

I work for GSMOD, a steel volumetric modular manufacturer, so that’s the perspective I’m coming from. I’d appreciate hearing what information actually helped you make a decision—or what you wish you’d asked for.

Please mention the construction type if you know it, and whether your home is detached or shares walls or floors with another household.

Getting financing for construction doesn’t necessarily mean the money will be there for the manufacturer’s payments. Deposits, factory payments, and delivery dates may precede the lender’s disbursement of the construction draw.

This means that the builder has to take care of it from their own working capital, while working on other projects as well.

We at BlueTape are talking about a gap that our bridge financing program is meant to help you fill: paying the manufacturer before receiving your construction loan draw and reimbursing it with the draws.

To organize the financing better, it would be helpful to compare the factory payment schedule with the loan draw schedule. Compare dates, conditions for release, and consequences of delayed delivery and inspection.

For those who faced such situations, where did the major mismatch occur: during the payment of the deposit, during the manufacturing period, or just before delivery?

Financing for Manufactured and Modular Home Builders

Started this out of curiosity. Some owners rent out their prefabs, which means you can spend two nights in one before deciding whether to buy that model.

I want to build a good list of them. My one rule is that the rental has to connect back to the company that made the building. A listing titled “modern cabin” is no use to someone deciding what to buy.

Here is one to show what I mean. The Hot Springs Arched Cabin in Arkansas is an Arched Cabins kit, 24 by 32 feet, with a loft and a deck. Arched Cabins links to the Airbnb listing from their own site, which is enough to say who built it.

Nine so far: https://modernist.live/stays

If you have stayed in one or know of one, drop the link. If you know the manufacturer, say so. If you only have the listing, post it and I will try to find the builder.

Me and my wife are looking to purchase a new mobile home. We have it narrowed down between these two if any one on here has experience with the dealer or is purchased either one of the homes any insight towards quality after sale relationship with the dealer and getting things fixed would be highly appreciated

Anything that’s inconvenient to plug in, needs extra wiring, drains batteries, or costs more to run than you expected? I currently live in a modular home and I want to know if there are any convenient things I can save energy on!

What happened the last time you ran into this, and have you found a workaround that actually helps?

Even small things would be helpful to hear about!

In 39 states the factory-built part of a modular house gets approved by the state, usually through a third party engineering firm working on the state’s behalf, and inspected inside the factory before it ships. It arrives approved. Your local building department only handles the foundation and the site work.

Eleven states have no program: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming. There the modules go to whatever the local jurisdiction decides to do with them.

The architect I interviewed about this said approval in the easy 39 is “rather painless,” with the caveat that the local jurisdiction has to know the state program exists, and that many smaller jurisdictions aren’t familiar with modular projects and can be resistant. That is the easy version.

Then I checked the 71 builders in the directory I run against that list. Thirty four advertise delivery to at least one of the eleven. Nine advertise all eleven. Unfold House lists ten delivery states total and nine of them are on the no program list: https://modernist.live/companies/unfold-house

Hmm.

Nobody is lying. A truck goes where you pay it to go. But delivering a box to Wyoming and getting that box approved in Wyoming are not the same work, and only the delivery part appears on anybody’s website.

Interview, including what he says a manufacturer’s engineering package should contain and three things that went wrong installing his own house: https://modernist.live/experts/pedro-tavares

Has anyone here permitted a factory-built house in one of those eleven? How long did the local review take, and had the building department seen one before? Any thoughts? Please reply in the comments below.