No, the point isn't to "dog you." I have a camper and understood full well that when I bought it, it wouldn't be an investment for the future. I paid $15,000 for it eight years ago. The thing is falling apart because it just plain wasn't made to last. I got my $15,000 out of it by taking it on the road and vacationing and having fun. Today, maybe we could get $5,000 for it and that is only if we repair some of the stuff that is falling apart.

A home is another thing altogether. You are buying a way of life. A trailer/mobile home is something that you live in until you can afford something that is stabile and will increase in value as you enjoy living in it. (The mobile home is sort of like renting --- you pay every month but when you leave, you just say "goodbye". You understand the difference when you buy it. (At least, I hope you do.)

A Modular Home is one that is built in a factory with the same specifications as a stick-built home. It is a whole different animal than a single/double wide. We aren't putting anybody down. We are just telling you that we are not in the same catagory.

What a bunch of crap! That depends on the manufacturer and how well it is maintained. Perhaps whoever buys your property will tear down your modular and put a REAL home on it.

Boy, its sad how this forum has devolved into "us vs. them" silliness.

i most certainly agree with you mountain_curmudgeon, imho this issue is silly at it's least and downright ludicrous at it's most. but there are certain issues that i just need to get off my chest...........

Since it's inception, this forum seems to have been nothing but a sounding board for "what is a modular/what is a mobile?" and to me it seems childish. there seems to be an underlying current here where certain people who own "modular homes" are terrified that the internet world might think they...omg, brace yourselves......live in a trailer!!!!! this forum is for "manufactured homes"...be they modular, manufactured, mobile whatever...... let's just call them non-site/factory built homes. i have tried thus far to stay out of the bickering, but i honestly get sick of people assuming that just because i live in a mobile home, that i cannot afford to buy a "real house". what the heck is a real house anyway? a real house is A HOME. mobiles can be wonderful homes for people who choose to live in them. and yes, there are some people for whom it is their only housing option, just as some people must live in apartments, or squalid "real" houses. but there are some of us who take pride in our homes, and who treat them as if they were our castles. i CHOOSE to live in a mobile. i choose not to have a 200,000 mortgage, i choose to be able to finance my children's college educations and have a lifestyle that is funded by me, not by visa, mastercard, american express or a mortgage company. i work hard and i choose the life i live, and the home i live in. it gets really, really old to come to a forum for "manufactured homes" and have to repeatedly read postings that denigrate (yeah, imagine that, i went to college and i live in a trailer!) mobile homes. there are certain issues that are unique to mobile homes, and when this forum first was introduced i truly hoped that we could address some of those issues, but my hope for that seems to be dwindling.

jiggreen

Guys, just so you don't think that it's a snobby issue, I think a really good point to make is this.....

You may have heard that the IRS is issuing tax credits for energy saving investments in your home this year.
If you own an existing home, there are certain improvements that you can make that are eligible.

If you buy a home, there are credits available too. (unfortunately not directly to the homeowner though.) They are applied by:
A. Manufactured homes rules
B. Non-Manufactured home rules
Guess where a modular falls?

B

Tax credits are issued to contractors for the new homes built with "xx% energy efficiency rating". For "manufactured homes" the "contractor" is considered the manufacturer. For "modular homes", those credits are available to the actual contractor that sets and finishes the house, just as a site built home. The IRS does not consider the house a house until it is set and finished. This is not the case with "manufactured" homes.

So, you see, it's not about a "they have / we have" snobbery or anything. It's about talking apples to apples when questions come up. There are folks shopping, building, designing and investing. They'd like to know that we're on the same page as certain issues arise. Whether it's tax credits, insurance, manufacturers, contractors, mechanical or financial.

Here is a link that might be useful: irs info on credits

Here in our town a 10 year old double wide on 2 acres just sold for $235,000. ($40,000 OVER listing price!) And it's a darn nice home!

The reason your home appreciated in value is because it's on a permanent foundation. And the LAND appreciated! I learned that in Real Estate 101 in 1980! Mobiles in parks don't have that luxury. But if that same home is placed on a permanent foundation on a private lot just like yours is, it WILL appreciate!

And I've seen double wides that have the exact same roof pitch (7/12) as a "normal" house, And once they are on a foundation you can't tell them apart! As a matter of fact, the dealer nearby has a LOG SIDED double wide. Now once that's set, I dare you to tell it's a mobile and not as good as your modular! You can order a mobile to just about any spec you want. They're not all cheap aluminium sided trailers anymore. They're nice homes for nice people. And neither you nor I are any better because we have modulars.

Want to know something really funny? There is a modular home plant just a mile from my house. Funny thing is 10 years ago, they were making mobile homes! I'm sure not a lot has changed down there!

Actually I can ask my father! He's a contractor and he's worked on all types of home and he said just about all of them are poorly made these days!

Sweets, you should ask your father. Truth is, the most heard comment regarding modulars in my area is "they've come a long way". The most heard comment regarding todays "contractor" is "Oye!". If your father is a good contractor, he'd be the first to acknowledge that there are a lot of hacks out there.

Sweets98,
Go to the link below and look at what modulars are like today. I think even your father would be surprised.

Sure, there are modular companies that are lower end. I looked at a company in upstate NY and the floor plans were exactly like double wides, just built to modular statdards. I didn't like one floor plan and went to another company.

But to paint all modular companies with such a broad brush is not right. If you come up to my area I'll show you two homes. One was built in 1805 and the other is a new modular. I guarantee that you will not be able to tell me which one is which.

Here is a link that might be useful: CUSTOM MODULARS

christopherh makes a good point.... "But to paint all modular companies with such a broad brush is not right"

this statement is true of ALL construction, stick built homes, modular AND even manufactured (mobile) homes. each has it's high end, mid-grade and economy levels. recently i went to a very interesting website, Zillow.com....that website allows you to type in a street address of a home and pull up all sorts of information on it, such as when it was built, how large it is, grade of construction, approximately selling value, taxes etc..... it was very interesting to look up all of my previous homes and see what their construction grades were. the custom home i had built in maryland scored a 7 on construction.....the single family tract home (modular construction) we bought in las vegas scored a 2! another home we had bought from a semi-custom builder scored a 5.
not all modulars can be lumped together in the same category, but the exact same truth can be said for mobile homes as well as on-site homes.
an interesting thing i can say about the mobile/manufactured home i currently own is that i have not had a lot of the extremely common problems that i had with other homes, such as roof leaks, nail pops, squeaky floors and out of plumb walls and doorways. my home has 2x6 exterior walls and is quite solid and substantial..... now, of course i wouldn't want to pit it against a tornado, but apparently based on the construction grade of that las vegas house, i wouldn't have wanted to be in that one during any kind of strong winds either!

Here is a link that might be useful: zillow

Modular construction has been proven to be substantially superior to traditional construction methods. In coastal South Carolina modular construction is used frequently because it easily exceeds the stateÂs wind zone for hurricanes. Many multi-unit apartments, high rise motels, bridges, office building and commercial buildings are modular. I live in a custom site built home but when the tornado warnings are out I head for my second home which is a modular rated at 140mph and D-2 earthquake. We same to be slow in accepting change and tend to stigmatize what we are uneducated about. Anyone can have an opinion, but without any data to back it up that is all it isÂ.an opinion.

"i choose not to have a 200,000 mortgage, i choose to be able to finance my children's college educations and have a lifestyle that is funded by me, not by visa, mastercard, american express or a mortgage company." posted by jiggreen

I so totally agree with you on this!!

By the way, "stick built" homes can be "mobile" also. I drive by two "transplanted" homes each day.

Here is a link to a picture story of our modular home building experience. We finished alot of it ourselves and it was WORK... we learned alot as a family as we all worked on it! Definitely an experience! ha ha.

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaOHDlm4bNWbw

ooops... try this if you could not get to the photos:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaOHDlm4bNWbw&notag=1

That's very nice mrspaul. When did you guys get moved in? I'm surprised they were able to do the set so fast. Our modular comiing in is a cape cod, and they've said it will take 2 days to set it. That's a beatiful home. Who was the manufacturer? Are there 4 or 6 of you in there?

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaOHDlm4bNWdK

Hello Bungeeii: there are 6 of us in here. Trust me, when they are off to college, I'm downsizing!!!

Michele

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Modular Building Experience IN COLOR!

I loved all the pictures! I see you are doing the painting right away. We were told not to do any painting (walls are primed) for the first year. Since there will be some settling and the house is guarenteed for a year, they probably think it will be easier to patch everything before it is painted.

We painted the bathroom though. With moisture, the bathroom really needed paint. I am re-thinking this though. Right now I am motivated --- in a year, I might not be!

Roberta, I typed out a long response and then hit the wrong key and it vanished!!!! Ok, a recap of what I had typed out:

take your time with choosing paint colors, your dealer has a very VALID point about settling! If you don't have alot of furniture, you have time - take note of how sun affects your rooms... use brighter, happier colors in darker rooms, if you like dark or cool colors, sunnier rooms are best for that as the sun will compensate a dark or cool color.

My husband picked most of our colors not considering that moss green is DEPRESSING IN A ROOM THAT GETS LITTLE SUNLIGHT... FELT LIKE I WAS IN A MOULDY TUPPERWARE - SO I REPAINTED IT A WARM, SOFT YELLOW.

USE FLAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY husband used SATIN! Our drywall job was less than stellar! Satin shows flaws bigtime!

Gather lots of color chips, take them to your home and spread them out and hold in the room they will be used in!

Also, is your crown moulding already up on the wall/ceiling area??? IF NOT, DON'T PUT it up until you paint the walls! Otherwise you will find yourself in a HUGE painter's tape mess!

I LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THIS HOUSE!

Here is a link that might be useful: ME & FAMILY

Roberta, another tip... I HOPE YOU HAVE A PROFESSIONAL PAINTER (we could not afford it) so it you are like us, if possible (don't know what phase you are in...) paint your trim before it goes up! We allowed "raw" unpainted trim to go up.... well GUESS what????? I spent 2 months on a ladder up there, taping off (to protect the painted wall) taping the painted ceiling too! If you have the luxury of at least priming the crown moulding while it's in a garage or drive way, do it!

Hey Roberta, I checked your "My Page" out and see your farm chickens! Awesome!!!!!!!!!!! My mom died of mad cow desease and we ONLY eat organic chickens! and stay away from Beef. Seeing her brain go to mush and die put the fear of God in us all! Can people like us buy your chickens directly or do you sell to natural food stores, who we then buy from ? We get organic chickens from 2 stores here in Myrtle Beach, they are DELICOUS!

Michelle, unfortunately we can only sell our chickens from our farm. That would be quite a drive for you!!!

We are doing everything ourselves in our house. Actually, my husband first built a garage with a coach house above it. It was a Lindahl Home kit. We tried doing it on weekends since we were still running our business at a burb of Chicago two hours away. It took over two years to get it done!!! That is why we decided to go with a modular home for the main house. (The coach house is now the guest house for kids/grandkids.)

We sold our suburban home last summer, moved into the coach house and started building the basement. We used ICF because it was something we could do ourselves and we had done the garage with them. My husband put radiant heat in the floor before the cement was poured. Once the house was set and we could move in, it was January and we were surrounded by mud.

We just put up the gutters this weekend. (The house came with everything else, but no gutters????) Anyway, we absolutely love it! Currently, I am making the window treatments.