I am in something of a difficult situation here in Florida, where the majority of the homes that are prefab do not meet our housing codes (hurricanes). I am by no means Donald Trump, but I would like to live in a home that I am happy to live in. Mind you, the size 1000 sqft or so, would be sufficient. So, with that in mind, I wanted to get your opinion on a few things.

1. I am going to say that I'd be topping out at the low to mid $300's (for land&home), which may be a laughable allowance, but that's what I have to work with.

2. I could buy an existing home, and in time add on to it, but chances are that any home I purchase, I will end up tearing apart in an attempt to make in my own. Where as the prefab homes, like the LV150, already come equipped in my taste.

3. So, do I then instead, try to find an affordable piece of land, and erect the home from scratch.

Would anyone with any knowledge of this process, options, anything, please help me out. If you live in Florida, or know anything about building here, that would be great too. I know, like anyone, I would like to get everything accomplished for as little as possible. Thank you so much.

Greg

Greg,

I believe there is a hurricane-rated version of the LV series, check with Rocio Romero directly. If you go that route (or almost any prefab route), you will need land, which often is the hardest part of the process. Depending on where you are looking, your total budget may be reasonable, or it might not get you a 1-br condo in Florida.

Marshall

Greg,

I started out two years ago trying to go pre-fab in Central Florida.  Initially I had really high hopes as there were a number of manufactured home manufacturers in the area, and their market had been reduced in half via a number of issues related to that industry.  My thought at the time was this would add to a competitive bid between pre-fab manufacturers…   I couldn’t be more wrong!  Of the six in my area, all said no, immediately, and one actually laughed out loud when I presented drawings to them.  Keep in mind I wasn’t designing something absurd, but it was a different feel from what they were doing. 

One was kind enough to educate me with regards to their industry.  Basically everything we’ve been told is basically true, if you can find a plant to do your work, which is very rare, and they will choose to keep the ‘savings’ themselves  as profits and have no reason to competitively bid any project.  The reality is that most of their workers only know the basic pattern to the work they are doing, and are not paid to ‘read, follow or interpret’ the drawings.  Some are less skilled than those at a typical job site.  Most of the shops also are geared towards an assembly line approach, of which any differing in the system causes anxiety and concern within the line, thus driving up costs.  There is also the problem with logistics, i.e., keeping their supplies separate from yours…  most shops are not set up for differing customer supply logistics.  I was also told that I would have to order at least 20 units prior to getting a green light on their acceptance of any project.

I was basically told by this individual, while my idea was a good one, it wasn’t practical within their industry, and what I thought would save money would in reality drive up costs.  His suggestion was to rent a warehouse and build the modules myself there, if not open my own plant.  While I have heard from time to time the saying that ‘building your house on site is as rational as building your car in your garage’,  the housing industry is set up much like a custom car industry and they are built in garages… 

I’m sure I’m not the first one to realize this, and I suspect that many of the modern pre-fab home manufacturers are an off-shoot from what I described above, that they basically just set up shop themselves to create their designs, and now are selling additional units from that initial effort. 

It’s been a really bitter experience for me, but one the provided many lessons…  Another one is that if you’re creating a new system, be prepared to pay for the contractor’s risk in estimation of costs.  I’ve found that the housing industry is really reluctant to do anything different than what they have been doing for decades, and are only interested in superficial changes to the system.  To reduce cost, keep to choosing things off the shelf as it were…  doesn’t mean you can’t mix it up a bit, but anything different and you are going to be paying a premium for doing so, whether it’s listed as such or not. 

Also do not expect a property appraiser to recognize nor reward such choices.  They are a conservative lot, and with the down turn in the economy, don’t want to be held responsible for poor loans made by the bank, so they tend to be REALLY conservative in any estimations.  You’ll find that you may not get the equity you would like at completion to avoid paying PMI, or having a second and higher rate loan to cover the difference.  While good modern design can be frugal, it’s not cheap.  Quality always costs and many elements in your design may not even be considered by the appraiser. 

As much as you are concerned about design, learn finances as well.  Talk to a lot of loan mangers, and really shop around for your loans.  A good fiscal approach strategy is good design as much as spatial and material relationships… 

Dan