Anyone have any first hand knowledge and experience with Modular homes? What are the pros and cons of them? Thinking of buying some property and am going back and forth if Modular is a good choice or should I stick with a traditional stick built home? Any feedback is appreciated.

They are cheaper, faster, and almost as good as a stick built in my opinion. They have come a long way from what they used to be. The major drawback is the resale. Never gonna get your money back.

Thanks! That is what I have been reading as well. As far as resale, with this property, I don't see us ever selling, or at least not for many many years. Hoping to make it the kind of place I just pass down to my boys.

we lived in what was technically a modular style home when I was in high school.


it was constructed of Steel and Styrofoam panels that were brought out on a truck, but it did have a slab. entire exterior was stucco'd. It was ok but very limited in the types of designs you can have. We had a basic ranch style house with a metal roof.


I've seen some very nice modular homes as well as some ones that were not so nice. A lot of times the only difference between a modular and a mobile is the concrete footing.



I don't know what manufacturer you are looking at but from a real estate perspective, I would go site built.


No matter how nice it looks, its still built in a factory somewhere and in my experience they just don't hold up very well. if this is a foreseeable future home, may think about that

they seem to be tornado magnets ...

If the land is the major factor and that is what you want to keep in family, then go with what works for that. But as stated the “home” will not gain in value.

I battled this same predicament with my wife for our property. We decided that we are going to build a barndominium.

We rented a two year old double wide when we were building our home. Terrible at energy efficiency, pretty much all the hardware sucked. Door knobs wouldn't work think we replaced two faucets. The pex like stuff used was junky.

I am sure trailers are about like anything. You can get better ones and cheaper ones. So get the better one.

If you are wanting to go that route I would suggest getting a pre-owned one. You can get one for a pretty steep discount that's just a few years old.

But, a barndo is a much better option for adding value and will be something that will last.

Get the hurricane package

Barndos cost just as much as a stick-built home

Go to a dealer and look at them. The prices look good, until you find out that HVAC, plumbing, any concrete work, etc., isn't included. Add about $100k to the price of the modular, and they stop looking like a great deal.

Manufactured homes/trailer houses/double wides etc. whatever you want to call them are not that cheap when compared to stick built homes either, like everything they too have gone up in cost.

Personally I would not do anything but a site built home for long term. I have/am considering buying a small double/single wide to live in after we buy land while selling current house and building new one. In a perfect world ill find the piece of land I want with an acceptable home on it, much cheaper that way.

Some of you are confusing a modular home with a mobile home. A modular home is very much like a stick built home the difference is they are primarily built indoors then transported in halves to your building site. They are generally built to higher standards than most building codes as they must withstand the transport.
Find a reputable builder that primarily deals with modular homes and I think you’ll be pleased with your decision.
I owned one for 16 years and had no problem selling it for a good profit when I moved.

We went the barndo route, but came very close to a cabin from Leland. The cabin is not a big money saver, but they are pretty nice. And FYI - the barndo is a pretty good option as well. Permanent and sturdy. We did the shop section for less than $25 psf (including septic) and the apartment for roughly $70 psf. Other than the bldg itself, concrete and insulation were the most expensive items.

You call it confusing, I call it putting lipstick on a pig. They call them modular because trailer house carries a negative connotation.

That’s true, I’ve seen many realtors and mobile home dealers advertise them as modular homes.

The USAF bought them for a few bases up north. They were basically pier and beam style construction, and walls were standard construction of 2x4's etc.. The houses were 24 feet by what ever length the floor plan was. The floor was standard joist construction as were the walls. Each half was built 12 foot wide. About 95% finished, and the last 5% was finished at the delivery site. At the finish site, the pier and beam was set up and the modules sat in top of the pier and beam.

If you’re set on modular, look at Ulrichcabins.com.
A friend has one out west Texas and it looks to be really well built.

They have come a long ways but in the end, you get what you pay for. Tough to finance as well.

The only difference in a lot of them is the concrete footing.

You go buy a palm harbor double wide and attach it to a concrete footing it becomes a modular home.

In 95% of the cases they are nothing like a site built home.


Our home was a true modular home and I would say it was of equal quality to a site built of the same design, but that’s not the case for every manufacturer.

The barndo idea is one im a big fan of.

Just me. But I would build a 1600 sq ft house before buying a 2800 sq ft modular home.

That’s without knowing any specifics about your property.

Modular in my opinion is a trailer house without the ugly context. Picked up a big double wide on 5 acres at a foreclosure auction. Have since put 20k in it with 10k +/- to go. I will come out to the good by about 50k. The ONLY reason is I bought it for less than the value of the land. Period. From the day you buy them they lose value like a car. A house that’s even kinda maintained gains value. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with them but it’s a pay me now or pay me later program. The newer ones are well built and I wouldn’t hesitate to retire in one if I could spec it out at purchase. Efficiency/utilities is a big factor as well as flooring type, not the stuff you look at but the base construction.

You sure about that?

I don't think you can build a sticks and bricks shell on slab for $25 a foot.

Can you build a finished out wood frame brick house for $65 a foot?

My barndo cost was a lot less than building a house the same size. I compared the two when I built 6 yrs ago. The metal building prices are probably up today though.