6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Modern Modular Homes

With so many building options today, it’s hard to choose which one is the right one for you and your family. Pre-fabricated homes and various versions of these homes seem to be making considerable headway in the housing market.

A prefabricated building is a home that is built off-site – whether it be in modules that will be discussed below, panels or mobile homes. While performing research on your future home, you have more than likely heard of modular homes –but what exactly are they?

Modular homes are constructed off-site from the lot where your future home will stand. They are often advertised as modern, energy efficient and cost-saving as they are built in as little as a few months in a manufacturing setting. Your modular home would be manufactured in pieces – complete with electrical finishing’s, wall color choices and windows – and delivered and assembled on site as specified by you.

Advantages of Prefabricated Homes

Modernizing the Look with Energy Efficiency

Though modular homes are historically associated with lower quality, this is no longer the case today. Various companies across North America are making modular homes attractive by using geometric and modern exterior finishing’s that boast open spaces and maximize natural light in your home. In order to stand out from the competitive modular market, builders are looking to maximize energy efficiency through numerous methods such as recycling materials, using LED lighting and installing solar panels. This ensures that you save money on your energy bills to the point where you may be producing clean energy that will be put back into the energy grid.

Zero Waste and Zero Inspection Hassle

After being created in the factory setting, these modular pieces are then transported to site and assembled using heavy machinery. Similar to a BONE Structure home, modular homes do not produce waste as all the required materials for construction arrive on site already installed in the modular pieces. It would be like putting together a Lego home – except all the pieces are rooms, designed to your desire and needs. In addition to their ease of construction and energy advantages, modular homes are almost always manufactured to code, ridding you of the worry that comes with home inspections by your municipality.

Reliable Schedule

An additional advantage to modular homes is the minimal opportunity for negative schedule interference to occur. This is in part due to the construction of the pieces being in a controlled indoor environment that can’t blame weather for delays. Without weather interruptions, the average home would be constructed in no longer than four months. During this construction process, workers are put in a low risk environment that elevates their feelings of comfort. With healthier workers, you can be certain that your home will receive the care and attention to details that it requires in order to be built safely and soundly.

Disadvantages of Prefab Homes

Limited Design Options

On the flip side – modular homes are known to come with their own sets of disadvantages. Depending on the company you choose to build your modular home with – you can be stuck with a limited amount of material options and home layout possibilities. This implies that your home may have less flexibility in the design than you anticipated.

Reduced Resell Value

Modular homes also have a stigma surrounding them: that they are of lower quality, which makes them extremely difficult to resell. Modular buildings have historically been associated with lower quality homes that boast dated designs, such as every home buyer’s nightmare: popcorn ceilings. Today, the modern modular structure is trying to revamp how the market perceives these homes, however, it is worth noting that it may be a few years before modular homes are viewed as equals, if not superior, to stick frame homes in North America.

Difficult to Finance

Lastly, modular homes need to be built with a corresponding finance plan that will differ from the mortgage plan associated with traditional stick frame homes. Banks are generally unfamiliar with the modular home construction process and the fact that most payments are required to be made upfront. Banks have been known to deny some people the mortgage required to support this process and clients have had to look at various options before being able to continue with the construction of their modular home.

In Conclusion

When deciding on a method of construction for your custom home, it is important to do an in-depth research on all the options available. With the right designer and builder, you will not be compromising on cost, design and the feeling of satisfaction when you will eventually turn the key of your finished home eventually. Knowing this, you will be more than equipped to choose the custom home construction method that best suits your needs!