Information You Should Know

Deciding to buy a factory built home.
Information from: www.factorybuilthousing.com/guide

(AOL Real Estate)

Factory-built homes have come a long way over the past several years-bearing little resemblances to the mobile home of yesterday.
Thanks to sophisticated production process, factory-built housing
is as good as it gets when it comes to efficiency, affordability and innovative designs options.

You probably wouldn’t recognize a factory-built home if you saw one, so close are they in design and structure to their site-built counterparts. But as a home shopper, you do know a bargain when you see one. That's why in 1998 home-buyers like you bought 36,981 new factory -built homes in the United States. Nationwide approximately 18 million people-more than 7 percent of the U.S. population-live in factory-built homes. Factory -built homes represent a whopping 28 percent of all new single-family homes in this country.

Thinking of buying a factory built home? Here is what you need to know.

What is a factory -built home?

Factory built housing covers any type of housing constructed in a factory and transported to a residential site. Manufactured, modular, and panelized housing are examples of factory-built homes.

Manufactured Homes: These are homes built entirely in the factory under a federal building code administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (commonly known as the HUD Code) went into effect June 15, 1976. It's the only federally regulated national building code.

Built entirely in a factory, manufactured homes are transported to the site and installed. Federal standards, established in 1976, regulated manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The government also sets standards for heating, plumbing, air, and porches, must be built to local, state or regional building codes.

More Bang for your Buck.

Factory built homes cost, on average, about half of the price of a site-built house. The average site-built house cost an average of $70 per square foot, while factory -built home costs $35 to $40 per square foot, mostly because they are more efficient to produce.

New -factory built homes may cost anywhere from $20,000 for a small simple model to $100,000 or more for a multi-section unit with upgrades. You can customized your factory built home with skylights, picture windows, fireplaces, whirlpool's built in bookcases, and entertainment units -virtually any feature available in custom site-built homes.

Most people can't tell the difference between a factory-built home and its traditionally built neighbor. Their roofs have same heights and pitch, and you can select such design features as a bay window, gable front, or pitch roof with shingles. Awnings, enclosures around the crawl space, patio covers, decks and steps are also available.

Factory Hatched Is Better

"By now being exposed to the whims of Mother Nature, factory builders can shorten the production schedule required to get a house from the drawing board to a lot. They can also monitor waster better, reduced theft and more accurately maintain inventories-all of which are very difficult to do when you are building out in the middle of an open field.

You get more bang for your buck. You get quality product at a lower cost than a site -built home because the bulk purchase of materials, standardized factory production and design ingenuity all work to keep structural costs low. Your home will appreciate in value-comparable to appreciation of site built home (if your factory built home is well maintained)

You'll spend less on utilities. On average, you'll spend 25 percent less on your utilities than with a site built home. Manufactures are offering homeowners a variety of energy saving options, including better insulation to lower heating and cooling costs, energy efficient windows, and the choice of a home -energy fuel .

Homebuyers at higher and higher income levels appreciate the sophisticated manufacturing process that makes a house a valued home.
Recently, a San Francisco factory-built home provider sold a 4,000-square foot, four car garage factory -built home on a lot with a Pacific Ocean view to a Woodside, Calif. Customer.

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