Modular homes?

[Aram]

I moved to Oregon a few months ago and bought a nice piece of land with a 30x40 shop in a fantastic location for me -- and with the weirdest house ever. (OK, maybe not weirdest for Oregon). Not just weird, but badly soundproofed, needs foundation work, bunch of other stuff.

I'm thinking about bulldozing it and having a modular home dropped in. I'm finding surprisingly few online reviews, even though there are lots of companies. around One highly rated place has a radius I am just outside of. Another one the local rep couldn't even lead me to pics of house models on a web site, so he had to email me... and I couldn't even figure out if they were modular or manufactured. (I asked and he said they could be made both ways. Uh... really?) And so on. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but shouldn't there be lots of reviews and feedback?

Can anyone recommend a company that deals in modular homes in the PNW? Any feedback on Express Modular?

Thanks.

[Lynden]

Check with the national and state professional organizations.

national association of modular home builders

oregon association of modular home builders

[Wildwood]

Free modular home buyers guide

http://www.modularhomesnetwork.com//Modu...-guide.asp

Select your city
http://www.modularhomesnetwork.com/sitem...on&abbr=OR

Unless have a lot that sells modular homes you can visit will have to leave name & address at various web sites and folks will contact you.
My only visit to a modular home lot several years ago very disappointing. A friend bought one from them and they were very happy with their purchase. Pretty sure have had to replace lot of things, kitchen cabinets, bathroom tubs/shower, and carpet since buying ten or twelve years ago.
Would be ideal working directly with the factory if have one local or within 500 miles.

[Cooler]

The magazine "Dwell" promotes modular home building.  

I wrote to them once with this question:

"Stick built on-site homes generally appreciate in value over the years.  Mobile homes (single wide and double wide) generally depreciate in value over the years.  Manufactured stick built homes, once on site are indistinguishable from site built homes and from what I see in the papers these homes appreciate in value like site built homes.

Have you done any research to determine if modular homes depreciate in value like mobile homes, or appreciate in value like traditional homes?"

They never printed the letter or replied.   I realized later that to question the appreciation would probably affect that appreciation going forward.  

The question remains unanswered and to me represents an unacceptable financial risk.

[Lynden]

Most on-line real estate websites have a category for "manufactured" homes. Zillow, for example, shows these manufactured homes are currently for sale in Eugene.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Eu...0_zm/1_fr/

You could call the agents and visit these homes, go to some open houses, check the quality, talk to the owner and/or real estate agent, ask how old the home is if not shown in the listing, etc.

[Wildwood]

Communities love modular homes because have to have a foundation to set them on. My friends paid $56,000 for their modular home and county appraised it at $96,000 for tax purposes. I am sure their taxes have gone up since then. Forget how much their foundation cost, not sure ever told me. Sometimes foundation included in the price of the modular home. Pretty sure they have had to do some remodeling since then.
Sold my acreage next them soon after they moved in and have not talked to them in a while.

Can only guess depends upon where you live as to cost and options you select and if need a foundation contractor.

Looking at Zillow link hard to say if some of those homes have appreciated in value much. My area lot of used homes whether stick built, manufactured, mobile or double wides prices have declined in some cases buying new makes more sense.

[Cooler]

Communities love modular homes because have to have a foundation to set them on.  My friends paid $56,000 for their modular home and county appraised it at $96,000 for tax purposes.  I am sure their taxes have gone up since then.  Forget how much their foundation cost, not sure ever told me. Sometimes foundation included in the price of the modular home.   Pretty sure they have had to do some remodeling since then.
Sold my acreage next them soon after they moved in and have not talked to them in a while.  

Can only guess depends upon where you live as to cost and options you select and if need a foundation contractor.  

Looking at Zillow link hard to say if some of those homes have appreciated in value much.   My area lot of used homes whether stick built, manufactured, mobile or double wides prices have declined in some cases buying new makes more sense.

The problem is that there is no history on modular homes.  We have a history on stick built homes, which appreciate primarily because the land values have gone up and moving the home is difficult and expensive.

Mobile homes can easily be moved so even if you own the land, they depreciate because you can sell the home and buy a replacement to set on the same slab.

But modular homes are not as easily moved, and I have not read anything about them retaining their value.  Dwell magazine (you can see it at Barnes & Noble while drinking a nice cup of coffee), specializes in that construction.  

A new one just went up in our neighborhood.  Unlike other modern structures like Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, these are not integrated with the landscape.  They are just "plopped down", and for that reason I find them without charm.

A home integrated with the landscape:



And one that is just plopped down:

[EricU]

wow, they went out of their way to make that look plopped-down, didn't they?

There was a factory home put up near my dad's 25 years ago that went together in 2 weeks.  But those are really stick-built homes.   And indistinguishable from stick-built

[Lynden]

Lindal Cedar Homes might be an option. They're located in Seattle. They've built homes here in Southern California so there must be lots of them in Oregon.

https://lindal.com

https://lindal.com/image-search/

https://lindal.com/aaronandrew/

[JosephP]

The magazine "Dwell" promotes modular home building.  

I wrote to them once with this question:.....

I'd think that would be a better question for local real estate agents...