Most styles of a house can be a prefab house. Whether it’s a cabin by the lake or a large home on a horse ranch, you can usually find a floor plan that meets your wants and needs. A prefabricated home is built in a factory as opposed to an onsite building location. The premade parts are delivered to the site, where a team of construction technicians assemble them to the exact specifications. Designers of prefab houses use modern materials, often sustainable ones, to create long-lasting, attractive homes at an affordable cost to homeowners.
Why Use a Prefab House?
There are many advantages to using a prefab house.
Quick Assembly
Because the components of a prefab home are built in factories and then assembled later, they’re a viable option if you need your new home up and ready to move into relatively quickly. Once the prefabricated house is brought to the building site, our team carefully assembles it and adds the finishing touches so it’s ready for you.
A Variety of Floor Plans and Features
In addition, prefab homes come in a variety of designs and floor plans, letting you choose which style best fits your lifestyle and budget. Prefab home companies offer buyers various features and even foundation types, so you can have the house put where you want it on the land, as long as you abide by zoning laws.
Controlled Building
As the components of a prefab home are built in a controlled factory environment, each piece is carefully inspected and made to exact specifications. Often with a stick-built home, contractors must navigate the construction with irregular-shaped pieces of wood that can be frustrating, expensive, and time-consuming. In contrast, prefab homes have a quicker turn-around time for final assembly and move-in.
Environmentally Friendly
In general, prefabricated homes use less material and waste than traditionally built houses, helping create a more sustainable building. Also, because they’re built in a factory, there’s less mess and intrusion of workers on your property resulting in a faster after-construction clean-up.
Types of Prefab Homes
With recent Housing and Urban Development (HUD) codes for manufactured homes, prefab homes must meet strict requirements and regulations that surpass those for mobile homes built before 1976.
Manufactured Homes
Today’s mobile homes are now called manufactured homes according to HUD codes. This type of prefab home comes with various floor plans and customization options, usually offered as a single, double, or triple-section prefab home.
Modular Homes
Modular homes are also built in a factory but don’t need to adhere to HUD-manufactured home codes. Instead, a modular home must comply with state, local, and regional building codes as opposed to federal prefab home regulations. In general, a modular home is built on a permanent foundation as opposed to a non-permanent one for a manufactured home.
Kit Homes
Kit homes are essentially mail-order homes. Owners can order the floor plan they desire, and the kit home company will mail or deliver the pieces to the job site where the homeowner assembles the kit by themselves or with the help of a contractor. Kit homes can come as small movable tiny homes to large homes that sit on a fixed foundation. They’re an affordable way to purchase a prefab home, but you’ll need the tools and knowledge to assemble the pieces.
The Construction Process of Prefab Homes
Construction of a prefab home is fairly straightforward and uncomplicated, generally following these steps:
- Consultation with you for floor plan and feature ideas and budget restraints.
- Drafting the plan.
- Component fabrication at the facility.
- Preparing the building site.
- Assembling the parts of the prefab house.
- Transportation of the house to the site.
- Utility and technical installations.
- Finishing the interior with paint, final flooring, shelving, and cabinetry.
- Final inspection.
Challenges and Considerations of a Prefab Home
While a prefab home is a smart choice for some people, there are also some challenges to having this kind of new home.
Financing Options
Lenders often shy away from offering a traditional home loan with a mortgage for prefab homes. When you’re looking to buy a prefab home, you can turn to other options.
Construction Loan
Instead of looking for a traditional loan with a mortgage, try and work with lenders who may offer a construction loan. With this type of loan, you’ll pay interest payments on material and labor, and you’ll need a good credit score and around a 20% down payment to qualify. Once the house is finished and inspected, you may be able to convert the construction loan into a mortgage with principal and interest payments.
Manufactured Home Loan
A manufactured home, or mobile home, is built on a chassis and is classified differently than a prefab home built on a foundation. However, some manufactured homes are affixed to the ground and fall into a different category according to lenders and regulation codes.
Depending on your financial situation and credit score, you may qualify for government financing through a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan. This type of loan is insured by the government as opposed to a financial institution. An FHA loan generally requires a lower down payment and you’ll have to pay for mortgage insurance.
Zoning Laws
It’s essential to understand the local zoning laws before deciding on a prefab home. Some areas ban manufactured homes completely or have strict regulations that may prove prohibitive for someone trying to put one on their property. Modular or kit homes may have different zoning laws, so check with your prefab home builder or loan officer.
Utility Setup
Depending on where you plan on setting up your prefab home, you may have challenges getting utilities set up, especially in remote areas or on uneven land. You may also have to have the site worked to stabilize the land.
Learn More About Prefab Homes and Their Benefits
Prefab homes are ideal when you want an affordable alternative to an on-site built home. Modern prefabricated houses are sustainable and energy-efficient. You can choose from a variety of floor plans to fit your housing needs, making this type of home personalized and customizable. Contact us at Steiner Homes in Portage, Indiana, or Valparaiso, Indiana, to learn more about prefab houses. We offer our building services throughout Northwest Indiana in some of the most attractive communities in the area. Check out our homes for sale to experience the quality of our work for yourself.
vina lustado’s home and office by Nicolás Boullosa is licensed with CC BY 2.0
