I love watching those half hour reality shows where an amateur house flipper purchases a house and expects to flip it in a week. Nearly 99% of the time, their budget and timeline shift. Partly it’s because of their inexperience, but partly that’s the nature of home construction. There is the expected cost and the true cost. The expected cost is derived in an average-case scenario and the true cost is often much higher because of delays and interest rates.

Building a home from scratch onsite is an exercise in costing a moving target! If the home builder takes out a construction loan, the interest is ticking by with every day… whether the schedule is on time or not. (And the schedule is rarely on schedule!). Delays cost money in interest, but they also cost money in wasted people-hours (for example, if you hire a team of people but they can’t do the job because of the weather, you likely have to pay them anyway).

Modular homes reduce the risks associated with the moving target of cost. When someone purchases a modular home, they select a floorplan, which the price. That price is carefully calculated and agreed to, with no surprises.

Then, the home is built in a controlled environment where inclement weather doesn’t delay production.

Then, the home is delivered and erected in just a couple of days, which eliminates the costs associated with renting equipment (and having it sit idle during downtime).

Because of these reasons, and other reasons too (which you can read about on my blog and throughout the site), modular homes are much more cost effective to buy than stick-built homes.

Tags: cheap, cheap homes, cost effective, green homes, mobile, modular, readymade