When Land Isn’t Buildable

February 28, 2012

I discovered just how difficult it can be to judge whether a lot has “wetlands” when customers of mine, a young married couple, bought a piece of open farmland that was covered by what appeared to be grasses. My customers bought the lot in midsummer with plans to build the following year. The property was [...]

Read the full article →

Select a General Contractor with Modular Experience

February 23, 2012

There is one sure way to make the construction of your new home a miserable time: Hire a GC without modular experience who stubbornly believes that modular homes are an inferior product. You will likely find that he is always looking to say something bad about your home. This was quite common 20 years ago, [...]

Read the full article →

Notice the Minor Imperfections in Model Homes & Expect Them in Yours

February 15, 2012

Soon after starting my business, I built a two-story model home with several upscale features. For example, I dressed up the first floor with oak trim and doors, all finished in clear polyurethane, so that my customers could see what this option looked like. The first customer who ordered this upgrade called me soon after [...]

Read the full article →

Verify Your Lender’s Willingness to Let You Act as GC

February 9, 2012

Here’s another story that seems to occur at least once a year with my company. Recently a young couple decided to act as their own GC so they could save money. They went to their favorite local lender who told them that the general-contracting work on their home had to be supervised by a professional [...]

Read the full article →

Are You Truly Ready, Willing, and Able to Build a Modular Home

February 2, 2012

It takes most customers awhile to shop for a new home. When they’re finally ready to build, the last thing they want is to be slowed down by some unanticipated steps. Unfortunately, that’s what usually happens. Most customers are surprised by these delays because they haven’t given enough thought to what they need to do [...]

Read the full article →

Modular Homes Promote Planning Discipline

January 28, 2012

Over the years we’ve built modular homes for several customers who stick built their previous home. Since most of them were happy with their home, it’s interesting to consider why they decided to build a modular home next. Invariably, it was because their stick building experience was marred by substantial cost overruns or considerable time [...]

Read the full article →

Go Green or Not to Go Green

January 25, 2012

You’ve probably read or watched a few stories about why green construction is the way to go. If you’re like most of our customers, you’re asking if the benefits are really worth the cost. This reminds me of my experience with Universal Design (UD) homes. In the early 1990’s, my company built a model home [...]

Read the full article →

Architects Expand the Possibilities of Modular Homes

January 14, 2012

Over the years I’ve built a few modular homes that were designed by architects. In each case, the finished product was among the best-designed homes we’ve built. Here’s a story about one of these homes. The suggestion to build a contemporary cape cod as a modular home came from the architect, Robert Coolidge, AIA, of [...]

Read the full article →

Take the Set Day Inventory Seriously

January 3, 2012

Subcontractors who finish the siding installation on a modular home need to have all of the materials accessible when they begin their work. Sometimes these materials, which are shipped loose with the house, are buried beneath a lot of other materials. The subcontractor for one of my customers did not get fifteen minutes into his [...]

Read the full article →

Ensure the Dealer and Lender Agree on Payment Terms

December 23, 2011

Modular manufacturers prefer to be paid cash on delivery (COD), and many insist on it. But most lenders prefer to make the final payment after the home is set on the foundation. The way most manufacturers and lenders reconciled their conflict is by using an “assignment-of-funds” procedure that legally commits the lender to paying for [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →