If you can’t find a house you want to buy you may be tempted to build your home yourself. In that case, you’ll need to choose between a stick-built house and a prefab home. Stick-built means your home is built the old-fashioned way, with a crew of workers on site for months raising the home and fitting it with plumbing and electricity. A prefab home, on the other hand, comes in pre-built parts.
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The term “prefab” is the abbreviation for prefabricated, which is all you need to know about prefab homes. These houses are manufactured in a factory setting and transferred immediately as full build. As you might expect, this type of home is extremely easy to make and move in comparison to a traditional home.
Prefab homes come in three main iterations: manufactured, kit and modular. Here’s a brief breakdown of each:
One of the benefits of prefab homes is that they tend to be highly energy efficient. Their tight seams and state-of-the-art windows keep heat in and reduce your energy bills in the process. As a bonus, modular homes’ tight construction gives them a reputation for being able to withstand natural disasters. If you ask many people “What is a prefab house?” they’ll assume it’s the same as a mobile home. Not true. Prefabricated (aka modular) homes go into a foundation like any other home. They can be high-quality, modern and elegant houses perfect for those who want a lower carbon footprint than the typical American suburban home has.
Fast construction is one of the big advantages of prefab homes. Because the parts of a prefab home come ready, all you have to do is assemble them and hook up the home to utilities. Hence the name “modular.” The prefab goes up much faster because it arrives partially constructed. That means fewer days with laborers on site and less vulnerability to weather delays and illnesses that can extend the construction process by days and weeks. Still, there’s more to consider than just the construction time. Site preparation, including obtaining permits, can be a lengthy process.
Building a prefab home is generally less expensive than building a comparable stick-built home. Nice, right? Part of the savings has to do with labor. It takes fewer laborers working over the course of fewer days to make a prefab move-in ready. That saves you money. Plus, as we mention, heating and cooling tend to be more affordable with prefab homes than with regular ones. If you’re open to buying an existing home, compare the costs of what’s available on the market with the cost of building a prefab. And remember that various levels of fittings and customization can raise or lower the cost of your prefab. Talk to the manufacturer about cost-cutting strategies available to you.
If you want to put up a prefab home you’ll need to own the land underneath it. If you don’t already own land you’ll need to buy it. You’ll also need to make sure that you’re able to put up a prefab home on that land, and that you can hook it up to electricity, water and sewer. And don’t forget soil testing on the land you’re planning to call home. Securing the land, inspections and permits can add up in terms of cost, time and trouble. Some companies that sell prefab homes will help you with this process, securing permits on your behalf and rolling their expenses into the cost of your modular home.
If you buy an existing home you can make a down payment of around 20% and pay off the rest of your mortgage over time. While financing and construction loans are available for many prefab homes, you’ll need to pay for the home’s construction before you move in. Your contract will include a schedule for paying in installments while your home is under construction. This pay-as-you-go feature of prefab homes means you need to be extra sure you can afford the prefab before you commit to buying it and putting it up. On the other hand, paying more up front saves you money in interest.
One of the disadvantages of prefabricated houses is that it can be tough to arrange for utilities and other site details. If your site is uneven you’ll need to have it leveled. Then you’ll need to lay the foundation and arrange for sewer strikes and electrical connection, not to mention connecting to city water or finding well water. If this all sounds a little too daunting, look for a prefab home that comes with the option to have the prefab home company take care of these details for you.
The cost of a prefab home will vary depending on how much you’re willing to do yourself and how much you outsource to others. Some ambitious home purchasers prefer to buy a prefab home as a kit and assemble it themselves, with the help of a few friends. Others are happy to spend the money to have the details of construction and permitting taken out of their hands. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, make sure you understand what you’re getting into before you go the prefab route.
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By Tobias Roberts
Rise Writer
Jun 8, 2020
There are essentially two different options on the table if you're thinking of taking on the challenge of building your own home. First, building from the ground up as a "stick-built" home, and second, ordering a prefabricated, or modular home to be assembled on site. There are both pros and cons to opting for prefab homes. Knowing these pros and cons can help potential homeowners decide what will best fit their budget, their circumstances, and the long-term livability of the home. We'll take a closer look at several of the pros and cons of prefab homes below.
Framing on the Shop Floor. Photo Credit: Phoenix Haus
A home built on-site, known as a "stick-built" home, is usually about twice as expensive as prefabricated homes. On-site construction generally wastes much more materials that go into the building of the house. Considering that over 500 million tons of construction and demolition debris are generated annually in the United States alone, finding ways to cut back on that waste is good for the environment and your wallet.
Besides being cheaper because of more efficient use of materials, prefab homes cut costs because they need fewer construction laborers on-site to help assemble the house.
Completed Goldenrod House. Photo Credit: Solsken Ecocor
Secondly, prefab homes can save you money during the years you live in these homes because their designs generally have energy efficiency in mind. Because a prefab house's individual parts adhere to strict design guidelines, the seams in these homes are usually airtight. This standardized air-tightness helps to avoid leaks and airflows that can increase the energetic and economic cost of heating and cooling your home.
Tenaya Modern Cottage. Photo Credit: Dvele
As more and more consumers begin to search for ecological and sustainable home features, prefab home architects and contractors are designing several home models that incorporate everything from solar panels to wind turbines to rainwater catchment systems.
Plant Prefab Palo Alto Home. Photo Credit: Plant Prefab
The pieces of a prefab home, be it modular prefab or panelized prefab, are assembled off-site. So, the actual time needed to attach the parts on-site is considerably shorter than the time required to build a regular stick-built home. If you have a tight timeline and want to get into your new home on time, prefab homes are usually the quickest type of new home construction available to homeowners.
In addition, prefab homes are built in a factory setting, which means no on-site material waste. In the factory, whatever is leftover from an individual home's construction can be reused on another manufactured home.
Deltec Ridgeline Model with Solar Panels. Photo Credit: Deltec
Depending on where you live, the cost of transporting the different parts of your future home can become expensive. If you live "off the beaten path," transportation companies might very well charge you a hefty fee to get all the parts of your home to the construction site.
It is important to note that if you haven't hired a contractor with experience assembling the specific model of prefab home you've chosen, you always run the risk of faulty assembly. This could lead to joint failure, leaks, and other issues. If your contractor doesn't have the correct equipment on hand, the different modules or panels of the prefab home run the risk of being damaged during the delivery and assembly process.
TimberCab Kitchen. Photo Credit: FabCab
One of the nice things about buying an existing home is that you're purchasing the land it sits on as well, in addition to the surrounding yard. All of this is incorporated into the negotiated price for purchase. Many people might spend long periods of time searching for the most affordable prefab home model only to find later that the cost of land in the area where they wanted to put their home will add another $50,000 or more to the final purchase price.
It's essential to thoroughly research the land price for the location in which you plan to put your prefab home. And it is imperative to make sure that there are no restrictions on putting up a prefab or modular home in that particular zoning district.
When searching the web for the most affordable prefab homes, it can be encouraging to find a quality, 1,500 square foot home offered with a base price of between $60,000 - $120,000. However, most companies that offer these types of houses don't include several other costs that will significantly increase the final price tag of your home. We've already mentioned the cost of the land itself. But, you'll have to factor in the additional cost of hooking your home up to utilities, including electricity, sewer, municipal water, etc.
Prefab Home. Photo Credit: Canada Prefab
If you don't want to go through the hassle of doing all of this by yourself, it's a good idea to find a prefab home company that includes these hookups into the price of your home. Be sure to research what exactly is included in the price offered by the modular home company. Several companies offer "bare" prefab homes, which you will have to finish yourself. In contrast, other companies offer move-in-ready homes.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute a product endorsement however Rise does reserve the right to recommend relevant products based on the articles content to provide a more comprehensive experience for the reader.
Last Modified: 2021-07-16T14:13:54+0000
Article by:
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.