- When it comes to modular homes, people love to tell me
what they think about them, because their perception of what they really are
is completely wrong. And usually they spit about
five big fat lies out at me. And by the end of the conversation I have debunked every single one of them. So let's just go ahead and
just debug all of these lies. So that way, if you're
considering a modular home, you've made the right decision for you. But first off, let's just talk
about what a modular home is 'cause when most people
think of a modular home, a lot of cases, they're
thinking that it's this, when it's really this. Now, modular homes can
come in various shapes, sizes, configurations,
from all the way to modern to traditional styles. When you're talking
about manufactured homes and modular homes, both
of these types of homes are made in a factory. So that's where people think
that they're the same product, but that couldn't be
further from the truth. A manufactured home is usually delivered in two sections, and
they're connected together. Most of it made in the factory and connected on site
with those two sections. Now, with a modular home,
the sections are built in the factory and then
they're assembled on the site. And you will have a licensed contractor or a licensed home builder
put those pieces together. It doesn't come together
in the two sections like a manufactured home. Like I said, they're both
built in the factory, two totally separate products. One of the biggest advantages of buying a modular home
is the time that it takes for them to construct it. So when you have ordered
your modular home, you can have those sections delivered. And it takes nearly half the time that it would a traditional home build because they don't have
to wait for the dry wall, the roofing materials
to get to the location like you would with a traditional built. With a modular home, it
all comes on the same day, all the building materials. And so then all the workers could work in half the time that
it normally would take for a traditional built home. Now, some newer modular
homes are now foldable like these boxable homes. You can have your home
actually put together in less than two hours. Now, even though this home
will come together in sections and all the building
materials come in at one time, that doesn't mean the quality of your home is gonna be any less than
a traditional built home. But most people think it's gonna be like the two sections when
you see a manufactured home. And they will say, well, it's just a couple pieces
that they connect together. A modular home, who wants that? A modular home is not a manufactured home. So make sure you get that clear if anybody's trying to
explain that to you. According to the National
Association of Realtors, modular home construction
continues to grow year over year, still not taking over the number one spot of site-built homes. Now, a modular home is no
different than a site-built home. And in many cases it not only
meets building standards, it actually goes above a
lot of building standards in your local area. They're also considered a
more green type of building because most of the pieces
are made right there at the factory and delivered at one time instead of several
trips that it would take for a home to be built
with building materials. They also tend to have a
better envelope of tightness. So you don't have as many drafts as you would with a
traditional built home, making it much easier for you
to regulate the temperature within your house itself, which of course makes it more green. The insulation in these
homes tend to be a lot higher than traditional building homes as well. Again, making your house
a better green option if that's what you're looking for. Now, some people will tell you that, well, modular homes are not safe because they're not built
like traditional built homes. And as you know, that's not true. Just a fun fact to know, most modular homes can withstand
175 mile an hour winds, which is equivalent to
an EF-4 wind rating. And that would be equivalent
to a category five hurricane. Now, all this evidence of the wind rating on these things is anecdotal because we haven't really seen
a category five hurricane, but it is something that's pretty exciting when it comes to knowing a little bit more about modular homes. And like I said, they're completely safe, so don't let people lie to you about that. Modular homes will have to
meet two kinds of inspections. One time in the factory when it's going through
a quality assurance. And the second time it
will have to be inspected by county officials to make sure it meets all specifications. Now that modular homes are
built to the same standard, if not higher standard than
traditional built homes. A lot of times you'll
hear people say, well, they don't hold their value. They're not the same as
a traditional build home. Well, again, that's not true. In all cases, when it comes to the
appraisal of that home, appraisal will walk through and have no idea that it's a modular home until they start looking
at their paperwork and they see that it is
indeed a modular home. And then the first words
out of their mouth are, I would've never guessed
it was a modular home because they have this preconceived idea of what a modular home is. And then once they get
through it, they're like, oh, they don't even realize it until they see the paperwork itself. So don't believe the
hype when somebody says they don't hold their value
because that's hogwash. I do wanna share with you
a modular home company that I've been keeping my eye on. It's called S2A Modular. The company has plans to
set up about 35 factories throughout the United States. This looks like a company that has a bright future ahead of them. Now that we're talking about appraisers, the only time that you'll see an appraiser is because you wanna have financing. So don't think that you have to have cash to buy a modular home. In some cases you will,
because if the modular home is under $65,000, you cannot
get a home loan on it. That's just the way it is, sucks. And I wish the US government
would do something a lot different for low-income people but that's a different video. But with a modular home, when
the appraisers come through, they're appraising it either
for an FHA, a VA, an RD, or even a conventional loan. You can use any loan package
that you would normally get with any traditional built home. So don't believe the
hype about that either. You do not have to have two separate loans for the land and the modular home itself when you're going to purchase one and get financing put on it. Now, if you are going to
purchase a brand new modular home and you have a piece of land, you can get a new construction loan. The new construction loan
may take a little bit longer because there's gonna be some more details that need to be taken care of, especially if you have unprepared land. You may have to do two
types of loan packages. You're gonna have to discuss
that with your loan officer, and they will go through all
your options ahead of time. So just know that if you're doing this with a brand new modular home. Now, if you live in a modular home now, and you were thinking about refinancing, you can refinance your modular home. Don't think that you can't. If anybody's told you you can't, that's a bunch of horse pucky. Now, if you've watched
my channel for some time, you know that I've been talking about the modular home company Boxabl. I was even lucky enough
to go visit the factory where they build them. The initial rollout will only
have the one type of Boxabl which is the Caseta, and
they're priced at under $50,000. I'll have a link at the description if you wanna know more about Boxabl. Now, one lie that is
told to a lot of people about modular homes, is
they're a lot less expensive than buying a traditional built home. In some cases that can
be entirely possible, but in a lot of cases, they're
gonna cost just as much as it would cost for a
traditional building. The upside of it, of course, is the amount of time that it would take for your home to be
built with a modular home in comparison to a traditional built home. Another thing to know is that
because it appraised the same, because it was financed the same, that means it was taxed the same. So you're still gonna have to pay the same amount of taxes as your neighbor. You didn't get a special deal because it was modular, sorry. Taxes, it's the only
thing you can count on, death and taxes. Oh, here's a good one because
people love to say this too. You're gonna have a hard time
finding an insurance policy for your modular home. Again, horse pucky. Just for the same reasons
I told you earlier, it's no different than a
traditional built home. So you can get the same
kinda homeowners policy as you would for a traditional home. Just note that any kinda
home that you're buying, if you're planning on
getting flood insurance, that's gonna be separate from your policy if it's not required in your area. Some flood policies could
be as cheap as $500 a year. I'm not selling flood
insurance, but if you live in a low line area like I do in Louisiana, it's a great way to have a
little extra peace of mind 'cause you never know
when you're at a flood. So here is one thing
that you probably heard that might feel like a lie to you, but it's not actually a lie. So even though your piece of property may be zoned residential, and a modular home is considered
a residential property, that doesn't mean you
can build a modular home on that specific piece of property. You're always gonna want to check with the restrictions in your area. You're also gonna wanna check with the permitting office
in your area and see if you are are allowed
to have modular homes in your specific location. That being said, also check
to see if there's any HOAs. Some HOAs will allow you to
have any type of construction of a home except for modular because they're unsure
of what a modular is. Again, they have that preconceived idea that it's the same thing
as a manufactured home. In some cases, that can be
overruled by the association once you show them the
plans of your modular home, and they see that it does look like a traditional built home. You're just gonna have to
jump through a few more hoops. Some HOAs are great, some stink. Don't shoot the messenger,
I'm just letting you know. Now, if you're having a hard
time finding any restrictions for a piece of property 'cause you've had it for quite some time, you can always check with
a local title office, and you also can check with
the local county records to see if there's any filed restrictions. Any title attorney will be able to look that up pretty quickly. In some cases, if you promise them that you're gonna go ahead
and close your house with them when you close on your
modular home, they'll go ahead and waive any kinda
fees that will cost them to find those restrictions for you. Just trying to save
you a little bit money, I'm good like that. Oh, and one more thing
about restrictions too. I almost forgot this. If you see a modular
home and the restrictions allow you to put a modular home on there, check to see how many square feet it is. I know that when you look online and you're looking on the interwebs. When they show you a lot of
these tiny modular homes, they will be under 600 square feet. A lot of these areas, I
mean a lot of these areas will not allow you to
have a permanent dwelling that you can live in that's
under 600 square feet. So go ahead and check
that out ahead of time. I just wanted to make you aware of that 'cause I almost forgot. And let me add a buyer beware,
because there has been a lot of modular home companies that
have popped up on the market. And I get lots of emails of people asking me what I
think about a specific company. Well, some of them aren't
even really making houses yet. They're really just
selling people an idea. They're trying to gather up money. So if you see nothing but computer renderings of
these specific modular homes, and there's no reviews of the company, and the only thing you
can find is blog posts and other YouTube videos talking
about the idea of the home, that means it's not an actual company. So don't get your heart set on something you see on the internet until you actually know
that it's been constructed and put in somebody else's location. Another thing to be aware of too is a lot of modular home
companies that are wicked cool, they're not in the United States. Here's another modular home company. Unfortunately, it's not
in the United States, but they do plan on shipping
out their foldable cabins within the next year. But we're still not sure how much the shipping costs are gonna be. So you may see a price on the internet for these specific homes, but you're gonna have
to include the shipping, which can cost a lot, especially
if it's international. Now, modular homes are great products. And I know there is
going to be some people that will try to spit out some of the lies that I have shared with you. Some real estate agents have told me that it has taken them a little bit longer to resell a listing because of
the fact that it was modular. And it's mostly because
there's a misconception of what a modular home is. So if you are on the fence
and you've been looking around and you had a hard time
finding houses right now because it is a thing right now, that's hard to find a house. And you saw in that listing
that it was a modular home. Go ahead and take a look at that house. It's probably built better than the houses you've
been looking at anyway. So let me know, would you
consider a modular home now that you know all this? Let me know in the comments section. Now, if you're unsure if it's a modular home
or a manufactured home, you're probably gonna wanna check out the information I have
in this video right here. My name is Kristina Smallhorn,
your real estate whisperer. And I tell you all this because good real estate
information matters.
