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General
Information Questions: |
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1. Question: What are the benefits of going modular?
Answer: They are structurally stronger, faster and less
expensive.
2. Question: Do you have contractors do all the work?
Answer: Our contractors can do all the work, some of the
work or none of the work. This will depend on your preference and where
your house is going.
3. Question: What do you need in order to order a house?
Answer: You must have a building permit and/ or footings
or foundation in and a solid closing date (in some cases have closed on
your construction loan) from your bank, in order to put the house into
the 8-10 full business week factory production schedule. But since you
need the blueprints to get the building permit, you must first make an
appointment to come in to put a deposit down to get the blueprints
started and prepare the paperwork for the bank. Immediately following
that appointment, you can bring our paperwork with our rough floor plan
to the bank and we start the blueprints that you will need to apply for
the building permit. The blueprints can take approximately 4-6 weeks to
complete which is also the time it usually takes for a bank to give an
unconditional commitment letter and a closing date. Then you submit the
blueprints to the town for a building permit, At the same time when you
apply for your building permit, you come in to pick out your colors, and
put the second deposit down. Then once you have closed on your
construction loan or have a solid closing date, and your footings or
foundation is in, we put your house into the 8-10 week production
schedule at the factory. (All times quoted are approximate and can vary
depending on the time of year, the factory production schedule and
backlog, and holidays.)
4. Question: How much of a down payment do you require? (Not to
be confused wit the 5% - 20% down for the bank)
Answer: We require a minimum of $3,500-$5,000. The first
deposit is to get the initial process going, which is preparing the
paperwork for the bank, and starting the state approved blueprints. The
second deposit is when you apply for the building permit and come in to
pick out the colors.
5. Question: So its $2,500-$5,000 for the blueprints?
Answer: No, The deposit is on the modular home. We are not
in the business of just doing blueprints. We expect that when you come
in for the appointment to put the first deposit down, that you have done
all your shopping and that you understand that the deposit is for the
modular home and not just for blueprints.
6. Question: Do we have to have land to come in for a private
consultation?
Answer: It is always best to have land already, or to have
a piece of land under agreement, in order to do a more accurate
design/price consultation. However, if you do not have land and are just
trying to figure general budget, you can still set up a private
consultation.
7. Question: Do you help in finding land?
Answer: No we don't. We are strictly custom builders.
People come to us already owning their land or they come to us with a
piece of land in mind. We recommend that you go to a local full time
broker, preferably one who specializes in land or new construction, to
help you find land. However once you have a piece of land in mind we can
advise you from there.
8. Can we drive by some of your houses?
Answer: We suggest you first see the open house model
home. After that if you feel you still need to see another house we can
set that up. Unfortunately just driving by homes of people who have
already moved in is not recommended it makes homeowner's nervous when
strangers linger outside their house.
9. Question: Do you have any references?
Answer: References are available upon request.
10. Question: Do you do additions?
Answer: We are one of the only modular companies on the
east coast that builds additions. We can do 2nd floor
additions on most existing homes, and standard expansions as well.
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Costs Questions: |
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11. Question: What does the price include?
Answer: The turnkey price includes freight, flag cars, crane,
taxes, kitchen cabinets, carpet, linoleum and bathroom fixtures, custom
computer designing in 3D, state approved blueprints.
12. Question: How much should I figure for town water and sewer on an
average well and septic?
Answer: Generally the average cost to hook up to town
water and sewer is $1000 - $2000 each from your property line to your
foundation (not into the street). However the average combined cost of a
well and septic can be $10,000 - $15,000 which would be $4,000-$5,000
for a well and $5,000 - $10,000 for a septic. However this can vary
greatly depending on your land. So for conversation sake for now, figure
$15,000 for excavation, septic, and well.
13. Question: What about the cost of options such as hardwood floors,
fireplaces, farmer's porches etc.?
Answer: The price of any option you choose with be given
during your design / price consultation and / or included in your
estimate. Any option you can get with a conventional stick built home
you can also get with modular: for example: fireplaces, whirlpools,
cathedral ceilings, farmers porches, hardwood floors, ceramic tile, wood
siding, upgraded kitchen cabinets, corian or granite countertops, higher
roof pitches, dormers etc.
14. Question: What about unknowns?
Answer: The only unknowns in building modular or
traditionally are basically 3. The excavation, the well and the septic
to some degree. No builder can guarantee in advance of these unknowns.
This unfortunately is the only down side to custom buildings. However,
other local work costs that we quote are more predictable. We can
however give you estimates from our past experiences on excavation,
septic and well. Also once you have a septic system design drawn by an
engineer that becomes less of an unknown. The well and the excavation
will remain an unknown until they are attempted.
15. Question: How much do you charge per square foot?
Answer: Judging a Modular builder by his price per square
foot is a serious mistake. Very rarely will a pricing formula work
for every job. Our turnkey construction which includes start to
finish construction as well as foundation, and finishing costs roughly
$125/sq ft for larger homes (>2500sq ft) and $135/sq ft for smaller
homes (<2500 sq ft). Additionally, we drop ship at $55-$65/sq ft based
upon location and design.
16. Question: Why is the per square foot prices less,
for larger homes?
Answer: The more house you buy, the less expensive the
price is. The reason for this is that there is an economy of scale with
modular homes. There are certain things that remain constant when you
build a modular, such as freight and certain overhead costs. In other
words, it costs the same to ship 4 small sections of a house as it does
to ship 4 large sections of a house.
17. Question: How much are garages?
Answer: Garages are built locally and the cost ranges from
$17,000 - $19,000 from ground up, for conventional roof (5/12 or 7/12
pitch truss roof) and $25,000 - $30,000 for 12/12-roof pitch with
unfinished bonus from above the garage depending on size. |
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Construction Specification Questions: |
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18. Question: Don't you get stress cracks with modular?
Answer: You will get stress cracks because sheetrock is
the weakest medium in any construction, of course this is not
structural, this is cosmetic and it is part of the modular process.
After the house is set, whoever is doing the local button up takes care
of the stress cracks. However over time you will have less settlement
cracks than you would have with a conventionally built house. The reason
for this is because the plywood and sheetrock are glued to the studs and
the ceiling joists and this restricts the movement of materials with
expansion, contraction and moisture.
19. Question: Are the houses pre-wired and does the electrical panel
come with the house?
Answer: The houses come pre-wired with the switches and
outlets in place. The panel with the circuit breakers is attached in one
of the modules and the other module(s) have home run wires that the
local electrician connects.
20. Question: Does the boiler come with modular homes?
Answer: The modular homes come with the heating baseboard
elements installed and stubbed through the floor. The heating
connections of all the baseboard elements below the floor joists and the
boiler needs to be done locally. The boiler and the heating connections
will be included as part of your turnkey price as a separate line item
called Plumbing & Heating connections. |
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Customizing and Options Questions: |
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21. Question: Can I custom design a floor plan?
Answer: Yes, almost any design is possible.
22. Question: Do you charge for custom designing?
Answer: We offer custom computer designing for all of our
stock floor plans and our custom designed floor plans included in the
price of our homes. However, if you add options such as Jacuzzi tubs, or
recessed lighting or crown molding, those items would be added onto your
final price as an itemized list.
23. Question: What about the options such as hardwood floors,
fireplaces, farmer's porches etc.?
Answer: Any option you can get with a conventional stick
built home you can also get with modular: for example: fireplaces,
whirlpools, cathedral ceilings, farmers porches, hardwood floors,
ceramic tile, wood siding, upgraded kitchen cabinets, corian or granite
countertops, higher roof pitches, dormers etc.
24. Question: Do you have a list of all of your options?
Answer: No, but any option you may be thinking about you
can discuss with your designer at your design price consultation and
then it will be included in your estimate.
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Timing Questions: |
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25. Question: How soon can we get a home?
Answer: If you could order a house today, it would be here
in approximately 8-10 full business weeks, excluding several days for
holidays since we are not allowed on the highway before and after
holidays. We can only order a house after we have a building permit and/
or footings and foundation is in and you have a solid closing date from
your bank, or have closed on your construction loan.
26. Question: Is that all it takes? only 8 weeks to 10 weeks?
Answer: It takes only eight to ten weeks to build the
house in the factory then we install it with the crane in one day.
HOWEVER, from the day it is installed, you need to figure a
MINIMUM of 8-12 weeks to move in. For some houses it may take even
longer.
27. Question: Why does it take so long after the house is set?
Answer: Because we have to do finishing work, and also
rough, and final inspections of both local electrical and plumbing. Then
we must tie into the water and sewer or septic. The work cannot be done
in parallel, but needs to be done sequentially, with gaps in between for
such things as, inspections, and utilities.
28. Question: So how long does the whole process take?
Answer: It takes about 4-6 months from the time you have a
building permit.
29. Question: How long does it take to get an estimate once we have
sat down for a design/price consultation?
Answer: In order to provide you with an accurate estimate,
we would need any custom floor plan drawn at the factory. The
turn-around time for these drawings is roughly 1-2 weeks. Upon
receiving these plans, we can provide you with an estimate in 1-2
business days.
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