Finding a perfect house can often be quite troublesome. The real estate inventories are tight, and you may spend months, if not years before you find a perfect pick. So, why wouldn’t you simply build your dream house from scratch? And, while you’re at it, why wouldn’t you go one step further and build a modular home instead of going down the traditional brick and mortar route?
Modern prefabricated houses are durable, reliable, sustainable, and incredibly affordable. Buying and assembling one makes a lot of sense in 2019. Let’s see a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
Set up a budget
Creating a budget is one of the most important foundations for any kind of undertaking that includes large sums of money. So, do your homework, research the primary and secondary expenses that await you along the way, take an honest look at your earnings and find a middle-ground where you can pull off a project without putting too much pressure on your personal finances. Put this research into writing and create a document that will keep you on course and prevent the things from going out of hand when the works finally start.
Purchase the lot
The next step in this journey will be finding the lot where your house will be built. The good news is that modular homes can be assembled on virtually any kind of soil, so you won’t need to be overly picky. Still, you should apply all the common sense you would if you were buying any other real estate. So, think in terms of size, access to utility hookups and major roads, and, finally, amenities like schools, kindergartens, shopping malls, cinemas, etc. In this case, going for a cheaper option may cause serious long-term expenses.
Start negotiations with vendors
Now that you know the basic market prices and know what you are working with, it’s time to engage in what we like to call the pre-contract stage. A period where you look for the vendors and builders you prefer, talk about your ideas and start making feasibility studies. Of course, be aware that some adjustments to your budget will be needed to be made. As long as you remain aware of your purchase power, these tweaks should not cause you too much of a headache, though. In the end, you will probably be asked to pay a deposit so the site surveys can finally begin.
Be thorough when it comes to design
By being thorough, we basically mean two things. First, do your best to put the things into perspective. Building a house is a long-term investment. So, instead of focusing solely on what you and your family need now, try to figure out where you will be in decades to come. Second, you need to be aware that modular homes arrive at the site 75-85% complete. Once they’re there, there will be very little room for adjustments. So spend some time with the designers to work out the floor plan, dimensions, and finishes before the assembly starts.
Prepare the site for construction
Although it is a common practice for construction companies to send their employees to prepare the worksite, you can make their lives considerably easier by helping them out, and what’s even more important, allowing them easy access. For instance, a hydraulic crane is a tool used for lifting into position and putting together the prefabricated house segments. Although very mobile and versatile, cranes still require a decent amount of clearance in order to perform their duty. So, your job is to make sure any kind of similar heavy-duty equipment is not limited by trees, stumps, potholes and similar obstacles we can find in new lots.
Be present when the works start
Finally, although assembling a modular home is a relatively streamlined and fast process, there is always a strong possibility that not everything will go according to the original plan. When this happens, it is in your best interest to be present on the worksite so you can have a final say in all the impromptu decisions that are going to be made. Managing this without neglecting your work and family obligations can prove to be a bit hard, but it’s not something that can’t be solved with smart scheduling.
And there you go. Once you go through these six basic steps, your modular home will be ready for moving in. Prefabricated houses have grown in quality immensely over the course of the previous decades – there is no point scouring the real estate market for the ideal house for months when your dream home can be assembled in a matter of days.
