Making the decision to build your home with a Kit Home (which can also be called a “packaged home”) is a decision to streamline the home building process as an Owner Builder. Most people who choose to build a Kit Home have also made the decision to be a DIY Owner Builder. The advantages make sense for the do-it-yourselfer. You can enjoy: · A huge reduction in decision-making · Centralized source for the bulk of the building materials · Pre-prepared house plans, engineering and blueprints · Panelize walls -- pre-cut, measured and assembled framing walls · Time savings and lower interest costs So, even though you’ll pay more for kit homes and packaged homes than you would if you bought all the materials item by item in local stores, you may not consider the extra cost a disadvantage. You’ll normally find these items included in your Packaged Home Kit: · All the materials for the home’s shell like framing lumber, siding, roofing, windows, doors, etc. · Finishing materials such as … interior trim, cabinetry, countertops, insulation, drywall, etc. What you WON’T usually find include items like: · Foundation · Mechanicals such as plumbing and electrical · Finishing items like: appliances, floor coverings, and light fixtures The convenience and time savings can be your biggest advantage … especially for the DIY Owner Builder. Is a Modular Home or Prefab Home better than a manufactured Home? Answer: There’s some confusion when it comes to describing a modular home. Is it a manufactured home? Is it a stick built or site built home? Does it qualify for a traditional home mortgage? Here are a few ways to look at what a modular home is: It’s a site built (or traditional) home that is built in the factory It’s a manufactured home without the wheels It’s a kit home (packaged home) that doesn’t require you to build it 4. A modular home is often called a prefab home but not all prefab homes are modular homes. What you get when you buy a modular home is a traditional “site-built” type home that is pre-assembled in a factory in large sections (on average 2-5 sections.) These sections are then delivered and, using big cranes, placed and attached to a permanent foundation built on the building site. Modular homes qualify as “real” homes and earn the same appraisals (or home values) as other homes that are built completely on site, stick by stick. So in this sense, they can be considered “better” than manufactured, or mobile homes. And yes, they DO qualify for a regular home mortgage at the going interest rates.