Expert: Jessica Bryan - 9/2/2007

Question
Hello, is the value of a marginal home(the house that are already built and brought in truck and stuck together) the same as any other stick home(ordinary house built at sight). Thanks

Answer
Dear Raham;
I believe you mean 'modular' home.  A modular can actually be a better built home than one that is constructed on site.  This is because there are stringent quality-control checks in a factory.  However, much depends upon the manufacturer and the materials used.  While there are bound to be fewer errors and oversights, there can still be a difference in the overall "feel" of a manufactured home.  A modular home may be close to the same price and value of a similar site-built home and should have the same re-sale value if it is like for like.  That means if the modular is a home that contains the same amenities, one would not perceive any difference in the two homes.  Some real estate markets make no distinctions between a modular home and a site-built.  There is also no distinction in the price or value.  If you consider that most site-built homes these days contain elements that are delivered pre-assembled in the factory, there is sometimes little difference between the two.  Modular homes are not to be confused with mobile homes. (These are homes also built in a factory and shipped in sections.) The difference is modulars are shipped in pieces and/or sections on a truck then assembled with standard building techniques on a foundation.  Mobiles are pre-built, shipped on wheels in two or three sections needing to be placed on a foundation (or placed on the land and surrounded by a 'skirt') and joined together with bolts.  They are structurally less sound when they are in place if not anchored to a foundation. Their value is lower than a site-built home. While they have some lovely amenities that make them desirable for the price, they have a stigma associated with them that is difficult to overcome.  They are quite affordable but are not competitive with a site-built home on the resale market.  In my area, a mobile home that might sell for $100,000 would be closer to $200,000 if site-built for the same size, age and amenities.

I hope that this helps answer your question.

~Jessica Bryan