I live in a neighborhood where houses go for between$700,000 -$1,000,000+ range in the Bay Area.Would there be something wrong with having a pre-fab house built on my lot?Would it diminish the value of the house vs. a traditional constructed house?I need to tear down my house in the future and start over.I'm looking at the cost savings and I do plan on living in the house for many years. Thank you

Hello:
You will want to check with the Planning Department of your City or County to see if there are zoning restrictions on manufactured homes.

I sell manufactured and modular homes and you would have no problem *** email edited out

You need to make doubly sure about the manufactured home being able to be put in the place of a stick built home as most municipalities have very strict guidelines for manufactured homes. If the home has a full basement and is for instance one of the higher end double wides with extra additions on it most times you cannot tell from the outside if it is stick built or factory built.

You would need to go to or contact a manufactured home manufacture who services the California area and ask them what models they suggest. The modulars must be placed on basements, however, and the manufactured homes do not as a rule. You would have to stick with the modular models. The distinct difference between the modular and the manufactured double wide would be the floor system. The modular uses a traditional wood joist floor system which would need the support of the full basement or crawl space whereas the Manufactured home is literally built on a steel beamed floor system. This too can be placed on a basement or a crawl space.

When I worked at a manufactured home dealer we had people use the steel beamed models and put them onto basements as they preferred the steel beamed models over the traditional wooden floor systems. And the cost of the steel beamed models was lower. Don't know just why, but they were priced lower than the modular models.

The only difference in both of the houses was the floor system. If you don't want the underside of your home to rust out then choose the modular unit configuration.

The homes built specifically for California are not cheaply built either. Some can run you in the $100,000+ price range!! Those are the luxury models that come with all sorts of dandy upgrades. You can even design your own interior at some manufacturers as well. There are some models that are two stories as well. We had a two story cape cod model on display and that was a very nice home.

Just do your homework with the Code and Zoning Department and do your homework with the actual factories and you could end up with a nice, new model for 1/2 the cost of a stick built home.

you can put a modular home on any property it is considered stick built because it is under the state codes where a manufactured home is under international code. Although they are all built the same if you use the 2x6 walls etc. the only time you can't is when the builder owns the lots. I sell these all the time so all who are questioning need to see the rules and guidelines I already did my homework.

you can put a modular home on any property it is considered stick built because it is under the state codes where a manufactured home is under international code. Although they are all built the same if you use the 2x6 walls etc. the only time you can't is when the builder owns the lots. I sell these all the time so all who are questioning need to see the rules and guidelines i already did my homework.

Manufactured homes are built on Federal Codes, not international codes. Modulars are state code bult.

And no, some locations sometimes need special Code Enforcement meetings to permit modulars in the city. We had a client who lived in a city and he had to have a special meeting held where other residents could keep his home out or permit it to be placed. Without the meeting he would not have been able to have his home placed on his own lot.