2. There are no cost surprises when it comes to materials. All the materials needed for the structure will be included in the sales price. You can't misestimate, and materials can't be stolen. Plus, you only have to make one purchase so you do not have to keep track of a million invoices and purchases.

3. The home itself will be less expensive, yet equivalent to a stick-built home. Why? Because the factory uses materials more efficiently, and is subject to less human error. However, resale value tends to be less than stick, so consider this carefully if you are going to build to resale later.

While many people don't even want to consider panelized, modular, or precut homes, they are viable alternatives that offer great benefits beyond price. Those benefits are not touched on enough. They are often less expensive, better built, better insulted, and more efficiently designed than stick-built. This is a huge savings to you in every aspect of you home.the building of it, the living in it, and especially in the maintenance and upkeep of it.

Panelized, Precut, and Modular are not mobile homes, they are just homes that are manufactured in a factory, but put together on site. These homes are not shoddy construction, as you may think because they are built in a factory. They come from high quality, straight lumber; nailing and framing is done in jigs ensuring a precise accuracy that can't be matched in stick-built, and these more precise dimensions lead to a more airtight, and better insulated home.

As you can see, modular, panelized, and precut homes materials are valuable options that can save you money. Let's discuss the differences between them.

Modular:

These homes are completely constructed in the factory, and then shipped to the sites and put together on site. They can be "dried in" in sometimes less than a day because they are virtually completely constructed in the factory. So what is the drawback? Because they have to be shipped by trucks, the size is limited. They also tend to have lower resale value

Panelized Construction:

This is the hybrid of stick-built and modular. The wall panels are made in the factory, then shipped to the site. They are assembled on the foundation and then the roof trusses are installed and covered with sheathing, and the siding is completed. These homes go up almost as fast as modular homes, but since the "air space" is eliminated, the whole house can be shipped on one truck, so you can get a much bigger house. Also, you don't need a crane to move the panels, they can be handled by small work crews. The finish work must be done, but it allows you to cheat the weather and get inside, plus it allows you to keep your materials locked up from day one (or two).

Kit Homes:

These homes are not pre constructed but offer the advantage of having all the materials cataloged and priced, then you receive them precut and ready to go. These types of house kits are generally used for tricky construction like log cabins, post-and-beam construction, cedar homes, steel construction, and solar homes. You may still need to hire framers etc, but at least you know you get all your materials for a fixed price.