Tidewater Custom Modular Homes Blog

There is better, faster way to build your home addition. Rather than the long process of traditional construction, there is another option: a modular home addition. Regardless of how your existing home was built, you can put an addition on your home with modular construction.

Oftentimes, after finding out the project scope of a home addition many homeowners will get disheartened about the length of time it will take for the addition to be completed. With modular home additions your home renovation will be completed much faster, and you will be enjoying your new space much sooner.

Modular home additions are more economical, with no sudden cost surprises, but they are more energy efficient as well.  Modular construction is the answer. Contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes to discuss the option of a modular addition on your existing home. With the right plan most homes can be expanded modularly. Tidewater is more than happy to work with an existing home owner. We can expand your existing home and deliver to you the space you need.

Tidewater Custom Modular Homes would like to build you a custom designed modular home.  If you just look at our photo gallery you can see how much customization you can really have.

Option for modular home customization

When building a modular home, the most common customization options are usually the siding, the style and amount of windows and the type of floors. If you are only interested in minor customizations like these, and you don't necessarily need to add or change a floor plan, take a look at the more inexpensive predesigned modular homes in our inventory.  Even these modular homes are beautiful and look just like stick-built homes.

Upscale customization options
Customized modular homes means you can add to the home design what you need. Add rooms, add bathrooms, add a sunroom or add a garage; move walls or add windows or fireplace. 

Modular homes are most often less expensive than traditionally built homes. No matter what type of home you build, however, as you customize your price will increase. You will save more when building a modular home, so even a customized modular home is less than a customized traditionally built home.

What is the buying process for a modular home?

1. You choose your home and options
2. A contract is signed contingent on financing and a small deposit
3. Plan revisions are made and new engineered floor plans are drawn
4. You close on your Construction-Permanent loan
5. Your basement or crawl space foundation is built
6. We release your home for production
7. We set your new home
8. Finish work of your new home is completed

How complete is the home when it is set?
Depending on the floor plan and style, between 75-85% complete.

How long does it take to finish the home after it is set?
About 4-6 weeks.

Will you build my garage and/or porches?
Yes. However, this may be at an additional cost.

What is the difference between a Modular home and a Mobile Home?
Mobile Homes - built to a lax code with generally substandard building products (when compared to modular or site-built homes). Built on a steel frame to hold it together, most have wheels.

Modular Homes - built generally to the toughest codes required in the state, built out of the same type building materials and name brands you would find in site-built homes. There are no steel frames underneath, only approved floor system. There are no wheels of their own, they are transported and then lifted off the transporter and set with a crane.

How much do modular homes cost?
As with stick built construction the cost of a modular home will vary depending on what you put in the home and the style of home you choose. Modular homes prices compare favorably with an equivalent site-built home.

Can modular floor plans be customized?
Yes. There are standard floor plans of course; however, floor plans of each style home can be customized, as well as the amenities inside the home.

A new construction home loan is not the same as a typical home loan. New construction loans have different requirements and a different set of rules. However, the new construction loans are used for both new construction stick built and new modular construction homes. After learning about these types of loans you will find it is easy to finance and build your dream modular home.

A new construction home loan requires the lender to provide the money to build your new home. Firstly, your mortgage provider requires a detailed accounting on the estimated costs to build the modular home; including how much you are going to spend and what it will look like when it is complete. After these initial questions are answered you begin the credit check and annual earnings process.

There are a few different construction loans out there but the most popular one is a “construction to permanent” loan. Instead first applying for a construction loan and following that up with a typical home loan, a construction to permanent loan is a two-in-one loan which, in most cases, only requires you to pay closing costs once.  This loan is a combination of construction loan and permanent financing, and can help you save money and time.

Keep in mind that with new construction loans it is very difficult to lock-in a permanent or fixed mortgage rate. This is because with traditional construction, you usually won't be closing the loan for six months to one year depending on the build time. With modular construction, because the build time is so much shorter, you can more often get a fixed rate, or the fixed rate you close with after construction will be very close to the variable rate you had when you took out the loan. 

Of course you will be required to pay monthly interest on the construction loan amount during the modular construction process, but the amount you owe each month will depend on the amount you have used to date. If you are approved for a construction loan of $100,000 but you have only drawn $50,000 then your interest payment will be based on $50,000.

Sometimes lenders like to interview or see the license of the contractors who will be building your new home, so often it is beneficial to speak with the bank where the contractor has a relationship.

Many people wonder about the resale value of a modular home and how it compares to that of a stick built home. Modular homes cost about 10-15% less to build, but they sell at the same price as a stick built home. This is because modular homes are appraised to the same standards and specs of a site built home, which means that both style homes are assessed at the same amount.

It takes about 10 to 12 weeks from the day a customer decides on a modular home to the day that same customer get the keys to their new house. While the house modules are being built at the factory, we are pulling permits and doing the site work. When the modules arrive on site, it is about a 3-6 week process to build your new home.

But the best part of building a modular home is the guaranteed pricing. When you decide on a floor plan, the cost of the home can practically be priced out to the penny. At Tide Water Custom Modular Homes we know how much a home is going to cost and how much our on-site labor will be cost because it is essentially the same for each job. There are no surprising materials costs or labor costs. That is a big advantage for the home buyer.

Modular homes offer a vast range of pre-designed homes, as well as custom designed homes with many benefits, to fit any family’s needs. Each home can be further customized to specifically address the individual home-buyer's desires. Spring is here and this usually brings with it an increase in home sales. Many people around Virginia are starting to think about buying a new home. And, as the low mortgage rates slowly rise, buying a new home sooner rather than later is the most optimal choice.
 
For those who are considering a newly built home, you should consider building yourself a modular home. As oil prices increase, all industries are victim to increased costs. However, modular homes companies are less affected than the stick built construction contractor.  The modules for Tidewater Custom Modular Homes are built in controlled environments to exact specifications. Therefore construction costs are already lower than the traditional builders’. The modular homes takes less time to construct; therefore, you are paying less for the worker’s time on site thus decreasing labor costs as well. The modular home factories have their materials on site in bulk, therefore are less victim to the immediate increase in transportation costs of goods and materials that most shipping companies are adding onto their invoices. Therefore, your materials cost is lower as well.

In spite of the economic situation people still need to buy a home. Rather than buy a brand-new stick-built home, a preferred solution for consumers (and the institutions that lend them money) might be a custom-built modular home.

Architects, designers and home buyers are interested in creating and buying new, environmentally green homes. Green is chic, and modular homes are green. Their designs offer so much versatility and appeal that their popularity is on the rise. With new methods of construction and transportation, designers and builders are cutting waste and energy consumption, and cutting production costs while achieving greater methods of sustainability.

Modular Homes are built from modules that are assembled in a factory to exact specifications. Everything is cut with more exactness and everything is applied and assembled more accurately, saving time, materials and energy. These standards extend the life and cuts down on upkeep of the home over time. Modular home factories also produce less waste than onsite construction. Where modular home production generates around 2% waste, stick built homes generate 30-40%. Also, less time is spent constructing modular homes, so production costs are lower. Ultimately, modular homes allow eco-friendly construction at a fraction of the cost, to a larger consumer base.

Because modular homes are prefabricated, the modules allow you to design a home that will complement the space you are placing it on. You can change the design and make it fit the space rather than make the space fit the home; again saving energy and material costs.

For eco-friendly construction, and a customized, newly built home that is energy star qualified, contact Tidewater Modular Homes.

There are many different home styles and floor plans to consider when you are building a new modular home. You have the option of a standard floor plan or you can have your house customized however you would like, in the actual layout, or in the interior set up. Further customization can be done as well. In the kitchen an island or wine rack could be added, columns could be added to the living or dining area and transoms and side lights could be added to the front door. Perhaps you are interested in entertaining, a rock surround can be added to the fireplace and an opening for the television could be added to the wall above. There are so many special features to add to your new modular home, inside and out, we can’t even discuss them all here. But rest assured that your new home will be personal, and built just the way you dreamed it.

With Modular homes, the construction process is dramatically shortened. Your new home arrives to your property in the form of modules, which are then assembled on site. The on-site construction process itself is a wonder to watch as modules for your new home are removed from flat beds and erected with a crane. The process takes weeks instead of months, and sooner, rather than later, you are moving into your new home.
 
Prior to this process, you meet with Tidewater Custom Modular Homes and discuss floor plans and design. You have unlimited options, from colonials to cottages, and ranch homes to Cape Cod style, and each style home has their own individual flare. You get to decide everything you would with a traditionally built home such as cabinet styles and finishes, hard wood flooring and recessed lighting. In the end, you have a custom built, custom designed home of your dreams in much less time.