Modular Homes VA Blog

Modular Home Styles for Downsizing Homeowners

As upkeep and cleaning a large family home becomes inconvenient because the kids have moved out, empty nesters consider smaller homes. Modular homes offer a broad spectrum of home styles that are perfect to meet the needs of homeowners who are interested in downsizing. The following modular floor plans are perfect for home buyers who are looking to downsize:

Traditional Ranch-Style Home - The ranch-style modular homes are single story bungalows with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. A ranch provides ample living space perfect for relaxing and entertaining with a formal dining room and a large kitchen area.

Vacation Style Homes - If you are downsizing to the waterfront, wake up every day to a spectacular view and enjoy the relaxed style of vacation style modular homes. There are several layouts available that can be further customized to meet specific needs of homeowners.

Cape-Cod Homes - If you want a cozy, cottage style home, the Cape-Cod modular homes offer a broad range of styles and floor plans that can be further customized to meet the needs of the downsizing buyer. These homes feature a formal dining area and a spacious living area. The master suite also has a large bathroom and a walk-in closet.

If you are an empty nester who wants to downsize your home, consider modular construction for faster construction time and high quality, beautiful homes. Contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes to find out more about modular home floor plans.

Custom Modular Estate Homes Construction – Value-Based Luxury Living

Estate homes perfectly symbolize the American dream. This is what you imagine when you picture your dream home. Many desire estate home-style living but view them as mansion-like domiciles that are way out of budget. We’re here today to dispel that erroneous thought.

Modular home construction offers a budget-friendly solution for those who are interested in owning an estate home. Modular construction in Richmond, VA showcases several modular estate home designs that closely resemble estate homes of the past but acquired at a fraction of the price. Apart from this, modular estates concentrate on functionality and comfort as contrary to elaborate rooms which are hardly utilized. Still, its exquisite dining space and formal receiving areas are retained but emphasizes more on the vast kitchen room with more on casual seating.

Modular Estate-Style Homes also hallmarks modern bedrooms with master suites and spacious bathrooms usually located at the main floor. Walk-in closets, large entertainment rooms and elegant staircases are still its distinguishing features. With modular construction, you can acquire an estate home in a fraction of the price without compensating the quality of the materials and craftsmanship.

To learn more about modular estate homes, contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes.

Weather-Resistant Barrier Within Modular Home Construction

So, not everything about home building is highly entertaining. Take for instance weather-resistant barriers within the home construction process. Not a very sexy topic on the surface, but barrier protection is a very, very important element of the home construction process and some (if not most) builders fail to give barrier protection its proper due. We’re here to tell you that the protective measures that we use here at Tidewater Custom Modular Homes is the highest quality barrier material on the market today. Again, not all builders use the quality of barrier products necessary to guarantee a moisture infiltration protection system that retards mold and mildew build up within walls and attics. Our barrier wrap also helps prevent exterior wall moisture damage.

Our modular home construction process here in Williamsburg, VA applies a superior weather protection system that ensures air and water will not penetrate walls by using a installation system that does not compromising ventilation. The barrier wrap enables the moisture to leave (but not enter) wall cavities. Premium-grade house wrap in environmentally caustic coastal areas is essential to ensure the home successfully combats salt, sun, wind, and heat.

It’s the accumulation of many things that distances the quality of one home builder from another. We welcome the opportunity to educate you fully on the things that we continue to do to offer award-winning home building services. Contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes to learn more about our modular home building system.

Reasons Why Custom Modular Home Construction Delivers Superb Value

How can you reduce the construction cost of your new house? There is an easy way to save up to 30% on the cost of construction...buy a custom modular home! Our modular homes are factory-constructed which are then delivered and assembled at your home site. Once assembled, your new home looks like any other home in your neighborhood, however, it exceeds all other homes in the neighborhood in terms of quality, strength, and durability.

Since your home is built in a factory, it is much less expensive than a custom-built home on-site. Remember when factories drove out craftsmen who worked with their hands? The same is happening now on a much larger scale! So how does all this save you money? As you know, factories use huge machines that build thousands of items in a short span of time. Thus, they deliver more savings in terms of time and labor. Instead of having a handful of construction workers on-site building your home in various weather conditions, you have a reliable, professional crew in a factory building your home in pristine conditions.

The homes are obviously not built with bricks and mortar which take lots of time and labor. The material for the homes consists primarily of wood, steel, vinyl and weatherboard. Factory owners buy the material from their original manufacturers and suppliers at wholesale rates which are heavily discounted. It is not possible for a retail shopper to buy his housing material as cheaply as the factory buyers can.

We cut and mold the components and modules as per pre-set designs which reduces large amounts of waste that occurs at the individual home builder's sites. And left-over material is never wasted. We use all of our material and help protect the planet by constructing homes this way. The factories transfer these savings to their customers to attract buyers in a competitive market. The savings to a buyer of a factory-built home can be as large as 30% which bring your home within much easier reach.

The home is then be transported to site on one or more trucks. The result is a quality home, built in less time and for less money! Check out our quality floor plans like "The Austin" and "The Ashton" which can be customized to your needs. If you have an questions or concerns contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes today and we'll be happy to help.

About Custom Modular Home Construction

Modular homes are extremely versatile and highly customizable. Almost anything you can build with traditional methods can also be built using modular construction: ranch style, cape cod, all the way up to large vacation-style homes can all be built with modular technologies. You can add dormers, porches, and even multiple roof lines to customize your home!

As the name implies, a custom modular home is built in multiple "modules" or sections. Each section is built to about 80% completion, then shipped to the home site to be "set" on the foundation and attached to one another. Think of building several separate boxes, then attaching those boxes together. That's the basic concept of modular construction.

Modular homes are very modern and an excellent value, and meet or exceed local building codes. Many of the display homes at our office are modular homes. Contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes to set an appointment with us and let us enlighten you more about modular homes.

Modular Homes for Precision and Timely Completion of Your New Home

Building a home can be stressful especially during the very common delays in the construction work. Another factor is the feeling of uncertainty as to whether the final product will precisely represent what homeowners ultimately chose. Since there are a lot of elements that can affect the home construction, sadly many homebuyers get frustrated during the process of building their dream home. This is what modular homes try to address.

The modular construction process provides solutions for home construction delays and precision in home plans. In fact, there is no delay in construction caused by weather because modular homes are fabricated in an enclosed environment where quality control is stern and rigid. Modular building systems use advanced technology to ensure precision. This means the exact layout and plans that have been approved by the client during the planning phase is accurately implemented and carried out from start to finish.

With modular construction, homeowners can attain their dream homes. With modular homes, clients can be confident that their new home will be delivered on time and with accurate details. For stress-free modular home construction, contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes.

How Long Does It Take To Build A New Modular Home

One of the questions we are asked frequently is "how long does it take to build a new house?" Though most home builders generally give you a 6-12 month estimated construction time, the answer really depends on a bunch of different factors...but the big one is "who is your contractor?"

At Tidewater Custom Modular Homes, we have special processes that help us to build a new home for you in a matter of weeks, not months. How do we do it? By Building modular!

Why is Modular Construction Faster?

Modular construction varies from traditional home building because our homes are built in a climate-controlled environment (i.e. a factory), which means that the main part of your home is being built offsite at the same time your foundation is being prepared. This can cut construction time almost in half!

Weather is always a factor, and though we can't do much about bad weather affecting the preparation of your foundation (whether it's a pier, crawl space, or full basement), we can promise that in climate weather won't affect the construction of the main sections of your new home. What Other Factors Play a Part in Construction Time?

Planning. As with any big project, the better you plan, the faster (and more smoothly) the execution will go. Some details we will have to iron out before construction include:

• Where to live. The property you set your new home on will play a big part in the size and style of your new home, as well as what kind of foundation it will need.
• Your budget. You don't need to head to the bank for pre-approval, but it's good to have at least a rough idea of what you can comfortably afford. This will help with the rest of the planning and financing stages.
• Home style. Do you like the easy one-level living of a Ranch? Or maybe you prefer the classic American Cape Cod? You can check out the pros and cons of different home styles HERE, or stop by our office to walk through our selection of model homes to see what styles you like.
• Floor plan. The floor plan is the detailed layout of your home. We can customize existing floor plans or create brand-new plans from scratch, depending on your needs and wants.
• Materials/options. What kind of cabinets do you like? Do you prefer carpet or laminate flooring? What color and style of siding do you prefer? There are many options to customize your new home to fit your style and needs, and our experts can walk you through these decisions to help make your new home just right!

Financing. Our team works with many area loan officers who can help you get financing to build your new home. Financing is usually quick, but sometimes causes delays in ordering your home and getting the construction process started. Once the financing is finalized, we order your home and start the construction process.

Preparing the Land and Building the Foundation. This is really the only part of our process where weather may cause delays. Because the property needs to be cleared, the foundation dug, and the crawlspace or basement built on-site, exceptionally wet conditions can make preparing your foundation more difficult. However, we work hard to keep closely to our timeline and have your foundation ready when your home is finished and ready to be set.

Setting the House and Finishing Touches. Once your new home is completed in the factory, it is delivered to your property in modules and is usually set on your foundation in a single day. Then over the next few days, the outside of the house is completed with shingles and siding, while the inside craftsmen begin finishing drywall, trim work, seaming carpets, hanging light fixtures, and final touch ups. The final property improvements are also taking shape at this point, including utilities, backfill and final grading, and the addition of porches and garages.

So how long does it take to build a new home? As you can see, it depends on a lot of factors. But by using our processes and expertise, we speed up the process, so it takes about half of the time of traditional homebuilders, cutting construction time for 6-12 months into only 3-6 months.

If the thought of being in your new home in less than 6 months is exciting, then come talk to one of our experts, tour the model homes on our lot, and let's start planning your new home now! Contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes!

Construction Loans for Modular Homes

So you're thinking about building a new home...congratulations! You're about to embark on a journey to create your dream home, a new place to live where everything is just the way you want it.

Whether you choose to build your home in a traditional stick-build method or by using modern modular building techniques (and there are so many reasons to choose modular construction!), you will likely need to secure a loan to help pay for your new home.

While most people are familiar with how traditional mortgages work, many people don't know that these "regular" mortgages don't apply to new construction homes and that they will need to get a construction loan in order to build their new modular home.

This article will teach you the basics about construction loans and what to expect when shopping for a construction loan for your new modular home.

What is a Construction Loan?

Simply put, construction loans help take care of the cost of building a home. They differ from traditional home loans in that they cater specifically to the construction of a new home and don't apply to properties that are already built or those that need renovation.

What does a Construction Loan Entail?

Construction loans cover the cost of virtually all the aspects pertaining to building a home, including land, excavation, foundation, garages and decks, and of course the main part of the home itself.

Once your home builder has finished construction and you take possession of your new home, the bank will convert the construction loan into a traditional mortgage.

How are Construction Loans Different from Traditional Mortgages?

The term of a construction loan is normally three to four months, but can also last 12 months or longer. During that time, the buyer makes interest-only payments based on the amount of money that the builder draws out of the account for the various stages of construction. There are also permits that must be executed before construction can begin, and these are usually the first expenditures from the construction loan.

How to Get a Loan for a Modular Home

Ideally, when planning to build a home, banks will consider whether or not you have:

• Enough money saved up for a down payment or equity in the property
• A good credit score
• Proof of a stable income stream

This is the general information a bank will require when assessing your construction loan application. A pre-approval letter signed off by a lender will be handed over, which is going to communicate to your home builder that you are ready and able to finance the construction of your modular home.

Where Can I Learn More About Construction Loans for Modular Homes?

Five Ideas to Maximize Space In Your New Home

One of the biggest reasons people choose to buy or build a new modular home is because they "need more room." They have outgrown their current home and they are looking for a new home that is more open and has enough space for all the things they love.

Sound Familiar?

People often build bigger houses than they actually need, and all that extra (and often unnecessary) square footage can get expensive when you add up building costs, materials, heating & cooling the extra space, and other costs.

Don't get us wrong: we love building big homes for customers who want them. But we also love designing smaller homes that feel bigger than they are.

With this in mind, here are 5 ideas to maximize space in your new home and make it feel bigger than it actually is. Ready? Let's dive in!

1. Light. The difference between a claustrophobic closet-like room and an open, airy space often comes down to a few well-placed windows. Natural light is a key component to making a smaller home feel big. We often recommend adding extra windows to standard plans, but if your property doesn't offer much natural light, you can compensate with artificial lights. Pendant lights, recessed LED lights, standing lamps...whatever is your preferred light source. Just remember: More Light = Bigger Feel.
2. Open Floor Plan. Many of the older homes in our West Virginia neighborhoods have...well...odd floor plans. Because older homes were generally smaller, they are designed to have a bunch of small rooms that are sectioned off from one another, which helped give their owners a little extra privacy when cooking, reading, or relaxing after a long day. However, these closed-up floor plans make those older homes feel very small. An open floor plan, however, can make your home feel much larger than the actual square footage because several rooms can be tied together by removing walls. A common example of this is the Kitchen / Dining Room / Living Room area of many modern homes - these rooms are open to one another so you can entertain friends who are sitting comfortably in your living room while you are preparing a meal in the kitchen.
3. Garages, Closets and Attics. We're all guilty of stashing junk in our garages, closets and attics, but this "utility" space can be used for so much more than a graveyard for old furniture and busted electronics! To create more space, clean out and purge your garage, closets, and attic space and toss the junk that you don't need. Build or buy some storage solutions like overhead rafter rails and plastic storage container systems, and get your mess under control. This will help to open up this space for your cars, clothes, and other items that don't have a proper home.
4. Outdoor Space. West Virginia is blessed with an abundance of natural beauty - just take a look outside! Springtime is lush and green, summer is warm and welcoming, autumn is crisp and colorful, and winter is a West Virginia wonderland. So take advantage of the natural splendor by expanding your living space outside by adding a porch, deck, patio, 3-season room, outdoor kitchen, pool, or other outdoor space! These spaces are easy to design and often cost much less per square foot than adding additional square footage to the interior of your home. Add some big sliding glass doors (more natural light; see #1) to make the inside easily flow outside and back again.
5. Maximize Your Kitchen. Your kitchen is arguably the most important room in your home. It's usually the center of most of your home's day to day activity, whether you are preparing meals, grabbing a quick snack, doing dishes, fixing a drink, or entertaining guests. Make sure that your kitchen is as functional as possible by maximizing your counter space and storage. Overhead pot racks are a great start to giving yourself a little more room in the kitchen, but cabinet organizers are also fantastic. Toss or donate all those extra cups and Tupperware you never use so there's enough space for the things you do use. With the open floor plans (see #2), your kitchen will likely be in full view from your living and dining rooms, so make sure there's a place for everything and everything is in its place!

Putting it all Together

With modern modular construction, there is almost no limit to the designs you can create for your new home. Our experts can show you hundreds of floor plans that can be used as the inspiration to create a completely custom home that fits your needs and tastes. You can choose your own colors, materials, fixtures, floor coverings, cabinets, and countertops. If you'd like to learn more about the customization of modular floor plans, contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes.

4 Must-Have Home Features for Retirees

As you grow older and start thinking about your "golden years", your idea of the "perfect" home will change. That big house with plenty of room for your kids' friends to sleep over and host parties for your extended family is great for now, but in time you will likely find that cleaning, maintaining and even getting around in a home that size can be too much work for the benefit.

This article will focus on 4 factors to consider when searching for a house after your retirement. Ready to dive in? Let's go!

1. Single Floor Layout

As you get older, climbing stairs can become a challenge and even a danger. Even if you do not have any mobility issues now, it's prudent to assume that you may start to have trouble with mobility at some point in the future.

This is one reason that 1-level ranch style homes are so popular with older homeowners. As one of the most enduring home styles, ranches boast open layouts and one-level living, making it easier for people to get around without having to navigate stairs. Check out some examples of Ranch-Style homes here.

2. Walk-In Showers

A walk-in bathtub or a shower is another factor to consider when you are designing your "retirement" home. Tubs and showers that have high walls or curbs can make it hard for people with mobility issues to get in and out of. A walk-in shower allows for people with joint or hip problems to shower with ease. The bathroom floor must also be slip-resistant, as slips and falls are common among the elderly and can present serious health concerns.

3. Wide Hallways and Doors

In the unfortunate event that you or a family member are ever confined to a wheelchair, having wide hallways and doors in your home can make navigating easier. With wide hallways, you will be able to move around in your wheelchair without bumping into things or catching your chair on walls or corners. We can customize most floor plans to include wide hallways and doorways for better accessibility.

4. Low Maintenance Needs

When thinking about the home you will grow old in, one of the first things on your mind should be how you plan to keep up with maintenance. Older houses will most likely need care, and it can be challenging to deal with constant repairs as you age. Maintenance not only costs money but also requires supervision and causes chaos around the house, so rather than dealing with all these maintenance needs, look for a newly-constructed home that won't need major repairs or renovations in the years to come.

This also applies to general cleaning and housekeeping. The more space you have, the more dusting, vacuuming, and straightening up you will likely have to do, so make sure your new home is a manageable size and that the layout is easy to keep up.

Conclusion

The home you build for your retirement will hopefully be the home you will choose to live in for the rest of your life. That's why it's so important to plan for the future and make sure your home is comfortable, easy to navigate, and easy to maintain.

If you would like to discuss your options for building the home of your dreams, get in touch with our homebuilding experts at Tidewater Custom Modular Homes today.