Modular Homes VA Blog
Making Your Modular Home More Energy Efficient During the Winter Months
Winter is here and you will be using a lot more energy in your modular home, from having lights on longer to a furnace working overtime. Here is an easy check list to follow when you are trying to reduce your monthly energy bills. You should seek professional assistance in each of these areas to assure the proper corrections have been made.
- Have an energy audit- can be conducted by your local electric co-op or a private party.
- Seal air leaks- check around windows, doors, and any other seams/joints in your home.
- Check mechanical systems- change furnace filters regularly and systems for proper working order.
- Heat efficiently- replace old systems with new efficient ones.
- Use a programmable thermostat- this helps heat only when you need it.
- Control hot water use- change to a low flow shower head and lower the temperature on your water heater.
- Replace light bulbs- use CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lights) as they will save you a considerable amount on your bills over time.
- Use outlet switches- this is where you have a way of shutting power of to small appliances, televisions, etc.
- Install timers/motion light- these work well for frequently used lights and others that are in hard to reach areas.
- Buy ENERGY STAR products- these products are there to save you money.
Looking to Expand Your Home? Check Out Our Most Popular Modular Home Additions
Are you looking to expand your home? Additions are typically the most common way to expand your home's footprint. But additions can be costly, take a long time, and finding the right contractor you can trust can be difficult. Fortunately, there is better, faster way to build your home addition: a modular home addition. It doesn't matter what type of home you currently have. You can easily add an addition to your home with modular construction.
We know how it is. You contact a builder, scope the project, see the price tag and time line, and then frustration sets in. Fortunately, home renovations with with modular home additions can be completed much faster, less expensively, and with fewer headaches.
Why modular home additions?
Here are a few points our customers have discovered. Modular home additions:
- Are more economical.
- Have no sudden cost surprises.
- Are more energy efficient.
The bottom line: modular construction is the answer. Contact Tidewater Custom Modular Homes to see if adding a modular home addition is right for you. 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.
Looking for the Perfect Get-a-way? Take a Look at Our Vacation Style Homes
One of our most professionally rewarding acts is to build dream vacation homes and custom estate homes for our clients. Land across Virginia is being offered at value pricing we haven't seen in decades. With more land available in more places and all at valued cost, people are taking full advantage of the situation and building their vacation homes. Virginia beach is one of the most popular visited tourist locations in the U.S. and Tidewater Custom Homes is experienced in giving their clients the perfect beach vacation style home they deserve. With many choices to choose from and modular home design being more affordable than stick-built homes its not wonder why many people are choosing to custom build their homes.
With vacation home plans starting at 1867 square feet and ranging to 2657 square feet you can rest assured knowing that your vacation home will be the perfect get-a-way with a loved one or family gatherings. And working with Tidewater Custom Modular homes ensures that we can quickly deliver an affordable vacation getaway that you deserve. Be sure to take a look at our "Vacation Style" floor plans and our many other custom design floor plans as well. Contact us today should you have any questions about modular home design and let's discuss how to turn your dream into reality.
Custom Modular Homes Are Slowly Becoming The Solution To The Economical Slowdown
There’s no denying it, we’re in a serious economic crisis. Financial organizations are collapsing under the weight of bad debt that they have taken on and consumers are experiencing uncertainty and a lack of confidence in the market. As a result, lending companies are lending less money and the average person is watching their expenses very, very closely.
In spite of the crisis, life goes on. People still need to buy homes to live in. And to do that, they need to get a mortgage. 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-build a modular home.
At first, those unfamiliar with the concept might wonder two questions: “aren’t modular homes just like mobile homes?” and, “isn’t custom building usually expensive?”
Custom modular homes are not mobile homes. They look just like regular homes. The difference is that they are built in units in a factory-like setting by professionals and those units are shipped to the site and put together within just a few days. This method is actually cheaper to build in general AND it allows for customization, because prospective homeowners can select different units and put together the floorplan they want at a price that is lower than a conventionally built home.
Custom built homes at a price that is lower than a conventional home is attractive to anyone thinking about having a home built. But modular homes are attractive for other reasons, too:
- Because modular homes are faster to build than stick built homes (taking weeks instead of months to build and erect), there is less money required in a building loan and it gets paid back faster.
- Modular homes cost less to live in because they are more efficient to run and they come with a 10 year warranty.
- Consumers need to spend wisely on a solution but they also need to consider the future. How will they leave the earth for their children? Custom modular homes are more environmentally friendly because they are faster to build and there is less wasted building material.
The benefits are clear: In today’s tight economic times, custom modular homes are the right answer for consumers who want to spend less now and in the future, who want to enjoy the home they live in, and who want to still make purchasing decisions that are good for the environment. And with so many different floor plans to suit each individuals needs there is virtually no reason why to not choose modular. Contact us to find out how you can get started on building your custom dream home today
There Has Been A Decline In Home Buying But Modular Construction Adapts
The sub-prime mortgage crisis has affected just about every form of housing within the country. Lending is more restrictive, current home inventories are still tremendous, and a large percentage is unable to make their current mortgage payments. And while the modular home industry has felt the effects, the impact has been much less than on the site-built housing industry.
Recent trends at the end of 2009 and thus far in 2010 has seen new customers considering modular homes in greater numbers. The largest group is those that normally spend $200,000 for a home but are looking to maximize their value while keeping the price within their budget. Modular homes boast greater value through better durability, larger square footage and more amenities compared to most equally-priced site-built homes. Given the continued pricing instability of new and existing homes, modular homes give a more stable value.
Fortunately, lending practices for many banks have now loosened enabling easier financing for modular homes that had met resistances previously. This will likely continue for both new and existing modular homes as incentives to banks to make these loans become more accessible to the home-buyer. Because some people are selling their existing homes out of necessity, getting into a new home at a lower price is their eventual goal. For the same amount of money, modular homes offer more than traditional site-built structures.
In addition to modular homes offering a better value solution, modular home manufacturers and retailers are expanding their markets. By being more creative, those in the modular home industry have found new customers who benefit from this technology. Virginian residents are starting to look more and more at modular homes as well. With the tidewater area being a huge construction type area, TC modular has definitely been on the rise of success. Contact us today should you have any questions regarding modular homes or if you'd like to take a look at our custom built homes we have to offer.
The Reasons Why Custom Modular Homes Offer Greater Value For Your Dollar
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 end 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 us today and we'll be happy to help.
Tidewater Custom Modular Offers More Options From Our Design Gallery
Depending on the style of home you are looking for there are many options available to choose from regarding our floor plans. Each one of our custom floor plans has maybe options available for your dream home. These options range from the kitchen, to the bathroom, interior, and exterior. The options we offer can be broken down into the following broad categories:- Ceiling Structures
- Bath & Plumbing
- Appliances
- Doors
- Electrical
- Flooring
- Heating & Cooling
- Insulation
- Interior Trim
- Kitchen
- Roofing
- siding
- Stairs
- Walls
- Windows
- Laminated stone flooring - Canyon finish
- Oak stairs with blue stain finish
- Oak balcony rails on living room an foyer overlook
- Arched entryways from foyer to living room
- Wall sconce with antique bronze finish above stairway landing
- And many more!
An Important Element To A Successful Modular Home
Today, the educated consumers that are seeking to have a new home built to their specifications are increasingly turning to modular construction to achieve a higher quality of construction without sacrificing architectural style, open floor planning and quality finishes. Invariably, when clients initially call us, one of their first questions is "how do I get started?"If your interest is having your new dream home built with modern modular technology and you, too, want to know "how to get started", we offer here the most important element to insure a successful project: selecting the right manufacturer of the modular housing components.
The modular components of your new home will be manufactured in a factory and those components will be shipped to your home site and finished to turnkey by the builder. We are so confident that our modular homes will be perfect for your dream home that we’ve comprised a list of our best qualities.
- We have a reputation for building a quality product.
- We are capable of integrating architectural flexibility and custom design into our homes.
- Our reputation for strong customer service is outstanding.
- We have some strong financial capabilities
- We can also provide construction financing, if your project so requires in this difficult financial market.
Understanding How Modular Home Construction Loans Work
First, a construction loan for a modular home will carry a greater interest rate than a standard mortgage, because it is actually a line of credit and will cover only as much of the cost of building your modular home as been determined in advance. We recently posted an article about how mortgage loans differ between traditional built homes to modular homes. Well we wanted to break apart from that article (so to speak) in an effort to explain how construction loans work in your modular home building experience.
What Construction Loans For Modular Homes Won't Cover
You'll need to find other ways to finance the early stages of your modular home instruction, including soil and perk tests, building plans, and your site plan, which must be approved by your municipal zoning board before you will be have access to the funds from your construction loan for a modular home.
How Construction Loans For Modular Homes Are Disbursed
None of the work being done on your modular home will be paid for until your lender has had it inspected, and when a particular phase of the construction has been completed and met inspection standards, payment will be made directly to the suppliers and subcontractors. If you need to ask for more payments than the number to which your lender originally agreed, you may be charged an additional fee for each extra payment.
Qualifying For Construction Loans For Modular Homes
Like traditional mortgages, construction loans for modular homes may require you to come up with a down payment. The chances of this will be higher if you are requesting a very large loan, or don't own the lot on which your home will be constructed. But there are lenders of construction loans for modular homes who will give 100% financing even if the person building the home doesn't own the lot outright.
Feel free to contact us today if you have any questions about modular home construction. Or even if you want to take a look at our inventory of beautifully built homes. We are more than happy to help any individual in regards to modular homes.
Is There A Difference Between Modular Home Loans From Traditional Mortgages?
If your dream is to build a modular home on your land, you may be wondering what kind of mortgage you will need to achieve it. In this case a modular home loan is different from a typical mortgage. The most common mortgage for people building a new home on their land is a Construction to Mortgage loan, or Construction to Permanent loan. As the name implies, the loan starts out as a construction loan until the modular home has been placed on your land and it has been completed and inspected. At this point, the loan can be converted into a more traditional mortgage.
When looking for a lender for a modular home loan it is advisable to find an agent that has some experience in this type of mortgage. For one thing, there are still some lenders that are unclear on the difference between a modular home, manufactured home, or mobile home. Overall, many more agents have become aware of the difference and even point out to their peers that they have worked with modular homes and have found many to be superior to stick built homes. So even if you do run across a lender that is not familiar with modular home loans you should not be discouraged. There are plenty of qualified lenders that are very knowledgeable and would love to have your business.
One unique thing about modular home loans which makes it important to have a lender that has experience in this type of loan is that the payment schedule must include a payment to the manufacturer for the total amount of the home at the time it is delivered to the home site. This is only a portion of your total cost, but generally the manufacturer will not release the house to be set on the foundation until it is paid for in full. As long as the bank is aware of this and has provided for it in the payment schedule this should not pose any problems. There are many banks that have extensive experience dealing with modular home loans. Some seem to favor the builder more, some the home buyer. Ideally, the loan should allow payments to the builder in a timely manner so he has the money he needs to complete each step of the process, but still leave the builder with the proper incentive to finish the job on your timetable.