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Today’s homes are far beyond places we may recall from years ago. The innovation of high technologies and new materials are changing the way they built. This revolution can be clearly seen in prefabricated homes in versions of mobile homes, modular homes, panelized home and pre-cut homes. The common thread is that these pre-manufactured homes are built off-site in factory-control environment and will be transported to assemble on-site to be use with or without foundation.

Many people might find it is difficult to identify types of prefabricated homes; they often associate factory-built homes with mobile homes. If you are interesting in buying a prefab home, it is seriously important to know what type of home you are exactly getting.

Manufactured homes versus Modular homes

People often confused between them since they are both pre-manufactured and assembled on-site. However, manufactured homes are often equipped with most of the systems including some interior decoration and do not necessarily require foundation preparation since it will come with steel chassis. Modular homes are built in pieces and have more flexibility for aesthetical features and designs. The modules will be assembled and finished by a professional local contractor. While manufactured homes have to meet federal codes of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), modular homes have to be built to meet local or country codes requirements. The latter is more difficult but standardized. Future home value in market also makes these two prefab homes different, literally modular homes provide higher opportunity for appraisals.

Panelized homes

Panelized homes are factory-built homes in which panels (walls with windows, doors, wiring and exterior siding) are shipped to the site and assembled. They are required to meet both local and states codes. Panelized construction helps manufactured builders to avoid the scenarios with its speedy building process as well as cost-saving.

Pre-Cut homes

Pre-cut are factory-built homes or cabins where building materials are factory-cut. This category also includes kit or dome homes and is assembled on-site. This prefab home is likely the least expensive but requires more work on-site such as plumbing, electrical and interior decoration. Sometimes the cost can be double from these additional costs. Pre-cut homes must meet local or states building codes of the area where they will be located.

It is vitally important to understand differences among all these prefab homes and make sure you weight pros and cons carefully. Manufactured homes can be a very good choice to access your dreamy home, but without understanding the product you might have to pay higher cost unnecessarily. For more suggestion, you can ask your local manufactured home builders or manufactured housing associations for better understanding.