So I have a meeting with the bank today...I walk in, and am told I qualify for between 110K-130K (this is for a FHA 203k renovation loan, for those interested). The loan can be used to purchase a lot and move modular housing onto a new foundation, so prefab qualifies. Encouraged by this, I bring out my nice shiny 'kitHAUS' brochure and ask when I can get started. Banker looks at me, has a long pause, then begins laughing his ass off. Direct quote: "this, umm, HOUSE here, that supposedly is worth, HA HA HA, $200/sq. ft., (512 total sq. ft.) HAHAHAHA, will appraise for 43K. Start looking for real houses and throw that in the trash." FYI, I'm in baton rouge, la, so 130k actually buys a decent house(kinda). i have been a beliver in prefab for a long time, but when reality bites, it bites hard. does anyone have any advice/experience that they can share on this topic?
Honestly, the resale with anything is directed at a specific market. If there are other people in your area that appreciate design and would also like a modular house, they would spend more than 43k...
People also laughed at Hybrid cars.
I think the prefab movement has hit hard in some [more progressive] areas and will eventually trickle down to the other areas of the country.
My thesis in 2004 was on prefab disaster relief housing that would be upgraded over time to a more permanent house. Going to school down 'south, you really have to work hard to shake all the negative connotations from the word "prefab" or "modular".
Anyone with any sense of style or design appreciates these prefab kits and honestly, I would make the dive. Head first.
funny, i thought the south was king of modular homes.
michelle kaufman seems to have the right idea (teaming up with financial and manufacturing), but i really find her work, or any of the "dwell"-ish prefab, to be lacking rigor.
Most modular/prefab companies can hook you up with a modular friendly lender. Give the manufacturer a call, and they will do just about anything they can to connect you with the money to buy their product.
j
anytime you get out of the comfort level of bankers they throw a tizzy. If you want to do creative and inovative things, banking institutions are hard places to get dollars. Most bankers are clueless about design and re-sale values. Like most Americans, new ideas scare them.
I tried to get a construction loan on a very big remodel, which I designed, for my wife and I. The bloody banker/ loan officer had the audacity to question the architecture (craftsman) and the relivance of some of the finishes- cedar shingles! Dah...I said "are you f*cking kidding, you haven't you ever seen cedar shingles on a facade of a house?"
So like I said, innovation unfortunatly, will never be part of the banking industry. Hope the Countrywide contact pans out.
prefab & the mortgage banker
So I have a meeting with the bank today...I walk in, and am told I qualify for between 110K-130K (this is for a FHA 203k renovation loan, for those interested). The loan can be used to purchase a lot and move modular housing onto a new foundation, so prefab qualifies. Encouraged by this, I bring out my nice shiny 'kitHAUS' brochure and ask when I can get started. Banker looks at me, has a long pause, then begins laughing his ass off. Direct quote: "this, umm, HOUSE here, that supposedly is worth, HA HA HA, $200/sq. ft., (512 total sq. ft.) HAHAHAHA, will appraise for 43K. Start looking for real houses and throw that in the trash." FYI, I'm in baton rouge, la, so 130k actually buys a decent house(kinda). i have been a beliver in prefab for a long time, but when reality bites, it bites hard. does anyone have any advice/experience that they can share on this topic?
Honestly, the resale with anything is directed at a specific market. If there are other people in your area that appreciate design and would also like a modular house, they would spend more than 43k...
People also laughed at Hybrid cars.
I think the prefab movement has hit hard in some [more progressive] areas and will eventually trickle down to the other areas of the country.
My thesis in 2004 was on prefab disaster relief housing that would be upgraded over time to a more permanent house. Going to school down 'south, you really have to work hard to shake all the negative connotations from the word "prefab" or "modular".
Anyone with any sense of style or design appreciates these prefab kits and honestly, I would make the dive. Head first.
i saw michelle kaufman speak recently and she mentioned something about a mortgage company that specializes in prefab and modular...
you might try shooting her an email...
and check out her modular options while you're at it...
funny, i thought the south was king of modular homes.
michelle kaufman seems to have the right idea (teaming up with financial and manufacturing), but i really find her work, or any of the "dwell"-ish prefab, to be lacking rigor.
Most modular/prefab companies can hook you up with a modular friendly lender. Give the manufacturer a call, and they will do just about anything they can to connect you with the money to buy their product.
j
buy a lot....design it...build it.......
so trailer parks are OK, but prefab is somehow uncool?
This guy from Countrywide lives in a Glidehouse and specializes in financing prefabs:
https://countrywide.dorado.com/andrewreid/Contact
anytime you get out of the comfort level of bankers they throw a tizzy. If you want to do creative and inovative things, banking institutions are hard places to get dollars. Most bankers are clueless about design and re-sale values. Like most Americans, new ideas scare them.
I tried to get a construction loan on a very big remodel, which I designed, for my wife and I. The bloody banker/ loan officer had the audacity to question the architecture (craftsman) and the relivance of some of the finishes- cedar shingles! Dah...I said "are you f*cking kidding, you haven't you ever seen cedar shingles on a facade of a house?"
So like I said, innovation unfortunatly, will never be part of the banking industry. Hope the Countrywide contact pans out.
Good Luck.
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