With soaring real estate prices, many Americans are looking to alternative home options. Modular homes are one of the popular affordable housing options.

Modular Homes

Modular homes represent almost 8% of all new U.S. home sales, with nearly 43,000 of them built in 2004 alone. In the Northeast today, 10% of the houses constructed are modular. It is primarily the states of North Carolina, Michigan and New York that make up the most popular locations for modular construction.

Modular homes are manufactured in several sections at a factory. The factory environment allows protection against harsh weather and vandalism during construction. The quickness of the process also significantly decreases building costs. Even though these homes are factory built, it is possible to have these homes customized.

Typically, modular homes are bought through a modular builder. After the floor plans and options have been approved, a state-approved third party reviews the plans to guarantee they meet the code for the state where they will be built. Moreover, a third party inspection agency licensed by the state conducts inspections at the plant while the home is being manufactured and assembled. In the interim, a local builder lays the home's foundation.

Once manufactured, the home's sections are shipped to the site on flatbed trucks, and lifted onto the foundation by crane. Construction can take as little as a day. Final completion may require another few weeks. The overall process, from the first order to move in, normally lasts about 90 days, compared to site-built homes, which may need from six months to a year.

Its estimated a homeowner can save up to 25% on their house by going modular. That is a sizeable saving in our economy.