What if we were to tell you that you could move into a brand-new home – a nice one at that – for a price cheaper than the typical new “brand-name” home? Every year many people and couples move out of apartments and into their very first home (a “starter” home) and often times, they pay too much for fancy designs, upgraded interiors and “name brand” neighborhoods. However, there is another option – a rather popular one at that. A recent look into the housing market shows that the sale of prefabricated of “manufactured” or prefabricated homes are on the rise. In fact, these type of homes now account for about 10% of the US housing market. That may not seem like too high of a figure, but considering how much the sale of these pre-manufactured homes have been growing in the last decade or so, the number is quite staggering. According to a National Association of Home Builders report, manufactured and modular home sales have increased by 48% during the period between 1992 and 2002. That’s faster than any other segment of the housing industry at the time!

Prefabricated and modular homes differ from site-built homes, in that these kinds of homes are pre-fabricated–in whole or in part–at a building facility, then shipped to their final destination of your choosing. Virtually allowing you to buy a plot of land anywhere you want and have a house ‘moved’ there. Some prefabricated homes take as little as a week to build, and depending on the materials, they can be considerably less expensive than traditionally built homes. However, there are also some downsides to modular and prefabricated homes: Manufactured homes are notorious (whether true or not) for losing their value over time, so loans can be tough to obtain. Additionally, interest rates can be high for prefabricated home loans. The bottom line is, you do have options when planning a move. You do not have to be stuck to a typical apartment complex, cramped city or cookie-cutter style home. And, on the plus side, picking a prefabricated home can make the moving process much easier should you choose to re-locate (all you have to do is buy a new plot of land)! This brings a whole new meaning to “moving house”.