Have you ever thought about buying a pre-fabricated home? In many communities, it’s a great choice to make because one can still design a great home, yet the costs can be thousands of dollars less than having a traditional home built.
A pre-fabricated home is one where the company actually builds the house in a factory. All the pieces are made there to precise standards, then moved to the site where the home will sit and fit together. Unless you’re looking for something overly fancy, many times you can have your new home built in as little as 10 days, and it can look like every other house on the block.
Some people think of mobile homes when they think of pre-fabricated, or modular homes, and there are some designs that look pretty much the same. Where things start to differ is in size and styles of homes. For instance, when you see those really fancy looking modernly styled homes, they’re often pre-fabricated homes because it’s easier to create them in a factory than to build the entire thing outdoors, at least sections of them are. Also, all log cabins you see are considered pre-fabricated homes because the wood is cut in a factory so all the pieces will lock together perfectly when the homes are being built.
Why are prices lower? Factories can always do things cheaper than hiring a bunch of construction workers. You don’t have to worry about running out of materials because factories always have enough to go around. There are no stoppages because of weather. And transportation costs of finished home sections are the same as if all the materials had to be delivered to your home site so construction can begin. Now, to be fair, in this overall housing market there are some cities where there will be homes that probably cost less than, or around the same as, modular homes.
One final point is that you can buy modular homes from companies that are outside your state if you find something you like, and it doesn’t cost all that much more to transport the sections to where you live. However, it’s probably better if you stick with purchasing these homes in your own state. If you want to find out more about pre-fabricated or modular homes in Utah, you can check out some of these companies:
Irontown Homes, Syracuse
Wasatch Timber, Heber City
Sprung Instant Structures, West Jordan
Care Free Homes, Salt Lake City
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Mitch writes on real estate, finance, and many other things. 
I am happy you addressed the issue of mobile homes vs pre-fabricated. There is a big difference. Most good prefab homes you can never tell were prefab.
That’s true, Chris, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to make the clarification.