| You might think that it is better to design your home | | | | space you need to clear for your house. Not to |
| by making use of your own style and doing it | | | | forget, you will need to take any building restrictions |
| yourself. Given the effort that building a custom | | | | imposed by the community where you will be building |
| house can require, this is not always the best way to | | | | in to consideration. |
| go about building a new house. The primary reason is | | | | 3. Getting designers help - it is very wise to find firms |
| that building a custom house can often require a | | | | which specialize in building prefab houses - they will |
| significant amount of money and overall knowledge | | | | help you out with the choice of a prefab model of |
| of construction. In general, most people will find it | | | | house and let you select from various models. Many |
| hard to handle the whole construction process. | | | | times, these firms will often offer to manage the |
| As an alternative, building a brand new home can be | | | | building and assembling process. |
| significantly easier if you choose to go the prefab | | | | 4. Who does the work - Whether you choose a |
| house route. Prefab houses, sometimes called | | | | prefab designer company or choose to oversee the |
| modular homes, are most commonly known for their | | | | construction yourself, there is still some work for you |
| time saving characteristics. These types of builds do | | | | to undertake. If you choose to run the project, you |
| not cost you as much and can provide a combination | | | | will need to find your own professionals to handle the |
| of modern technologies and environmental friendly | | | | building and assembling. You may find it more to your |
| building - a definite plus. | | | | liking to let a design firm handle this for you. |
| Taking the prefab route means that building your | | | | Regardless of who does it, the person responsible |
| house is no longer a hard, long term process. Rather, | | | | for managing the process needs to stay on top of |
| many of the complexities of building a house are | | | | the project. |
| minimized or even removed. The time frame of | | | | 5. Building permit - it surely seems to be obvious that |
| building a house is generally determined by many | | | | a building permit need to be obtained. However, if |
| factors, many of which are bound to change during | | | | you are the project manager for this build, be sure |
| the building process. The process of constructing a | | | | to check in to all local restrictions and requirements |
| prefab home is much simpler. The basic steps to be | | | | before digging even the first hole. You may need to |
| followed are: | | | | meet requirements as diverse as environmental |
| 1. Money - it is all about the money, right? When you | | | | impact studies, water analysis, or site surveys. Ask |
| start looking for your new beautiful prefab home, the | | | | up front and avoid pushback later. |
| first thing to think about is the cost. You will likely | | | | 6. Implementation - Once the contracts are all signed |
| want to work with your bank to determine the | | | | (please have contracts for every involved party), it is |
| amount you are willing and able to spend. This is no | | | | a matter of managing the process and staying on |
| different than going the traditional home building | | | | top of all pieces simultaneously. The more you stay |
| route. By determining this amount up front, you will | | | | on top of the project, the more likely you are to |
| quickly know the type and size of house you can | | | | have an on-time, on-budget, properly built prefab |
| afford and make a quick determination as to | | | | house. Things will go wrong, but your attention to |
| whether you want to continue down the building | | | | details will help to minimize the impacts of these |
| path. | | | | issues. |
| 2. Property - you have to have a place to build. | | | | The end result of your efforts can be a wonderfully |
| Whether you already own the property or will be | | | | pleasing prefab house. Your costs are likely to be |
| looking to buy a piece of land, you need to take the | | | | lower than a custom build, and possibly less than the |
| lay of the land in to consideration. A highly sloping | | | | purchase of a pre-existing home. You will also take |
| property will require different considerations than flat | | | | great pride in knowing that you got the house you |
| land. You may also need to consider the amount of | | | | wanted, done to your specs. |