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What makes a Sectional home
expensive?
The most deceiving aspect of this question
lies in how Sectional homes are made. Due to strict Government laws all
Sectional homes are built to the same standard. So structurally,
expensive and cheap homes are the same, they have to be.
So what's different? Some manufactures build their homes
with better stuff than the government regulations require. Not much better,
but enough to make a difference so they can sell you on the idea that
their home is better than the rest.
What makes a home more expensive
1. Extra strong marriage walls.
2. Use 2X4 interior wall studs instead of 2X2 or 2X3
studs.
3. OSB exterior, instead of cheap press board.
4. Some use TYVEK wrap instead of a cheap paper wrap
or plastic wrap that won't breathe.
5. The ability to customize a floor plan. Customization
can really be costly and at the same time really affordable. If
you need to customize your floorplan most manufactures will do it for
a fairly small upfront cost (100 - 200 dollars). This process is much
more expensive than that, so they spread the cost out in each home which
drives up the cost. If you don't need to customize you are still
paying for everyone else's customization, which makes it very costly for
the person who doesn't need this service.
6. The more options a home has, the more overhead a manufacturer
has and it drives up the price of the home. So, lots of cool options like
drywall, wood clad windows, wood trim, berber carpets, and other fancy
stuff make each home more expensive even if you don't purchase those
options.
7. Quality fixtures and accessories makes a home more
expensive. Solid bathtubs, metal faucets, good door handles, good door
hinges, good doors, good windows, good carpets and other quality standard
options really drive up the price of a home.
8. Shipping costs. This is huge! Out of state shipping
charges can add up to thousands of dollars. I used to pay almost 4,000.00
dollars to order some of my homes from a manufacturer two states away
from my shop. Buying from local manufacturer can save you a ton of money!
(note: you still have to shop wisely.)
9. Overall attention to detail. This is something I don't
know how to teach you. I saw the difference after 18 months between
different manufactures. I would recommend going to a few different
plants and touring them yourself if you can. Look at the little things
like: how corners fit, windows open, doors close, is there glue on walls,
are the cabinets not hung straight, is the siding on crooked, do the marriage
walls not line up.
10. Great Warranties.
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What makes a Sectional Home Cheap?
The most deceiving aspect of this question
lies in how Sectional homes are made. Due to strict Government laws all
Sectional homes are built to the same standard. So structurally,
expensive and cheap homes are the same, they have to be.
So what's different? Some manufactures build their homes
exactly to the government regulations required. This means that the
home is really at a bare minimum and typically not up to most peoples
standards. But these homes are really, really inexpensive.
If you buy one of these inexpensive homes and you know what to expect
then you won't be so upset in the long run.
What makes a Sectional Home cheap...
1. Very inexpensive fixtures and accessories. These products
will probably break or wear out on you within a couple of years.
Thin carpets, plastic faucets, thin plastic sinks and bathtubs, metal
windows, cheap outer doors, ugly thin wallboards, wrapped trim, 2X2 wall
studs, bare minimum structural requirements, cheap siding, cheap cupboards.
You get it right?
2. Not being able to customize anything doesn't make
a home cheap but it does make the home less expensive.
3. Just a few options. This makes a home less expensive.
4. Poor attention to detail. Slapped and glue together.
(Just kidding)
5. Bad warranties.
6. Locally made doesn't make a home cheap, but it may
make it less expensive.
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How do I find the best price
on a Sectional Home?
This is a simplied way to shop.
1. Find out how much you can afford or want to afford.
2. The home is only one little part of all the costs of this project,
so go out and do your own homework on all the other costs that will occur.
To get this list ask your banker, they probably have a sheet that has
everything you'll need to pay for.
3. Once you have the construction costs nailed down you can start looking
for homes. I'm serious don't go look for homes until you know what
going on. I know you won't follow this advice. If you do this though,
you'll know more than most of the sales people you'll meet. I know, Scary..
4. Get a general idea of how many square feet your budget will allow for.
If you give the salesperson a 50,000 dollar budget, they'll show you what
they have in your price range.
5. Once you have the square feet down, find a floor plan that you like.
I would get every floorplan in your square footage that is sold in your
state or area.(many retailers will build from hundreds of miles away.)
6. Once you have a floorplan down, lock it down to a manufacturer. They
all have very simular plans. You don't want to shop different manufacturers
because you won't know if you're getting the best price or not. If only
one retailer sells the plan you like then you risk not getting the best
price for the home you want. You might get a cheaper price from one
retailer on a different floor plan, but since it's not the same home there
isn't any way to tell if it's a good deal or not. In the end it's obviously
your choice.
7. Once you have one floor plan from one manufacturer, go find every retailer
that sells that home in your state. Most manufactures web sites will
give you a nice list of all the retailers that sell their homes.
8. Pick one retailer and spend a ton of time with them picking options
and nailing down costs. Always write down what they tell you or have your
own list ready and fill in the information so you can give the list
to other dealers.
9. Never ever ever never put down any money until you are done shopping.
Not for anything. Don't do it. It will take you for-----------ev-------------er
to get that money back to put down on the other dealer. I know it's the
law, 24 hours and they have to give it back. Don't do it. It won't happen.
If it does, you got lucky. Don't do it. Get it?
10. If you feel that everything you want in your home is all laid
out and every cost is covered it's time to go out and shop for your bottom
dollar. I'm talking about the price of the home, options, and retailer
costs like delivery, set up, and whatever else they'll try and charge
you for.
11. Take a copy of your list of costs and with a huge smile on your face,
hand it to the salesman and ask him if he can beat it. Of course, he won't
like the situation. He doesn't want to do the work of coming up with a
better price and have you walk away to the next dealer (which you'll do)
so he'll try and pressure you into some sort of deal. Just get the new
price, in writing, so you can take it to the next guy. His list
of costs should match your list of costs perfectly. Don't let him leave
anything out that he may charge you for later.
12. By the time you're done you should have the best price
possible.
Tip... If there is a time when construction stops in your
area, like winter, this would be the best time to buy. Sales people get
hungry at this time and are willing to part with their profit faster.
Warning...Getting the best deal, like paying almost no profit, is a good
and bad thing. Be prepared when your sales person doesn't want to
spend a bunch of time and effort on your project. You took away
all their money and motivation because now they are working for next to
nothing. You really need to stay on top of things to make sure everything
gets done.
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What do I need to stay away
from with Sectional Homes?
Nothing that I can think of. Every manufacturer
has it's good and bad aspects. Oh, stay away from spending too much money.
This is a tangent, but triple wides are a huge headache. Proceed with
caution. There are a lot of things that can go bad in a hurry.
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Can I put a Sectional home on
a basement?
Yes. You can order a special frame that allows
the sectional home to go on a basement foundation.
But..., the heating system in your home can't heat the
basement so the basement will need it's own heat source or you will need
to replace the heating system in the house, in other words, more money.
Don't let an inexperienced or over zealous sales person talk you into believing
you can use the original heating system to heat the basement(it happens).
see construction tips
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Should I buy a Sectional Home
lot model?
Only if it fits in with my shopping
model.
Can you save money?
You might. Sometimes dealers are willing to lose money in
order to get rid of the lot model so they don't have to make payments on
it to the bank.
What could happen?
You could pay full price for a used home. Then you pay for extra
stuff liking paying for the first setup, then you get to pay for it
to be torn down, then you get to pay for it to be moved, and finally pay
to set it up again on your lot. Not a pretty idea. It happens.
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Service tips for Sectional
Homes...
This is one of the most frustrating areas of
any new home purchase. There isn't much you can do to ensure good
service. For some customers service is great for others it can be
a nightmare.
Service tips...
1. Call the state and see what kind of complaints are against
a retailer. Almost all retailers have complaints so don't panic
if the retailer you have chosen has some. What you are looking for
are numerous (too many) unresolved service issues. You can also
call past customers, but they will probably only give you customers that
are happy.
2. When your home has just been finished and you feel
the retailer still needs to go back and fix something, many times the
retailer feels differently than you. Are you surprised? One way
to solve this problem is to have your friendly loan officer and lawyer
draw up your sales contract stating that you won't pay the retailer the
last 10% until you are satisfied they have finished the job. They
hate it, it's great. The reason your loan office will help you is that
they don't want to have a loan on an unfinished home. Try and get everything
done right away so you don't have to fight them to come back.
3. Be aware of non existant service crews. At times
the store I worked out of didn't even have a service crew. Our toter driver
would go out and try and fix whatever he could when he had the time.
Not too cool. So, find out how many people are in their service
department, obviously the more people the better. If the store has a bunch
of independant contractors doing their work that's good too.
4. Having the manufacturer come out to your home is ok.
The manufacturer can be a bit slower than the retailer.
5.Don't give up when they don't come out. The person
that calls the most and screams the loudest gets the quickest service.
Being rude isn't good either... if you tick them off too much kiss them
goodbye.
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What is PAC on a Sectional Home?
Most of you probably know what PAC is. It's the profit that
almost never comes out of the deal. Salespeople get paid on whatever money
they can get above and beyond PAC. PAC pays for the overhead and typically
doesn't make the retailer too much money.
PAC...
1. A sales person can't drop the price below PAC. Typically,
the manager can't either, PAC is set by the owner of the company.
2. Large retailers typically have higher
PAC's than smaller retailers because their overhead is larger.
3. Narrowing your shopping down to
one home helps you find who has the lowest PAC and least amount of
profit for them.
4. I've heard of PAC's ranging from $500.00
to $6,000.00
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Are they really throwing it in for
free?
No. Unless they've offered everything they are
willing to offer and you are down to your last retailers and going back
and forth between offers.
By the way, it's not free unless you didn't pay for it. The only way
your not paying for it is if there isn't any profit in the deal, which I
doubt will ever happen. So don't think of it as free just one more thing
you're paying for at the same price.
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Are Sectional Home sales really
saving me money?
No. Run away from Sales.
Unless you are at the end of your search and it fits in my shopping
model.
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Do I need to put a Sectional
home on a foundation?
Only if you want your floors to be flat and your
home stable and even. Most laws require a foundation.
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Is buying a used Sectional
home a good idea?
It can be. Sectional homes that aren't
fixed on a foundation with property lose their value pretty quickly. In
other words if it isn't Real Estate it depreciates.
That means it's possible to get used Sectionals from private parties at
a good price. Used Sectionals from retailers are too expensive.
It might be harder to get a loan if you don't use a retailer but not impossible.
Get the home inspected by someone who knows sectional homes.
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Are there options I should buy
when ordering a new Sectional Home?
Buy as you can...
1. Upgrade your carpets.
2. Standard kitchen sinks are typically way too shallow,
upgrade if you can.
3. Upgrade the back door if you don't want frost on the
inside of it.
4. Upgrade to vinyl windows if they aren't standard.
5. Put OSB on the exterior walls.
6. Drywall will help on the resale value of your home.
7. Upgrade your water heater if you have a huge tub.
8. Upgrade to 220 electric service.
9. Put in an exterior water faucet and electrical outlet.
10. Put in service entries for plumbing.
This is not an exaustive list but a good start.
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Do Sectional Homes have
a good resale value?
Sectional Homes have a good resale value if they
are on a fixed foundation on property.
Sectional Homes in mobile home parks can lose their value quickly.
There are instances where mobile home parks have a very good resale due
to lack of space and high demand. In my experience these parks are few
and far between.
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Are some Sectional Home brands
better than others?
Read why some Sectional
Homes are more expensive.
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What is a good deal on a Sectional
Home?
A good deal is more than price. Here is my idea
of a perfect situation.
Good deal...
1. Very knowledgable salesperson that knows the new construction
process like the back of his/her hand.
2. Buy the home 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 above
invoice.
3. Get the central air and whirlpool thrown
in the deal after the final price is negotiated.
4. Hopefully the salesperson gets paid off that
2-3 thousand so they'll actually work for you.
5. Home ordered and you moved in after a few months,
completely serviced and happy.
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Do sectional homes fall apart?
If you buy a cheap home (see above) then the
inexpensive things in the home will wear out and you will have to replace
them. All homes require maintenance so if you're prepared you won't
be so upset.
Some things I have seen...
1. Siding fading at different rates.
2. Floor joists bowed up or broken.
3. Cupboards falling off the walls.
4. Home needs re-leveling.
5. Skylights leaking.
6. Shingles falling off.
7. Carpets wear out in one year.
8. Bowed wall studs.
9. Windows don't close correctly.
10. Trim falls off.
11. Doors don't close correctly.
These things also happen to site built
homes so don't panic.
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Financing tips for Sectional
Homes...
If at all possible don't take the financing through
the Retailer you purchase the home. By financing your home through
a local bank you will have more control when it comes time to get the
last problems with your home finished.
Lenders that work directly with the Retailer may not give
you the rights you deserve.
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How much are they making off
me when I buy a Sectional Home?
If you're not careful, I have seen profits of
18 - 20,000 dollars. Those kinds of rip offs are common. A
typical profit is around 10 - 13,000 dollars. A good deal for you
is around 2 - 3,000 dollars. Less than that is awesome.
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What is the invoice of a Sectional
home?
The invoices for sectional homes change so quickly even the
salespeople can't keep up with them. I have seen invoices as low
as 15,000 on a 1000 sq ft home and as high as 60,000 on the more expensive
larger models. I'm sure they go higher than that.
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Should I buy a Sectional
Home from a big or a small retailer?
There a benfits of both. A big retailer can buy the homes
for less, so if you shop right, you might be able to get the home for a
better price than the smaller retailer. Big retailers typically don't
or can't take care of their customers like the small retailers can. Smaller
retailer can have smaller PAC's and save you money that
way. Sometimes service can be really good at some smaller retailers, where
customers are really valued.
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Sectional Home Tricks
and Scams...
Many salespeople try a bit too hard to make the
sale. They will do anything to get you to buy. These are smooth
people and you'll never know what hit you. Everything will seem great
and you'll even be happy about your decisions. You may never
even know you were taken in by their lies. Some people don't
care and if that's you, most of my information should get you half
way. But, these people can make you pay more than you should, sometimes
it's just a few hundred dollars, other times it a few thousand and for the
unfortunate ones it can add up to 15,000 - 20,000 dollars. more....
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