

Prefab Home Designer Bucks A Downward Trend - joubert
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99250186

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patio11
I think pre-fab homes is a wonderful idea and wish it would take off more.
Imagine if we built cars like we built homes:

1) They'd be hand-assembled by local artisans...

2) ... in your driveway.

3) The median production run would be 1 vehicle.

4) The design would be done from scratch every single time.

5) There would be no Blue Book, because no two cars worth buying are
identical. If you want to know what your car is worth, you have to hire an
appraiser. His job is to go around the neighborhood looking at all the cars,
identify those that are "comparable" to your car, and then see how much they
have sold for recently. Then, after having done that, he picks a random
number. Stick a dollar sign in front of it and that is what your car is worth.

6) Your new car will need to be exhaustively safety tested, since it has never
been built before. Don't worry, your local government has a body whose only
job is to promulgate and enforce safety codes for cars built within its
jurisdiction. These codes are incompatible with the codes for another car
driven a mere six blocks from yours.

7) Economies of scale? Hah!

8) There would be so much uncertainty in selling cars, because so much of them
was one-off, that you'd need two _teams_ of overpaid professionals to actually
sell one. (One team would include, at a minimum, a broker, a lawyer, and an
appraiser.)

9) You might not have the foggiest clue of industrial design, but don't worry,
you'll be asked to make all sorts of decisions on the design of your
automobile anyway. From "How many cupholders do you want?" to "Here are forty-
seven types of available sheet glass -- what do you want your windows made
of?"

10) Essentially all the used cars on the markets will have been built as
cluelessly as #9 suggests.

11) You would never know the exact price of a car before commissioning it. Car
artisans would routinely miss price and delivery targets. They use the excuse
that you had no clue what you were doing when you gave them the directions
that they asked for, which is true as far as it goes.

~~~
gravitycop
Many houses today are built in tracts. The designs are standardized and many
of the parts are prefabricated in factories. The line between site-built and
factory-built housing is blurring.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tract_housing>

_Early tract homes were often identical, but more recently built tract homes
no longer look identical from the exterior; variations range from mass-
produced homes with superficial, cosmetic differences to multiple variations
in footprint, roof form, and materials. In addition, floor plans may be
reversed or rooms or garage bays added or removed. Builders or buyers of new
homes may also be able to specialize custom upgrades._

So, it seems that modern tract homes are made similar to the way cars are:
based on standardized designs, but available in various models and with
options. From the wiki link above:

 _Components such as roof trusses, plumbing trees, and stair systems are often
fabricated in factories and installed on site. This allows contractors to
reduce prices, which in turn can make homes more affordable_

Here are some new housing tracts in the Bay Area: <http://www.lennar.com/New-
Homes/California/San-Francisco> The prices are locked-in before construction,
so the customer will know what he will be expected to pay.

There are also tract homes that have been preconfigured and completed (built)
before sale, and have definite prices: [http://www.lennar.com/New-
Homes/California/San-Francisco/Pal...](http://www.lennar.com/New-
Homes/California/San-Francisco/Palisades-At-Mt-House) Purchasing such a home
is analogous to purchasing a new car off of a dealer's lot (instead of ording
one shipped from the factory with custom options) - it isn't custom
configurable, but it is available right away.

------
gravitycop
These are kit homes. They have to be assembled on a prepared site by a
contractor. The kit prices seem reasonable - only about $30-40 per square foot
- but the all-in costs are far higher. Here is the information from the FAQ at
Romero's website: <http://www.rocioromero.com/LVSeries/faqs.htm>

_On average the home costs $120 sq/ft to build. This includes kit costs,
shipping, foundation, and finish costs. This price does not include the cost
of land. In the Mid West it can be built between $100-120 sq/ft and in
California as well as certain select areas on the East Coast have higher sq.
ft. labor costs, the average is between $120-195 sq ft._

The kits do not come with insulation. They have insulatable space in the walls
that can be filled with fiberglass batts or spray-on icynene foam.

