The Modular Home Center
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New Home Technology    A guide to buying, building and owning a new home in Louisiana.  Factory Built home solutions meeting today's family needs and energy conservation challenges.

Green Energy

Energy Star

Builders

Manufactures

Modular Home Products

Getting Started

Home Plan Design

System Building

State by State Reference

Alabama Modular Homes

Alabama Modular Homes

Arizona Modular Homes

Arkansas Modular Homes

California Modular Homes

Colorado Modular Homes

Connecticut Modular Homes

Delaware Modular Homes

Florida Modular Homes

Georgia Modular Homes

Idaho Modular Homes

Illinois Modular Homes

Indiana Modular Homes

Iowa Modular Homes

Kansas Modular Homes

Kentucky Modular Homes

Louisiana Modular Homes

Maine Modular Homes

Maryland Modular Homes

Massachusetts Modular Homes

Michigan Modular Homes

Minnesota Modular Homes

Mississippi Modular Homes

Missouri Modular Homes

Montana Modular Homes

Nebraska Modular Homes

Nevada Modular Homes

New Hampshire Modular Homes

New Jersey Modular Homes

New Mexico Modular Homes

New York Modular Homes

North Carolina Modular Homes

North Dakota Modular Homes

Ohio Modular Homes

Oklahoma Modular Homes

Oregon Modular Homes

Pennsylvania Modular Homes

Rhode Island Modular Homes

South Carolina Modular Homes

South Dakota Modular Homes

Tennessee Modular Homes

Texas Modular Homes

Utah Modular Homes

Vermont Modular Homes

Virginia Modular Homes

Washington Modular Homes

West Virginia Modular Homes

Wisconsin Modular Homes

Wyoming Modular Homes

 

First time buyers qualify for an $8000 tax credit for a new home purchase!

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Tax Credit of

$8,000.00

Read more at.... Money:CNN

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System built, modular and prefab factory built homes are built year round which keeps costs down for the builder, extends his building year by three months and makes it possible for the builder to offer his customer an outstanding product for less cost than if he built it on site piece by piece.

As energy costs continue to rise it is best to build every new home with energy saving designs and features in mind. Louisiana is fortunate in the cold winters of Connecticut and New Hampshire seldom come into play. On the air conditioning side of home comfort the numbers can be very substantial. Cooling bills can in many cases exceed heating bills. A home built with Energy Star features and construction methods will help keep your home ownership costs in check. Home energy is about 45% of a families energy budget.

GreenEnergy Designs

2009 Modular Home Design Book

Available designs run from the very basic to some extremely elaborate homes running all the way up to nine thousand square feet.

Energy Saving Modular Home Design

Home comfort is enhanced by proper planning the design of your new home. The return of the front porch is popular in Louisiana to provide extra living room protected from the sun. Extending roof overhangs not only add to the look of your home but also provide daily sun protection.

HOME STYLES: COLONIALS, CAPES, RANCHES, CONDOS, CHALETS, COMMERCIAL

Home styles vary throughout the country. In the Pacific Northwest a large mountainview two story chalet may be your home of choice. On the East Coast home buyers favor the classic two story colonial and in the Southwest sprawling ranch style homes with a large veranda are popular. No matter what your home style or taste there is a modular system built product available to meet your needs. The modular home industry started as a true affordable home. Sizes were limited as were options. As modular system built homes got the attention of the custom builder population the industry was put to the test of adding more custom home designs, better specifications and more innovative building methods. The modular industry responded by adding capes homes, colonial homes, duplexes, custom condos, apartment buildings expansive ranch homes and more to meet this demand.

SYSTEM BUILT MODULAR ADVANTAGES

What are the differences between modular and other building methods. First it is important to define the stick building method that was popular for many years. In stick building the name pretty much describes the process. A load of lumber is delivered to the building site. Some of it may be good and some bad. Short of paying framers wages to find out, the default is to wait until the crew got into the pile and sort through it as needed. The downside here is simply a matter of timing and delays. If bad lumber is found the choice becomes using it anyway or sending the crew home until new materials are delivered to the site. The smarter builders got in the habit of buying "extra" so they would have what they need to keep the project going. Today that really does not work well with the Green Home Building Movement. It really does not work too well with the customer either. Writing checks for materials that may not be good or may not be used at all adds to the home's cost needlessly. In a factory setting it is an easy task to have professional material specialists make sure the materials are up to spec and meet or exceed the quality standards for their factory. Believe it or not where a site builder paying for material specialists would be an unacceptable burden on the bottom line in the world of modular homes it actually increases the bottom line. The modular product is successful because it is built to plan, is perfectly square and plumb and carries some very exacting building tolerances. using only the best materials saves the factory money which is then passed onto the builder and the home owner as service costs are reduced, rework in the factory is reduced and believe it or not advertising expenses are reduced. Yes, advertising. The best sales advertising for a modular home factory and a custom builder is a happy customer. Happy customers are earned by exceeding their expectations.

CUSTOM LUXURY HOME BUILDERS PREFERENCE

The custom factory built home approach to building is always impressive to custom home builders that tour a factory when deciding to update their business. Seeing one giant saw in the factory that can cut precisely every framing member to a home in a matter of minutes generally gets some good reviews. On site this requires handling every board multiple times. Some cuts are right on the money and some just off a bit. When building an affordable home or a million dollar mansion the framing cuts are a critical path item to a quality home. Great framing methods make each job operation go faster and easier and results in one of those homes that are superior to others. Better materials, better material cuts and faster build times are really what set modular construction at the top of building system scale. Custom modular home open floor plans

NEW HOME BUILDING TRENDS

New homes in Louisiana are changing. We are actually going back in time. Louisiana home builders and buyers still like the high ceilings, and open floor plans that have been popular for years. We are reaching back into the past though and adding in a kitchen pantry and front porches.  These were always nice features but dropped from popularity until recently. Both of these features are driven by the energy costs. People are adding the pantry as they no longer want to make daily trips to the store. They make one trip but buy what they need for a longer time creating the need for some additional kitchen storage. The return of the front porch is the result of people turning down the air conditioner. Our modern version of the front porch though includes plasma TV hook ups and surround sound. The front porch is now a focal point in many new home designs.

When building a new modular home do not limit your design concept or the features you want in your new home. Most of the progressive manufactures of modular and system built homes have probably already built the home of your dreams many times in the past.
In those cases where a design feature is not available your local builder can work with the manufacture to correctly frame, plumb and electrify your home so those features can easily be installed on site.

GREEN ENERGY FEATURES AND SAVINGS

The Green Energy Movement has long been a part of the System Built industry long before it became a national movement. Building hundreds and thousands of homes on the scale that modular home factories do is a great thing for eco-friendly home building. The factory setting makes it far easier to be a Green Builder because of the controlled building process. One of the best things a factory can do to improve their bottom line is eliminate waste. The building process, building plans and construction method are all designed to make the highest and best use of every product and material that goes into the construction of a new home.

The HERS index is designed to gauge how energy efficient a new home is. The typical site built home generally has a rating of 100. This is the baseline. Homes over 100 tend to cost a lot more to own because of the increased energy demands. Homes below the 100 threshold tend to save the homeowner on energy costs.

Building a home to LEEDS and Energy Star specifications will certainly help on your energy bills. Today's modular and panelized homes can all be built to these standards.

Multifamily Modular Building

Modular building systems are very popular in the commercial building market. Cost control, flexible design and total control over the building time line make modular construction of both large and small multi-family projects today's choice for commercial building. These same benefits that make modular so popular for single family home construction are magnified when applied to a commercial build.

SYSTEM BUILT FAMILY OF BUILDING METHODS

Many other product lines make up the System Built Industry in addition to modular building. In factory built homes there actually is a wide selection of options to choose from. In some of the most custom homes there could be a mix of these building methods to accomplish the customers home design and still stay within the house budget parameters. Panelized factory homes have a long history dating back to pre war times. Shortly after the war homes constructed with panelized technology exploded to keep up with the demand for new homes right after the war. Panelized today is stronger than ever for everything from home additions, garages, luxury water front homes, offices, apartment building and a full list of commercial ventures.

SIPs panels are the hybrid of the panelized system built industry. SIP stands for Structural Insulated Panels. The name describes perfectly what they are and do. SIPs panels are conventional building timbers that are factory formed with a plywood or OSB outside skin and a foam filled core. These are very energy efficient and save construction dollars for the custom builder and the home owner because of the "Structural" nature of the product. The framing, sheathing and insulation are all part of the product as an assembled unit. The panels are generally set into place with a crane similar to modular and the number of panels used is determined by the home design.

CONSTRUCTION LENDING AND FINANCE

Builders and home buyers constantly struggle with the choice of features and options verses costs. When financing a new home building project there are many elements involved with the cost of construction formula. The system built industry has what builders, home buyers and banks are looking for when financing a building project. The main element is security. Banks and construction lenders always favor projects that are low risk. The system built industry provide this low risk environment for builders and home buyers by having a fixed price for the product when it is released for production, they provide a specific time table to complete the task and the product is not only inspected within the factory as part of the quality control process but also by a third party inspector that ensures the housing product or component meets state and national building codes and requirements. So when seeking lending choices for your home building process be sure to mention that you are using a system built solution to your building plans.

GETTING STARTED - BUILDING A NEW HOME RESOURCE CD

The first thing to do when planning a new home to build is to set up a file for all of your ideas, documents, wishes etc. Let this file serve as your home base for your home building plans. The best part of building a new home is that you get it done exactly the way you want it to be. You do not need to compromise on your design or features. Building a new home is a big task but the rewards are big as well. There is nothing more satisfying than enjoying the holidays or a quite evening in a home that truly reflects your idea of owning the American Dream.