The innovations that diffuse fastest among homebuilders are those that do not require fundamental changes in the production of a
site-built home (Taylor and Levitt 2005).
The average cost to build a manufactured home is 50 percent less expensive per square foot than a comparable
site-built home, excluding land cost.
Factory-built homes have virtually shed their reputation as cheap housing, and some now rival
site-built homes in terms of design and quality--and they tend to be less expensive, averaging $44 per square foot compared with $93 per square foot for a
site-built home.
Ideabox houses can be built to manufactured home codes or to
site-built home codes, as the buyer's situation requires.
Currently, we're able to build at a cost competitive range of $180 to $250 per square foot versus $400 to $500 for a comparable quality
site-built home in the Hamptons."
With the average size of a home being 1,540 SF, that comes to less than $32 per SE The average
site-built home is $212,300, and with the average size at about 2,300-2,400 SF, it comes to around $70 per SF.
The average MH cost $36,300 during 1996, compared with $119,025 for a
site-built home (not including land).
More than 50% of the manufactured homes built today have two or three components under one roof and the roof has the same height and pitch as a
site-built home. Once set in place, many people can't tell the difference between a manufactured home and its traditionally built neighbor."
AS WITH MOST MODULAR HOMES these days, the front elevation and floor plan of the 1,664-square-foot, single-story Georgetown model from All American Homes appear for all the world to form a
site-built home.
Homes placed on private property can be packaged with the land and titled as real property, which would require the homeowner to pay the same property taxes as a comparable
site-built home. Local government in communities with a large number of manufactured homes should consider advocating this option to ensure they are collecting appropriate tax revenue.
"We use the same building materials found in any good quality
site-built home," adds Wood.