Building My Own Custom Modular Home In Fishkill, and Other Areas in Dutchess County, NY. What Are the Steps?
I live in a stick built colonial. I LOVE my home and I LOVE the property! I was impressed that it was stick built when I bought it. The builder did a great job. I would recommend him! It is solid.
BUT, so is a modular. 
In fact, if I ever buy a new home again, I will build a modular. Why?
I do have 9 foot ceilings, like the modulars I've seen, but I have to say that some of the workmanship in my home, needs improvement. What does that mean? Well, modulars are built in factories and they are built to withstand transportation. I wonder if my stick built could be loaded and driven on a highway? Also, a plus is that a lot of the workmanship going into the modular is done by someone in the factory who does the same thing every day. Jeez, that is a lot of experience. In addition, the modular has been inspected a few times prior to leaving the factory. Look for my next blog on Modulars for more information.
I had a conversation with my mother, a realtor in california, who sold modulars in Malibu.
These were high-end craftsman like modulars on a bluff over Zuma Beach. They were gorgeous and sold for over a million bucks. Location, yes and no. But my point is she was talking to me about how great modulars are but I sensed she didn't understand that the modulars I'm talking about are competitive with stick built. The best way I could inform her was to let her know that these modulars reminded me of Toll Brothers! Finished, they were gorgeous and the craftsmanship? Let's just say, If I could get a modular on my property, I would do it.
Here is what the process looks like:
For anyone who desires to build a modular home, it is imperative to do some pre-planning and follow the steps.
1. Establish your budget. Building a home can be complex. Know the budget you have to work with! Contact a lender as a first step! In Dutchess County, Ulster Savings is a lender that will work with construction loans, banks who do this are hard to come by recently! Call around!
2. You want to find land next. The general rule of thumb is to use 25 percent of your budget for the land.
What do you have to think about? Well, land needs site work. Some land is ready to go and that land will cost more than a cheaper piece of land that you will have to put thousands of dollars into to prepare for building your modular.
You then subtract the land cost from your total budget to figure your budget for construction. We will work with you to help you find the building lots in Dutchess County.
3. Select a home and customize it with options that fit within your budget. The Builder Development Corp., www.thebldr.com, will quote a price for one of our models, or a plan of your own, customized to meet your needs. The quote will include the site work or general contracting based on the requirements of your lot and the site options you select. Every house and every building lot are different. Quoting an accurate price is time consuming, so we can't do a full quote on a project until you have a specific building lot and site plan.
4. Order Plans. Once the floor plans and options are finalized and you have accepted the proposal, the process starts in earnest. Engineered drawings are ordered of the house. You will place your 1,500 dollar engineering deposit. This is not refundable but will be applied to the purchase price of your home.
5. Finalize Plans. In about two weeks, preliminary plans are received. We will review them with you and make any final changes before ordering a full set of plans stamped by an architect or engineer. At the same time, you must also obtain a stamped foundation plan from a local architect or engineer. This can be included in your contract and will cost around 400- to 600 dollars.
6. Apply for Permits. Once the stamped foundation plan and the stamped plans from the factory have been received you are ready for building permits. You usually need permits for the house, driveway, and the septic system. Your general contractor can handle the permit process for you. The Builder Development Corp. is a licensed general contractor and can act a a general contractor, you can hire a 3rd party to be your general contractor, or if you have the 'know how', you can be your general contractor.
7. Apply For Your Mortgage/Construction Loan. Your bank will probably require a set of stamped plans as part of the appraisal on your "to be built" home.
8. Order the Modular Home. Permits and Financing are in Place, you are ready to finalize colors and other minor changes and place your order. Contracts will be signed specifying the house in detail and spelling out all the work that the Builder Development Corp. is going to do. It will take 6 to 8 weeks for delivery and that has to coincide with the following step.
9. Start the Site Work. The general contractor needs to begin site preparation so that tree clearing, excavation, foundationand sill plates are complete prior to the scheduled set date.
10. Delivery of the Modular Home. Approximately one week prior to set we will confirm that the site is ready and provide you with a final invoice for the home including the balance due. Truck drivers will not leave the units without full payment.
11. Inspect the Modular Home. Once the house has been set, we will conduct a 'walk through' with you to verify that the house has arrived in good condition and to identify any service issues.
12. Completion of the Home. A significant amount of work remains to be done after delivery. The cost of site work is not included in the price of the modular home. If The Builder Develpment Corp. has contracted to be your general contractor, the contracting agreement will spell out the details of the work to be done and the payment schedule.
For more details on this process, please visit www.thebldr.com if you contact us, please let us know you read this blog!
Stay tuned for more information on Building Modular Homes in Dutchess County!
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