At one time, prefabricated houses weren’t considered a sound investment. While they made homeownership more affordable, they were essentially low-cost housing that wasn’t very good-looking or, more importantly, as weather-resistant as stick-built homes. However, thanks to cutting edge building techniques, there are plenty of affordable, durable and customizable prefab options that not only look better but can also withstand wicked weather. The following list features five affordable prefab starter homes. We also included need-to-know facts about prefabricated dwellings. Prefab facts: There are three types of prefab houses:
Flat-packed or panel homes arrive on-site as kits with all the pieces like floors and walls pre-cut and ready to assemble on a permanent foundation. Modular homes come partially built from the factory. They arrive on-site as preassembled modules that a building crew will secure together and install on a permanent foundation. Manufactured homes are similar to mobile homes. Both come entirely built from the factory. When the fully assembled homes arrive on-site, they are not installed on a permanent foundation.
