Factory made homes, whether they are called pre-fabs, mobile or manufactured homes are built using all of the same materials that their conventional counterparts are, but with many benefits you can never get from traditional home construction.

Manufactured homes, also called pre-fabricated homes, are constructed in a factory, using the same materials used by their conventional counterparts. In fact, all components are the same, from the framing right down to the front door. They often even use the same suppliers for those materials. The only real difference is the physical location for the construction process. So, what are the benefits to building a home in a factory?

1. Building a home in a factory can offer substantial savings, often up to 40% per square foot over the more conventional site-built home. This can decrease the average monthly mortgage payment considerably. In today’s economy, many buyers are considering other housing options and opting for smaller payments.

2. Mother Nature can be the biggest player in the stick-built construction process. Construction schedules can be ruined by problems such as rain, wind, snow, extreme heat and frigidly cold weather. The roofers can’t install shingles in the rain and their delay will probably end up preventing another crew from starting the next step in the process. But when a house is built in a factory, the line keeps moving, rain or shine. The skilled teams can work in comfort all year long, without delays of any kind.

3. Delayed material deliveries can create substantial delays that trickle down through all the trades, too. Factories, however, typically have massive material inventories on-hand. Houses are built all day, every day, with no down-time to wait for supplies. No icy roads. No windy conditions. No traffic jams. In fact, the concept of the assembly line and factory construction of a home has greatly reduced nearly every frustration to homebuilders.

4. Manufactured home manufacturers usually buy their building supplies in bulk, rather than for one or two houses at a time. That means that they’re also getting the best possible price for their materials. Those cost savings pass through to the home buyer, lowering the price and the resulting monthly payment.

5. Manufactured homes are meticulously planned, because modern home builders need to extract every last bit of efficiency out of their raw materials. The process in a factory is controlled and every last step is planned out. Things are dramatically different in the site-built world. A general contractor can’t possibly watch every cut made on every sheet of plywood to ensure that it is being used the most effectively. Measure twice - cut once is an axiom designed to reduce waste, but the reality is that even seemingly small errors can cause extensive waste of materials and lost time, all of which eventually comes out of the homeowner’s pocket. In fact, waste is always a big problem for any site-built home. Most general contractors try every way imaginable to optimize their materials usage, but can never achieve the same level of efficiency as a factory-built home manufacturer.

6. Using the assembly line method, the home can move quickly and efficiently through each phase of the construction process, saving a great deal of time. That’s right. The house actually moves through the factory. There is no need to climb on roofs or carry around ladders - work is performed at a comfortable height for the crew, which not only increases safety but also dramatically decreases construction time.

A climate-controlled factory for the construction process virtually eliminates all frustrations. The availability of a new and much-anticipated home in weeks rather than months is great news for any new homeowner. Better still is the knowledge of precisely when it will be ready and how much it will cost.