Why We Chose to Build a Modular Home

A few months after our engagement, Eli and I started thinking seriously about where we wanted to plant our roots. On my list: A wrap around front porch, farmers sink, main level master bedroom and an open concept. On Eli’s list: Location, location, location. All he wanted was some wide open spaces where we would have a little more privacy than our current situation of having to share a wall on either side of our apartment with our neighbors. We knew from the get-go that we had a few options. We started with what most people do and searched the market for homes that were in our price range and fit our desires (or at least some of them). We spent a few months on this search and none of the homes we looked at felt like the right choice. Maybe this was us being picky, but I am oh so glad we were patient on this one.

If you don’t know much about me, I grew up in a house surrounded by a bit of land. To be truthful, during my teenage years I can honest and shamefully say, I did not appreciate it. It is acres and acres of untouched property and it is beautiful! I think it took me leaving it behind for a few years while I was away at college to realize it is something pretty amazing. Eli and I tossed around the idea of maybe building and tried to wrap our heads around how we could do this financially and logically. We quickly realized that this was our dream and our future. Our own house, near family, that we could create to check all of the boxes on our list. A dream indeed!

At this point we had narrowed down the process to two options. Have the house built on site or have a modular home built in a plant. After doing some research and weighing the options, we realized that the modular route was much more feasible for us and we liked the fact that it is built entirely indoors. No wet materials from the rain and/or snow (Western PA weather is all over the place…) and it could be completed WAY faster. Badda-bing-badda-boom! For a little bit of reference: We finalized our floor plan in February & our home was finished by June.

We met with a modular company out of Clarion, PA and they were so helpful and sweet throughout the entire process. We were able to bring them a modular floor plan we found on the internet and they basically helped us customize our entire house. A dream, indeed.

 Our home came in pieces and was placed onto our foundation with a crane late last August. We had omitted a lot of internal work in the house (flooring, paint, trim, countertops, etc.) because we felt these were things we could handle on our own and could save us a little money. The great thing about modular building is that you can have them do as little or as much as you want. We walked through houses in the plant that were fully painted and carpeted and ready to be hooked up to utilities and lived in shortly after delivery (crazy, right?!)

Modular homes have come such a long way in recent years. We’ve had lots of people compliment our house & say that they can’t believe it’s a modular home. If you’re in the market for a new home modular home building is worth consideration. It is really a dream come true for us and we are so thankful we had the opportunity to go this route. To see the  progress we’ve made on the exterior of our home check out this post!

xo,

sarah jane