Modular Homes Offer Quicker, Cheaper Path To Owning A New House
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If you're in the market for a new home, you may want to think modular.
A Twin Cities construction company has put its first modular home for sale in North Minneapolis. It's part of a bigger project to use modular homes to redevelop that area of the city. Experts say a modular model could mean a better deal for the buyer.
"It uses the same materials as any other house," Gary Findell, co-owner of the company Smart Homes, said. "It's just built inside a factory."
Walking through the new home on Irving Avenue North, you wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. The main floor of the four-bedroom, 3 bath home arrived in two puzzle pieces from Detroit Lakes on a flat bed.
"When they set the house down, everything was perfectly square and it was good to go," Findell said.
The finished modular model offers homeowners a new home at a discounted price. But how much of a discount?
"Depending the design of the house, 15 to 25 percent," Findell said. "But one of the bigger factors is really time."
Gary Findell says the Irving Avenue modular house was live-in ready in about two months from breaking ground on the foundation. He and a business partner came up with the idea to bring modular homes to the Northside in effort to redevelop hundreds of vacant lots that are otherwise too expensive for private buyers.
"We felt we had an opportunity in this next year year and a half to make a significant difference," he said.
Smart Homes will be building four to five more modular homes in north Minneapolis over the next few weeks with the hope vacant lots will be soon be turned into a new kind of home for families.
"It could help fulfill a need for quality housing in the metro area," Findell said.
All of the modular homes made by Smart Homes will also have smart technology. They'll include apps that allow you to open your front door or control your thermostat using your phone.
For more information on how to own the home on Irving Avenue, visit Smart Homes online.
