There are a number of advantages to modular housing which can make it an appealing choice for people who are getting ready to build a home. While people may associate modular housing with low quality or homes of a boring appearance, companies which build this type of housing are actually quite diverse, and modular homes run the gamut from homes with a highly modern aesthetic to a more classical one, and they can be of very high quality. The quality and appearance are often on par with a site-built home, and sometimes better.
One of the biggest advantages is time. Modular housing is built offsite in a factory which specializes in modular construction, which means that delays caused by weather, flaky contractors, problems getting materials, and so forth do not occur. Once a schedule is established, the home is usually completed within the schedule, with a low risk of cost overruns, and it takes less time overall to build and install a modular home than it does to build a home on site.
Building in a climate controlled factory also eliminates damage caused by weather, such as mold which grows in wet lumber, cracks caused by sudden frost, and other issues. Factory built homes are also inspected at multiple points during the construction process, making it easy to catch problems, and the quality standards tend to be very high. Often, modular housing is more energy efficient than site built housing, which makes it more environmentally friendly and cheaper to maintain in the long term, and modular housing is also sturdier than site built housing because it must be built to withstand transport, which means that it can resist earthquakes and hurricanes more effectively.
Modular housing is also more environmentally friendly to build, even if it is not specifically designed as an environmentally friendly or green home. Construction at a factory using standardized designs reduces waste of materials, and even when customizations are added, the factory has the flexibility to accommodate them without creating waste. Building off site also reduces the amount of traffic on the home site, which can lower the environmental impact of the building process.
Depending on the manufacturer and the design, modular housing can be cheaper than site built homes. In addition to being cheaper in the immediate sense, such housing is often cheaper in the long term because it is sturdy and energy efficient, requiring less money to maintain and keep running.