We selected Champion out of York, Nebraska for their quality, capacity, and readiness to customize homes.

We toured three different factories and were most impressed with Champion’s York facility. Other manufacturers either lacked the design options we wanted, raised quality concerns, or were located too far away. Since this was our first time navigating modular construction—which comes with its own learning curve—we chose the most proven and reliable manufacturer.

The homes are shipped in two different sections that are “married” together. They are brought in via semi and a crane is used to lift and place the two sides. 

It takes 10 days of production in the Champion plant to build one of these homes. Once our process is perfected, we estimate that it will take about 4 months to build a modular home (2 months for foundation/site, 2 week window for install, and 1.5 months to finish). It takes 5 days to be able to turn on a light switch in a modular home, versus 7 months with a site-built house.

We did build a basement in our first three modular homes! Each includes an egress window and rough-in plumbing, which allow for a future bedroom and bathroom. Homes can also be set on crawl spaces, which we plan to test in future projects as part of our effort to create more affordable options. Please note: manufactured homes cannot be built on slabs.

Our first three homes came off the factory line for about $127k.Total development costs, if everything go perfectly, typically fall around $285k. Site-specific costs on lots add up to $24k on other properties (bad soil conditions, retaining walls, deep utility lines etc).

We are working on this one. We expected our learning curve to include costs that can be avoided next time. After building the first three homes, we’ve identified multiple ways to shave thousands off our process, barring costly site-specific challenges. We are working towards building a home that cost 15-20% less than site built, but we have a ways to go. We are also not willing to sacrifice quality, and this also limits how much we can shave off our number.

We had many challenges arise.

At the state level, manufactured housing dealers are treated the same as car dealerships. This caused months of confusion as we tried to get our dealership license. For example, locally we had to repeatedly tell city staff that we were not going to be selling cars or parking houses in our office parking lot.  

The various tax forms required by the state to get a dealership license were difficult to navigate, especially being a non-profit and fully developing homes rather than selling just the home (similar to selling a car). 

Finding a local bank willing to finance construction on modular homes was also a challenge. We were able to make good progress with UMB Bank, but ultimately could not close in time to meet delivery dates.  

We did not have any trouble with local building inspection to get these permitted. Modular homes are approved on the state level and a 3rd party inspector who watches construction on the factory line.  

We also did not have any trouble selling them. These first three houses are special, as they need to be paired with a very specific buyer that meets several qualifying factors. If these limitations were not in place, these homes would have sold quickly.  

Working with Land Bank staff to exercise options on land.

Appraisal values were okay, with some room for improvement.

AltCap was an invaluable partner for our first three homes, which were funded through their New Market Tax Credit low interest line of credit. 

Unfortunately, we did not see any significant price savings in going with a smaller house. Removing a bedroom only saved about $3,500 from the manufacturer and yielded no site saving costs. We will be exploring much smaller footprint single wide and stacked homes in the future.

No. The beauty of going “modular” is that they are considered to be the same as site-built in the financing world. They can also be appraised using site-built as comps. 

Our modular homes come with a few upgrades, including Argon filled windows, vaulted ceilings, farm sink, suspended hood, sliding patio door, vinyl tile floors, and specialized cabinet upgrades. The 6” exterior walls and higher insulation values come standard with York homes.