| Don’t miss any Bottom Line Secrets. Add our address, bottomlinesecrets@news.bottomlinepublishing.com, to your Address Book or Safe List. Learn how here. July 20, 2011    
Dear healthwellness82@gmail.com, Building an addition can be shockingly expensive and time consuming for home owners—but it needn’t be. Home consultant John Grissim, author of The Grissam Buyer’s Guide to Manufactured Homes & Land, shares a remodeling secret that will help you save thousands, avoid costly surprises... and come out with the home of your dreams sooner than you thought. Bedbug infestations are most common July through September—and here comes research entomologist Jeffrey White of BedBugCentral.com, the most comprehensive site devoted to bedbug information, to tell you how to keep these intolerable bloodsuckers from taking over your home. Pay heed to his warning about a bug spray that could make a bedbug problem worse. All the best,  Jessica Kent Editor BottomLineSecrets.com Don’t forget to check out Bottom Line President Marjory Abrams’ latest blog posting: Garlic Tea: My Favorite Food Cure. And don’t forget to share your thoughts on the blog with Margie.  These 6 Events Could Change Your Life... Fabulous PreFab John Grissim The factory-built home sector—once known for producing shoddily-made mobile homes—now offers everything from small, stylish, energy-efficient retirement cottages to luxurious mansions. Example: A six-bedroom 7,200-square-foot French country-style mansion erected this February in the upscale Bethesda, Maryland, development of Greenwich Forest looks just like many of the other grand homes in the neighborhood. Only this mansion went from vacant lot to mostly complete residence in just 32 hours. Despite its grandeur, it’s a "modular home," built in pieces in a factory in Pennsylvania, delivered on trucks, lifted into place by a crane, then bolted together, with only finish work done on site. Prefab also works for home additions, such as family rooms or second floors. Most well-made factory-built homes are indistinguishable from traditional site-built homes—but they have some important and timely advantages... Cost savings. Factory-built homes typically cost around 15% less than site-built homes of similar size and quality, because of the efficiencies of factory construction... lower labor costs... and the volume discounts that these companies can obtain on components. As long as your factory-built home is well-made and looks like the other homes in the neighborhood, it’s likely to fetch just as much as comparable site-built homes when resold. Time savings. Factory-built homes often can be completed in less than half the time it takes to build a conventional home—typically two months or less. Lower mold risks. Factory-built homes are built in climate-controlled environments with no exposure to the elements, especially moisture that can cause mold. Mold is not just a health risk—it’s a financial risk. Eradication can cost many thousands of dollars and often is not covered by insurance. Lower heating and air-conditioning costs. Factory-built housing has made huge strides in technology in the past 20 years. Factories can build energy-efficient airtight homes, resulting in significant energy cost savings. Here’s what home buyers need to know when they consider three major types of factory-built homes... Modular Homes Modular homes generally consist of two or more "modules," or sections, that are transported to the home site on flatbed trucks, then, typically, lifted onto a conventional foundation by a crane and bolted together. Modular homes arrive at the site about 65% complete, requiring one to two months of on-site finish work, such as joining modules together, completing the roof and adding porches, decks and dormers. Top modular home makers offer a wide range of styles, layouts, colors, components and flooring options. There are poorly made modular homes on the market, so it pays to stick with today’s most reliable, high-quality manufacturers... Genesis Homes’ innovative new "GO House" is an energy-efficient ranch or Cape Cod-style home that buyers can customize online to suit their needs (starts at $66,480). Quality is high, the range of options is extensive and—unlike other modular builders—Genesis sells nationwide. 877-523-2181, www.TheGoHouse.com. Nationwide Homes offers quality modular houses and an excellent network of general contractors. The company even trains its truck drivers to confirm that modules are correctly sited on home foundations -- an extra set of trained eyes helps ensure successful builds. Nationwide’s homes are available in 16 southern, southeastern and mid-Atlantic states. 800-216-7001, www.Nationwide-Homes.com. R-Anell Homes are well-made and available in the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. The company sells through a dealership network and through contractors, so buyers can visit a dealership and walk through model homes before making design decisions. 800-951-5511, www.R-Anell.net. Guerdon Enterprises offers a wide range of well-built modular homes (including multifamily homes) in the Pacific and Northwest regions. 800-473-3586, www.Guerdon.com. Visit these companies’ Web sites to view examples of their houses and confirm that they serve your region. Contact the makers that you like most, and ask for their list of recommended general contractors in your area. Request bids from several contractors who have put up a dozen or more of that maker’s modular homes. These bids should include everything you would expect if you were buying a site-built home from a developer—site preparation, landscaping, septic system construction or sewer-line connections, utility connections, etc. The land itself typically is purchased separately. High-Design Prefab This type of factory-built home is appropriate for buyers who want architecturally distinctive homes or stylish energy-efficient smaller homes without paying an architect to draw up plans for them. Top makers... Modern Cabana makes attractive, affordable and energy-efficient small buildings appropriate as vacation getaways, guest homes or home offices. They’re available throughout the US. 415-206-9330, www.ModernCabana.com. Blu Homes recently acquired the architectural plans of top designer Michelle Kaufmann and now offers her energy-efficient homes across the US. 617-275-2333, www.BluHomes.com. ideabox makes small, stylish, affordable and energy-efficient modular homes. They’re available in the West. 503-510-4789, www.IdeaBox.us. Nationwide Homes’ ECO-Cottages are cozy, affordable modular homes that often are used as vacation homes. They’re available in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic. 800-216-7001, www.Nationwide-Homes.com/ Manufactured Homes Manufactured homes, previously called "mobile homes," are built on a steel chassis, typically in either one or two sections. Despite their low-end reputation, a well-designed, well-constructed manufactured home can be every bit as nice as a site-built or modular home—but even cheaper and with an even shorter build time. Among the best bets... Fuqua Building Systems makes homes featuring a craftsman style and quality workmanship that set the top end of its product line far above most of the competition. Fuqua’s homes are available across most of the western US. 800-336-0874, www.FuquaHomes.com. Silvercrest features several well-made models with appealing open layouts. They’re available in the West as far east as Colorado. 800-382-0709, www.SilverCrest.com. Hi-Tech Housing makes beautiful well-constructed manufactured homes—as well as modular homes—available in the Midwest for $75,000 to $250,000. 574-848-5593, www.Hi-TechHousing.com. Only consider models that have a steep roof pitch with at least four inches of rise per lateral foot... overhanging eaves on all four sides... and ceilings at least eight feet high. Pay a contractor to install a conventional foundation, a porch or deck and an attached garage. These design elements prevent a well-designed manufactured home from looking like a manufactured home. Manufactured homes tend to be sold through dealerships, not general contractors. Lending officers who handle manufactured-home loans for local banks often can provide off-the-record advice about which of an area’s dealerships are most reputable. The dealership’s price quote likely will not include some necessary on-site work, including site preparation, utility hookups, septic system installation and foundation construction. Expect to pay a contractor around $20,000 for these services. Bottom Line/Personal interviewed John Grissim, an independent consultant based in Sequim, Washington, who helps consumers around the US select and purchase modular and manufactured homes. He is the founder and former publisher of The Grissim Report, an industry newsletter about the factory-built home sector, and author of two consumer guides—The Grissim Buyer’s Guide to Manufactured Homes & Land and The Grissim Ratings Guide to Manufactured Homes (Rainshadow). www.GrissimGuides.com  New INSTANT Cure for Extra High Cholesterol—Cholesterol Drops 100 Points or More Bedbug Cases Could Triple This Year Jeffrey White Bedbug infestations are most common July through September. Infestations were widespread last year, so the bugs are already widely embedded. Bedbugs are difficult to eradicate and can live for a year without feeding. Self-defense: Check for bedbugs in your box spring and on your headboard, as well as bedbug feces, which look like small black dots. If you discover an infestation, call a professional. Your home may have to be treated three or more times over two weeks. Using over-the-counter sprays can make the infestation worse because bugs that are not killed will spread. Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Jeffrey White, research entomologist, BedBugCentral.com, Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Important: Help your friends get much more out of life -- forward this E-letter to them. Better: Send it to many friends and your whole family. This is a free weekly e-mail service of BottomLineSecrets.com and Boardroom Inc. Boardroom Inc. 281 Tresser Boulevard Stamford, CT 06901-3229 ATTN: Web Team You received this e-mail because you have requested it. You are on the mailing list as healthwellness82@gmail.com. Or... a friend forwarded it to you. Disclaimer: Bottom Line Secrets publishes the opinions of expert authorities in many fields. But the use of these opinions is no substitute for legal, accounting, investment, medical and other professional services to suit your specific personal needs. Always consult a competent professional for answers to your specific questions. Bottom Line Secrets is a registered trademark of Boardroom Inc. Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Update My E-mail Preferences Change My E-mail Address | Contact Us | Privacy Policy Copyright (c) 2011 by Boardroom Inc. |
No comments:
Post a Comment