Prefab ADU for Single Family Home

[Samuel Gostnell]

Hello Bigger Pockets!

I am planning on working with a prefab home manufacturer to build a high end small home in Joshua Tree. I've toured a model home, spoken with the company reps and have found yet to find negative reviews. They handle everything from permits to installation, which is very appealing. 

Has anyone had experience with prefab companies, either for ADUs or SFRs? I'd be curious to hear what other people's experience is. 

[Sebastian Marroquin]

I have seen several that have a great design and do everything you mentioned on here. The only draw back I could find is that they will be more expensive than building it out in a conventional way. 

The Pre-fab ADU will likely be around 10% to 20% more expensive + they do not include the grading and foundation: which will be around $10k to $25k depending on how big you go.

So something that could be $100k to $130k will be closer to $150k to $200k (for example). 

I did see that the timing is faster: 

Where the construction process could be between 3 and 6 months and the pre-fab installation could be as little as a couple of weeks. (and in that case you could start making rental revenue right away: and let's say that the rent is about $2k per month for the duration that you would be doing the construction (or 4 months) then the loss in rents would be: about $8k with this example). 

Put that in your numbers and assess all angles of your project. 

Hope this helps a bit!