Building prefab homes and selling them

[Levon J.]

Hi everyone, 

There are quite interesting deals in China for prefab homes - they are light, easy to assemble, well insulated and earthquake-resistant, and looks like they are cheap too - approx. $250 per 10 sq ft. And they look good - they can make it according to your preferred design. 

You're sending your drawings and tech requirements to a manufacturer in China, they make a house for you, ship it to your location, you hire a crew to assemble that house in your place. It's about $3-4k to ship the house in a container to USA. There's also permits and other fees, and the assembly price. 

So this is the theory, and does anyone have any actual experience in dealing with prefab houses? I'm wondering if that can be a good business idea, as the final price should be lower than the market price, and they could be sold for profit. 

Please share your ideas, let's see if this is a good niche or not. Thanks!

[Brooks Rembert]

@Levon J., great in theory, but I'd be very skeptical of using Chinese manufacturers to build a home intended for America, simply because of a few recent hiccups.

I think the better idea is to use modular homes built here in the US. Higher prices, for sure, but they're built to local code and still have room for profit even including land purchase and assembly.