All Forum Posts by: Matt D.

Also recently after doing a bunch of research I feel like the US is now behind China as they have been growing modular construction in a rapid speed.

Sorry to bring this up but it may be related to this thread.

Why don't we buy the "high quality" modular homes from China and assemble it here. Remember that all materials we use to build house in US are also from China. I think this is possible good idea to consider but the main problem is how to find an inspection services or your city inspectors who are willing to go to China to inspect in every necessary phases.

This is a great idea but I think main problem is how to find an inspection services or your city inspectors who are willing to go to China to inspect in every necessary phases.

YES mobile home is different than modular home. that was why I had to explain again that I am looking to build modular home, not mobile home. not sure why mobile home was mentioned here.

oh sorry for the misunderstanding. I have my own empty lot. I am looking to build a modular home on the lot. right now I am running due diligence on every piece of the the plan and one of them is to get planning approval. I am not sure who I would talk to for the modular homes. last time I checked with city about regular home building, not modular homes. today after talking to an inspection agency he said I need to talk with the state level instead of the city housing department.

thank Mark for the reply. would you give me some pointers about why it should go with county instead of state or city?

Hi all,

I have not had a chance to check with the city and I could also not find this info in the city websites about the followings. An inspector told me today that planning/permit for a modular homes in California needs to be approved from the State housing department instead of city housing department.

Is that true?

Just read this and definitely agreed that dealing with contractors is the most challenging of my project.

Thanks @Jerry W. @Zach Mitchell @J Scott .

Hi @J Scott I should read your book too. Is there something in your book can be applied in this project?

Thank you for all replies.

Yes, developer and builder are two different roles. From what I researched, developers are the ones who know the list of tasks and do all management of all contractors and work items. Like I mentioned If I do it myself I eventually hire specialized contractors (sub-contractors) to finish each task with high quality. Also as it's a brand new project so there are a constructive list of tasks, not like in other messy projects. And in each step I will always have city inspectors to verify. I also hire a construction inspector to manage the work quality. I act like a manager and I know the tasks to assign to each subs.

I have worked with some general contractors for a big project (not big as this one) and all things they had done were just to hire subcontractors to do the work for them. I feel like the GC get easy money by hiring good sub-contractors to finish the project clean.

I also have a friend who has been a GC for long time and he said the main things of GC is to know all tasks and he said he knows good subcontractors for each tasks and it works just like it.

Anyways thanks to the advices, now I think I would hire a GC or ask a GC for a mentorship.