All Forum Posts by: Michael Frank

@Jay VanOrden my data isn't perfect but at some point during the last couple of years, each of the following was doing modular loans in NJ:
Cascade financial services
elend
Flagstar
Landhome financial services
Orion lending

Us Bank
Vanderbilt Mortgage and finance

As others mentioned, there are probably other solid local options

And be sure that the draw schedule matches what you need to build the house because modular draw schedules vary somewhat from lender to lender.

low cost in the bay area is going to be tough. to go low cost, you'll likely want to use one of the companies that is building to manufactured code like a champion, skyline etc. 

There are a lot of companies doing a high volume of small homes in the bay area though (abdou, villa, prefabadu, etc.). If you want to go really low cost, there are some bay area jurisdiction that will allow you to do tiny homes on wheels. Example of the info on oakland:https://cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/Guide...

let me know if you have more info and i can try to be helpful

i think i've commented on this thread before but I have gotten many complaints about them via my site. I would wait for them to prove they can deliver a considerable number of homes before engaging with them.

Hey @Terrence Evans - I do a lot of modular projects in socal and have a tiny amount of experience in the other areas you mentioned.

In socal, particularly in areas where there is a high $/sqft, high end prefab can make a lot of sense to build. I'm referring to mostly coastal areas where you're looking at $700+ cost per sqft and cost to build modular is $300-$500 depending on lots of factors.

There is certainly a more mass market modular product that you can probably do for closer to $200 / sqft, but this will not be that appropriate for high end areas.  Let me know if you have questions - I've done a lot of work on this stuff :-)

It really depends what you want to do with it, etc. I have done a lot of projects with prefab and modular housing and the easiest thing I have seen is find a flat piece of land with electricity, power and water more or less stubbed to the property. Bonus points if its in an area with an expedited permitting process and free to discretionary drawn out things like design review. 

Once you identify the land, I advise calling the local planner who will be able to give lots of information about the build-ability and process for building in that area. 

ya those lenders are often pretty well known for working with many of the high end west coast prefab cos

It depends on company they're using but might want the following all probably serve that area

Umpqua

One trust

US Bank

Good luck

Ya this is likely doable as long as the numbers make sense. The key thing is just to make sure you have lenders who will finance the rest and count your cash payment for land as your down payment contribution. This is pretty normal for construction loans. For modular / container specifically, make sure the lender and the modular company you want to work with are in sync as the typical modular construction draw schedule is different from that for most lenders.

@Ronak Patel I can't speak to your specific local but 1000sqft is the max easily doable amount across municipalities in CA

Hey all - my quick summary on my experience with this:

- i haven't really seen companies getting adus to turnkey in the bay area for under $300 / sqft consistently

- make sure the company you engage has a track record on this and not just nice looking renderings on their website. I would be very careful about some of the companies advertising adu's because of their lack of experience

- if you're site isn't flat, make sure your quotes are specific to your site

- understand the state adu policies - they generally take precedent over local ones and significantly less restrictive than those listed by local municipalities. the state has a technical team that you can email for guidance and they have been very responsive and helpful in my experience.