Pre-fabricated Cabins

[Sliver]

Anybody have any experience with these? Here's an example (http://karoleena.com/cabins/) of what I'm talking about:

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x22/1987MustangGT50/karoleenacabin11-1024x685_zps320aa50b.jpg (http://s182.photobucket.com/user/1987MustangGT50/media/karoleenacabin11-1024x685_zps320aa50b.jpg.html)

It seems everybody is buying condos for their vacation properties these days, but I wouldn't want to be paying for common areas, underground parking, elevators, swimming pools, management companies and condo fees. Seems like a giant waste of money.

But if a pre-fabbed cabin is such a great idea, why have I never heard of anybody I know buying one of these? I mean, you can get them for like $25,000. Say you double that to account for all the hidden costs that are bound to crop up, or even quadruple it to include shipping it to your destination and you're still at only like $100K, plus land. It just doesn't seem that crazy to me. Am I missing something?

[Locke]

I've heard that the main difficulty in these cabins is the difficulty involved in filing the paperwork to have them assigned as embassies.

Its always the paperwork...

[Sliver]

I've heard that the main difficulty in these cabins is the difficulty involved in filing the paperwork to have them assigned as embassies.

Its always the paperwork...

Oh god. That would be a nightmare if one of those monkeys moved in, eh.

[Locke]

Oh god. That would be a nightmare if one of those monkeys moved in, eh.

I dunno. It is your land and its only $25K after all. I'm sure you have some matches and gasoline?

I'll bet you'll never see a Freeman run so fast.

[Bigtime]

I really like the look of the one you've posted. I'm surprised they haven't caught on at those places where people park RV's year round in holiday spots. Maybe the bylaws of those places don't allow them?

[burn_this_city]

I don't see how a building that size would be anything more than an RV without wheels.

[Sliver]

I don't see how a building that size would be anything more than an RV without wheels.

They look to me to be finished more like a modern apartment-style condo. There are a lot more online than the one I posted, but I think they are deliberately unlike RVs.

[Sliver]

I really like the look of the one you've posted. I'm surprised they haven't caught on at those places where people park RV's year round in holiday spots. Maybe the bylaws of those places don't allow them?

Yeah, maybe not. I wouldn't want to have a cabin in one of those RV parks anyway, though. Probably just being snobby, but those places don't feel like my bag. I was thinking of getting an acre or half acre somewhere and plopping something like this down.

[burn_this_city]

They look to me to be finished more like a modern apartment-style condo. There are a lot more online than the one I posted, but I think they are deliberately unlike RVs.

They probably have much nicer finishing, but the plumbing, heating, electrical is probably very RV like. I'm sure you can get some nice ones, but you get what you pay for.

[ken0042]

Just curious where you got the pricing of $25K? I agree- seems low.

[Hevishot]

Looks like a fancy double wide trailer more than a prefab cabin. I doubt you could get into one that looks anything remotely close to that one for 25k.

[19Yzerman19]

If that costs $25k I'll take it.

[DFO]

The window/door package in that cabin will run 25k or better.

[Sliver]

Just curious where you got the pricing of $25K? I agree- seems low.

I think you'd have to talk to a sales rep to get actual pricing. The online pricing I've come across seems low on all the sites with pre-fabbed cabins. That's kind of why I quadrupled to say at $100K it doesn't even seem that bad.

[Sliver]

They probably have much nicer finishing, but the plumbing, heating, electrical is probably very RV like. I'm sure you can get some nice ones, but you get what you pay for.

They probably borrow from the guts of a trailer park-style trailer, but I don't have a problem with that. I think they've done a good job of editing out the ghetto style of your typical trailer park trailer, but there's nothing wrong with borrowing from them w/ respect to plumbing, heating, etc.

I agree that you get what you pay for, but that to me is why these seem like a good deal at a sub-$100K price point. Geez, for a nice RV and a decent tow vehicle you'd be looking at $100,000 without even going that crazy.

I'll do some more digging this week to try to pin down an exact price on a unit I would be happy with including transportation and an estimate on setting it up on site so we can all know more about this.

[ken0042]

If you are going to be happy with being just below $100K, look at Ready To Move homes. I had been looking for my property north of Winnipeg; and although this is Manitoba pricing we were looking at around $100K to have an entire house built and moved onto your site.

[opendoor]

There's no way one of those is $25K. That'd be $35 a square foot which would be a good price for a garage.

I'm not sure about those particular models or that company, but other prefab cabins I know of are about 6-7 times that price per square foot. Here are 3 models from another company and the base model of a slightly smaller cabin starts at $132K:

http://methodhomes.net/homes/sml-series/

That also doesn't include site prep (excavation, foundation, electricity, waste disposal, water supply, etc.) which would be tens of thousands more.

[Sliver]

There's no way one of those is $25K. That'd be $35 a square foot which would be a good price for a garage.

I'm not sure about those particular models or that company, but other prefab cabins I know of are about 6-7 times that price per square foot. Here are 3 models from another company and the base model of a slightly smaller cabin starts at $132K:

http://methodhomes.net/homes/sml-series/

That also doesn't include site prep (excavation, foundation, electricity, waste disposal, water supply, etc.) which would be tens of thousands more.

lol dude, we've established it's not $25K about four times already. We even settled on it being about $100K.

I like the picture from the link you posted:

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x22/1987MustangGT50/SML_zps9606029b.jpg (http://s182.photobucket.com/user/1987MustangGT50/media/SML_zps9606029b.jpg.html)

Say the site prep is double what the price of the cabin is, I still (intuitively) think you'd financially come out way ahead with this versus a condo somewhere.

If I have time today I'll try to get some more accurate pricing from one of these guys.

[opendoor]

lol dude, we've established it's not $25K about four times already. We even settled on it being about $100K.

I like the picture from the link you posted:

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x22/1987MustangGT50/SML_zps9606029b.jpg (http://s182.photobucket.com/user/1987MustangGT50/media/SML_zps9606029b.jpg.html)

Say the site prep is double what the price of the cabin is, I still (intuitively) think you'd financially come out way ahead with this versus a condo somewhere.

If I have time today I'll try to get some more accurate pricing from one of these guys.

Like I said, I think $100K is too low as well based on the link above. Here's a link on costs from that same site:

http://methodhomes.net/homes/pricing/

Basically they have it as $15-20K for permits, surveys, hookups, etc., $133+ a square foot for the house, and then 30-70% of the house cost for site prep and install.

Though it's important to remember that bigger houses are generally cheaper per square foot than smaller ones. For instance a 1000 square foot rectangular house would have nearly 80% as much exterior surface (siding, wall insulation, windows, etc.) as a 2000 square foot one does. So that $133+ price is closer to $200 a square foot in the sub 1000 square foot range.

So for a 750 square foot base unit you're probably looking at $250K ($20K + $150K unit + $80K site prep and install). And those are US prices, so something done in Canada would likely cost more. If the land is cheap enough it could be a pretty good option, but you're not really saving much if any money over a conventionally framed house when you buy a good quality modular or prefab house.

[Minnie]

That looks very similar to what they've shown at one or the other of the home shows every year. Got to poke around inside of one. Very cool.

[Sliver]

Like I said, I think $100K is too low as well based on the link above. Here's a link on costs from that same site:

http://methodhomes.net/homes/pricing/

Basically they have it as $15-20K for permits, surveys, hookups, etc., $133+ a square foot for the house, and then 30-70% of the house cost for site prep and install.

Though it's important to remember that bigger houses are generally cheaper per square foot than smaller ones. For instance a 1000 square foot rectangular house would have nearly 80% as much exterior surface (siding, wall insulation, windows, etc.) as a 2000 square foot one does. So that $133+ price is closer to $200 a square foot in the sub 1000 square foot range.

So for a 750 square foot base unit you're probably looking at $250K ($20K + $150K unit + $80K site prep and install). And those are US prices, so something done in Canada would likely cost more. If the land is cheap enough it could be a pretty good option, but you're not really saving much if any money over a conventionally framed house when you buy a good quality modular or prefab house.

That would really write these off for me. I think resale with a conventionally-built home would be better than a pre-fab.

[core_upt]

Prefab offers very little in pure cost saving versus traditional builds. What it does offer is a significant time savings. Prefabs can be built in 6-8 weeks, versus 6-8 months for a traditional build.
Build one to save time, not money.

[Vulcan]

This site has some prices.

18ft. x 30ft. Cheyenne

Sq. Ft: 540
Size: 18' x 30' CHANGE (http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/products/cabins/cheyenne/20029/details.html#)
Format:


Pre-cut kit ($50,253) http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/images/info2.gif
Pre-assembled kit ($54,753) http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/images/info2.gif
Installed ($74,703) http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/images/info2.gif



http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/images/1pixel.gif
$29,695.00 CAD
Base Model
http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/images/up.gif
As Featured: Cedar Shingles
$4,266.00 Cedar Channel Rough (horizontal)
Incl. Doors & Windows: Arts & Crafts 3-Lite/1-Pane Single Door (37 1/2"W)
$795.00 ASC1 Classic Square Window (Fixed)
$450.00 (7) AC4 A/C Large Opening Window (Casement)
$3,605.00 Other Options: http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/images/down.gif



Sub Total $50,252.89 Kit Discount (http://www.summerwood.com/special.html) -$5,939.00 Options Discount (http://www.summerwood.com/special.html) -$3,083.68 Enter Postal Code
for freight and taxes Freight http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/images/info2.gif Ask for quote Net Total $41,230.21

$41,230.21
Gross Total (CAD)

http://www.summerwood.com/cdn/products/cabins/cheyenne/20029/details.html

[GomerPile]

My inlaws have a place that we are looking to put a new building on, it's lakefront in Northern SK. The current cabin is just about at the end of it's life. We have been talking to different people around the lake as a few have put new mobile homes on their lots and others have brought in pre fabs. From the people I have spoken too the biggest cost savings I have seen came from the "used" house market. With Saskatchewan apparently booming you can pick up 15-30 yr old bungalows from people who are looking to re-develop lots in the city. One couple paid 7500 bucks, and it was perfect cabin. There will be moving costs, line lifting, electrical and sewer hookups. Those costs will be there anyways if your moving any type of home.

I dont know where everyones views lay with what a cabin should be. Mine ends at - servicable building with a big bitchin deck to relax on. So that may be the route we take. I have seen a few house only listings in YYC for the 15,000 mark. Not all bad.

[TheGrimm]

My inlaws have a place that we are looking to put a new building on, it's lakefront in Northern SK. The current cabin is just about at the end of it's life. We have been talking to different people around the lake as a few have put new mobile homes on their lots and others have brought in pre fabs. From the people I have spoken too the biggest cost savings I have seen came from the "used" house market. With Saskatchewan apparently booming you can pick up 15-30 yr old bungalows from people who are looking to re-develop lots in the city. One couple paid 7500 bucks, and it was perfect cabin. There will be moving costs, line lifting, electrical and sewer hookups. Those costs will be there anyways if your moving any type of home.

I dont know where everyones views lay with what a cabin should be. Mine ends at - servicable building with a big bitchin deck to relax on. So that may be the route we take. I have seen a few house only listings in YYC for the 15,000 mark. Not all bad.


That seems like a pretty decent route to take though your moving costs would be pretty high. I have a friend who buys infill lots in Calgary and usually offers up the existing home for free if someone wants to pay to come and take it away, it saves him the cost of demolition.

[Sliver]

That is a cool idea. I'm heading west to look at land this weekend to see if I'm going to take this idea any further. The only knock against the bungalow idea is I already own a 1969 house in Calgary, which takes a lot of money to keep going/updated. I don't know if I'd want another place of that vintage out in the sticks. I like the idea of walking into a vacation home and just chilling out, not swinging a hammer.

[fundmark19]

Burn it down and collect insurance money and use insurance money towards a new house?