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By Chris Esposito

 Owner builder construction is growing in popularity at a tremendous pace around the country as more and more people look to save money by building their own home. If you are considering being an owner builder to build your next house, then you need to know these 8 benefits of modular construction before you begin.

1. Highly engineered.

Whether you want to be an owner builder or hire a licensed general contractor, modular construction will be a good option to ensure the home is well engineered. In the past, there was a stigma about modular construction, because the earliest versions of the homes were poorly built.

But, the modular industry has come a long way. An owner builder can rest assured that a modular home will be engineered properly. Nowadays, unlike twenty years ago, there is a big difference between modular homes and manufactured homes.

2. Generally lower cost per square foot.

If you want to be an owner builder, you will save money in most cases by building a modular home versus hiring a general contractor to build the house for you. In fact, modular construction is somewhat comparable in cost to owner builder construction on site. In general, you will pay a little more, though, for the convenience of having the modular home built for you in the factory. However, if you compare owner builder modular construction to hiring a GC to build your home on site, then you should almost always see savings by going the modular route.

3. Built in a factory environment, eliminating timber warp and resulting in improved fit.

Because a modular home is not built on site, the lumber is not left outdoors to endure the weather. Therefore, the materials are not subject to timber warp, and your framing will fit together more precisely. Once the modular home is erected on the foundation on site, it will be weather tight, and the owner builder can then take his time to do the few remaining items required to complete the home.

4. Efficient building process and material usage saves on costs and material waste.

Any owner builder who goes through the typical on site construction process will tell you that there is always a lot of waste. It can’t be avoided, as you have to estimate the amount of lumber and other materials needed to build your home. This waste translates directly to money out of your pocket. A modular home, however, is built in the factory to pre-known specs, so there is much less waste.

5. Speed of construction cuts down the time frame tremendously, yielding interest savings on your construction loan.

As an owner builder goes through construction, interest accrues against the money that he has borrowed. Every month that goes by means more money that the owner builder owes in interest. Modular construction will drastically reduce the time needed to build the home, and you will therefore have less interest payment costs.

6. Less to manage.

This seems simple and obvious, but it’s vitally important, especially with owner builder construction. If you have never built your own home before, you will quickly realize that managing the myriad of sub-contractors can become a real burden. But, if you build a modular home, you will have much less work to oversee. Depending on the specific modular package that you purchase, you may have only one or two things to do to finish the home.

7. Built to meet or exceed local standards.

Modular homes nowadays are going to be engineered specifically to meet your local building code requirements. It takes a lot of the design and management off the shoulders of the owner builder. This means no more sweating over county code inspections.

8. Makes owner builder construction possible for some people who otherwise would need to hire a GC.

Because the process is simple for the customer, modular construction lends it self perfectly to owner builder construction. You can very easily build your own home without having to hire a general contractor. This will mean large savings in time and money for the construction of your home. There are many examples where the owner builder would not have been able to manage the project without a GC unless they went with a modular home.

Chris Esposito is an expert in owner builder construction loans and provides financing through his Owner Builder 101 program. If you want to learn more about building your own home and cutting out the costs of a GC, go to www.OwnerBuilder101.com, or call (877) 876-3688.

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Credit Crunch Still Affecting Personal Finances
By Abbi Rouse

 The effects of the credit crunch are still having an effect on people’s personal finances and the country’s economy has not yet returned to its normal state, it has been claimed. Economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research Charles Davies said that both consumers and businesses are being affected by the credit crunch, with growth continuing to slow.

And not only is the credit crunch biting people’s finances, continuing inflationary pressures are also having an effect, Mr Davis suggested. Indeed the British Chambers of Commerce recently reported in its Quarterly Economic Survey that there is now a serious risk of recession across the country.

“The situation has still not really completely normalised and what you have seen is the effects of it start to seep through to all different sectors of the economy. Clearly, the financial system is fundamental to the functioning of the market economy and as funds drying up have had an impact on firms, there has also been a very great impact on consumers,” said Mr Davis.

He added that this has had an ongoing effect on the housing market and that banks are still reporting weaker results than in the past few years. Indeed there is still a level of uncertainty about banks recapitalising, he added.

But people who are perhaps feeling the effects of the credit crunch may now wish to consider the benefits that a secured loan can bring to payments, as all debts can be consolidated so that monthly outgoings can be paid off in one. Such a move may prove to help minimise the effects of the credit crunch, as outgoings can be kept under control.

Mr Davis noted that the inflationary pressures on the economy are proving to be a “dual hit” on the country’s purse strings and are making things “very difficult” for people. A recent study conducted by Nationwide, in partnership with TNS, found that consumers are now less confident than they were about the overall state of the economy, borrowing and loans on the whole.

The research, published in the Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index, found that overall consumer confidence is now down 18 per cent on the level it was at last year. Spending has also fallen, to stand at 54 points in July this year, down from 65 points the same time a year before.

Indeed some 61 per cent of people do in fact believe the current economic situation is bad and some 85 per cent are of the opinion that the situation will get worse over the coming half-year. And opting to take out a loan to help cover any outgoings may be one way to cover costs such as mortgage or debt repayments.

Last month, research from mortgage advisory group mform found that people looking for new mortgage deals are now seeking out longer-term deals. Indeed the organisation found that some 11.5 per cent of people wanted to sign mortgage deals for the duration of their borrowing period and some 13.5 per cent of people wanted deals of longer than five years.

Abbi Rouse is Editor in Chief for All About Loans. Our visitors have access to cheap online loans of all types: From home improvement loans to bad credit debt consolidation loans.

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