THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 3, 1995 TAG: 9506010351
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 30 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ABOUT THE OUTER BANKS
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
My recent series about a modular house built by Nationwide Homes at its Martinsville, Va., factory and shipped to the Outer Banks fanned a lot of fires among readers.
Consumers, in general, were interested in the possibilities of building faster and saving money. More than two dozen readers called or wrote asking for additional information.
Two readers, however, wrote to warn about potential problems that arise from confusion over what a modular house is or is not and the public's fear that factory-built housing will devalue surrounding properties.
Once a well-built factory home is complete, you can't tell the difference between it and a stick-built house - inside or out. If the design and size of the factory-built house is consistent with the neighborhood, there's no reason for it to negatively affect property values.
That's the textbook theory. Real life sometimes plays by its own rules.
``I had a very bad experience with modular construction in Chesapeake back in the late Eighties,'' wrote William Verebely, Jr., a Chesapeake architect. ``My experience cost my wife and me everything we owned.''
Verebely planned to assemble 67 factory houses in Chesapeake. At the behest of neighboring property owners, the City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting their construction after the project was already under way.
``The city leaders did not want to understand what the quality of modular construction was,'' said Verebely. ``I hope your article will help people get to know the product.''
Factory-built houses, like cars, cameras or a myriad of other manufactured products - and like stick-built houses, if we want to be perfectly honest - are not all equal.
Another reader pointed out the confusion caused by the word ``modular.'' While the federal government defines modular one way, state and municipal governments, your lender and your neighbors may define it differently.
Protective covenants and municipal ordinances prohibiting modular construction but actually aimed at manufactured housing (mobile homes) can sometimes be waived for houses like the one featured in our series. But don't count on it.
Outer Banks builders, in general, were skeptical about the quality of modular houses. Many were familiar with low-end modular homes that have been built en masse in several Outer Banks subdivisions. But comparing those houses with the Nationwide house that Joe Rhodes built is like comparing Ford Escorts to Cadillacs.
Skip Saunders owner of Outer Banks Homes in Kill Devil Hills, said his experience with modular houses dates back to the mid-1970s. At that time, he said, the manufacturer (not Nationwide) didn't pay enough attention to details that help a house withstand coastal wind or the weather.
``We're all skeptical about things we haven't used,'' said Saunders. ``I don't know about modular houses today. I'd have to see it with my own eyes, to see if its performance meets the needs we have.''
Jimbo Ward, president of Beach Realty and Construction, Kitty Hawk, raised questions about more than structural quality. Does modular construction encourage cheap building and unimaginative design? he asked. Is that good for the Outer Banks?
``I would like to explain that for me the Outer Banks is a subject over which I become rather impassioned. You see, I am one of a rather small group of business people who did not come to the Outer Banks just for financial gain,'' wrote Ward.
Ward worries that the things that called him to the Outer Banks, the things that encouraged him to do his best here, may be disappearing. ``Or better yet, did I have a hand in being one of those who helped hide these elements if not destroy them? he asked. ``These are very serious subjects for me.''
``Now, what does this have to do with modular construction? Everything. Where is the striving for excellence in a house brought in on wheels from Virginia? Did it add a rent check or a house payment to some craftsman who was attracted to the Outer Banks for the same reasons I was?''
Focus on price alone ignores the issue of quality. ``You know, we get what we pay for in life,'' said Ward.
A factory-built house separates the craftsman from the customer, said Ward. He's never seen an ad for a modular house which promoted custom built-in furniture, for example, or the structural integrity of a framing job, or the details in a trim job.
``Nope,'' Ward said. ``Modular houses are fast, they are cheaper and less hassle.'' For him, like other builders who build with pride because they love the work, a factory-built house misses the point of why they're in business.
Saunders shares Ward's sense of personal investment in his work and the community. He prefers to build his own houses with his own crews.
``The place to start is in your own community,'' said Saunders. ``But if you can't be competitive here, then you do what you have to do. When push comes to shove, a good builder will do whatever he can to keep costs under control.''
Modular building may be one solution in some situations, said Saunders. ``I think builders have to choose the right system or product to suit their clients' needs.'' MEMO: Send comments and questions to Chris Kidder at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head,
N.C. 27959.
by CNB