Your Modular Dealer and Financing Tasks
Your Preconstruction Modular Dealer and Financing Tasks
This post will focus on the modular dealer and financing tasks you must complete before you home is delivered to your property.
Building your home on schedule takes every bit as much planning as building it on budget. In fact, if you put a lot of effort into planning both, you are likely to find that keeping on schedule is considerably harder than staying on budget. That is because you can determine what you will get and how much you will spend before construction begins, and almost all – but not all – of the required decisions for building a modular home are reasonably predictable and within your control. This is not true for scheduling, since there are so many other players involved who will not always bend to your will, including the surveyor, engineer, utility company, building inspector, modular home dealer, modular manufacturer, and modular general contractor. You may even find that your own personal and family obligations become an obstacle to maintaining your schedule.
There are two very separable timelines when building a modular home. The first – the “preconstruction tasks” – includes all of the tasks you and your lender, modular dealer, modular manufacturer, and modular general contractor need to complete before your home is set. You are primarily responsible for making final decisions about your modular and general contracting drawings and specifications and for completing those tasks related to obtaining a building permit and financing. The second timeline involves those tasks the GC needs to complete after your house is set. This post and the next two will focus on the “preconstruction tasks” that must be completed before your home can be delivered and set on its foundation.
Your Modular Dealer and Financing Tasks
- Sign a contract with the modular dealer
- Apply for financing (if you are using a lender)
- Receive the dealer’s first draft of the modular preliminary plans and specifications
- Meet with the dealer to revise the modular plans and specifications
- Specify where the GC wants to locate the electrical meter on the modular home
- Design the second story floor plan for the unfinished cape or attic
- Tell the dealer what special building codes are enforced by the building department
- Tell the dealer what matching materials the GC needs to complete the site-built structures
- Tell the dealer what rough openings the GC wants framed in the modular home
- Tell the dealer what site-installed flooring and baseboard specifications the GC wants for the modular home
- Receive the dealer’s second draft of the modular preliminary plans and specifications
- Meet with the dealer to sign off on the plans and specifications
- Authorize the dealer to complete the modular permit plans
- Pay the dealer the balance of the required deposit
- Receive the dealer’s modular permit plans
- Deliver a copy of the bank’s commitment letter to the dealer
- Deliver a copy of the building permit to the dealer
- Deliver the bank’s assignment of funds letter to the dealer
- Authorize the dealer to build the modular home
- Send the dealer a certificate of insurance
- Pay the dealer the modular balance due in full
- Remain present during the delivery and set
- Complete a walk-through inspection for warranty work and material shortages
For a detailed schedule of when each of your modular dealer and financing tasks must be completed, see Building a Modular Home on Schedule in my book The Modular Home. The chapter identifies all of the players, the tasks they must complete, and the sequence in which the tasks should be done. It also explains your responsibility for completing each of the tasks
