Manufactured Housing Solutions

By Mark Jennings-Bates

Can manufactured housing provide solutions in the Okanagan?
So much to do, so little time to do it. Someone once told me that life is like a toilet roll, the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes! Well that is certainly how this year feels, and we are only at May. As you probably have noticed, a flurry of spring selling activity has led to more For Sale signs in your neighbourhood. However, the market in general is still struggling with low inventory levels and sales are brisk! Last week, the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board declared that the $1 billion sales level had been reached in the Okanagan, a figure that took until July to reach in 2005. Another benchmark passes, interest rates continue to increase and likely will for a couple more Bank of Canada meetings, but it is not softening the appetite for the buyers both in and coming too the market.

It is the 21st Century and everything is moving fast, including here in the Okanagan. Times of change sometimes force us to rethink our commonly held views and values. The Okanagan is facing many issues, some local and some global, maybe by reconsidering our opinions on manufactured housing we may find some answers.

Firstly let us establish our starting point. What do you think of when I bring up the subject of manufactured housing? Probably your initial and perhaps only image is of a trailer. In one respect you would be correct, but the industry would like to you to forget that name, it is out of date and no longer in use by the industry. If you broaden the idea though you could include modular homes, timber frame and log homes. By investigating these possibilities we can address the challenges of labour and land shortages facing the Okanagan and the global issues of depleting our natural resources and causing environmental damage.

Modular homes in particular are very interesting. They are built in sections in a factory (there are 70 CSA certified housing manufacturers across Canada), transported to the building site and assembled. From 1999 to 2004 sales of factory built homes in Canada increased by over 65%, over 10% of the population in Alberta live in such homes.

"Canada is finally beginning to catch up with the rest of the world where off-site construction has become standard in a number of countries, including Sweden, where up to 90% of all housing is factory built" says Brian Bougher, President of the Canadian Manufactured Housing Institute. According to the CMHI website www.cmhi.ca some of the advantages include being able to use state of the art technology in a protected indoor environment, providing a consistently high quality of construction ,up to R2000 rating for energy efficiency, quick production and on time delivery. They are great for infill and redevelopment sites as there is less disruption to the neighbourhood. Multi family and adult lifestyle communities are becoming more common as well as some developers turn to this construction style as it is a process with more control over labour and construction costs.

Several years ago, a friend of ours decided to purchase a modular home for a small home site in Canmore Alberta, and a bet was laid that from the time that we broke the ground on site the home could be ready for occupancy in seven days. The home arrived fully painted and dry walled, the cabinets were installed, all the light fittings in place, the flooring was complete, it just needed plugging in and the bet was won!! Add to the fact that the lot was landscaped, it looked no different to the stick frame houses either side, and today it is selling at the same value as it's neighbours and you will begin to understand.

Variations on this theme include panelized homes, where pre constructed wall sections can reduce on site construction time and pre-engineered homes where the major building components are prepared in the factory and shipped as a package ready for assembly.

Have you ever dreamed of a log home? Log homes moved a way from being inexpensive, do-it-yourself dwellings and into the mainstream of North American housing. Where once 75 percent of all log homes were owner-built, many of which were simple cabins, today less than 25 percent are owner-built, and some are extremely luxurious.

The typical 1990s log home has over 2,000 sq. ft. of living space compared to 1,100 sq. ft. 15 years ago. This modern house has two bathrooms, contains every interior amenity imaginable, from a balcony to a whirlpool, depending on the owners' desires, and has at least one exterior wall filled with big windows. It costs, on average, the same it costs to build a comparable frame house. And it gives its owners the advantage of living in the cozy, natural environment created by solid wood walls.

Or are you concerned about the environment and dream of a timber frame home made from recycled timber. Timber frame structures by Thistlewood can be crafted in salvaged and recycled Douglas Fir timbers. Thistlewood promotes the use of reclaimed wood wherever possible, especially old growth Douglas Fir beams salvaged from demolished old warehouses and factories. All joinery is traditional mortise-and-tenon secured with oak pegs, except where engineering requires additional metal fasteners. Timber embellishments, including chamfers, quirk beads, hand-carved details on gunstock posts and hammerbeam bents are commonplace. Like the modular homes major timbers are test-fitted and finishes applied in the shop to allow ease of assembly and rapid frame completion on site. Check out www.thistlewood.com

Rome wasn't built in a day and we can't save the planet in a day, but each day matters and if we can be open minded in our quest for answers you never know where your thought might lead you. It is our ability to be innovative that has created all the greatest advances in the world and as we adapt to the changes taking place we need to create solutions by looking at all the opportunities available. We need to rethink, so don't let me catch you saying the "trailer" word.

Mark Jennings-Bates is a British Columbia Based Realtor with Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty, the country's #1 Coldwell Banker office. His website, http://www.BCResortHomes.com offers subscribers the ability to access unique and high level investment insights into trends in British Columbia's interior with a focus on resort and lifestyle investments.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Jennings-Bates