When most of us think of how to build a new home, we imagine it is constructed onsite. We see crews of workers putting up pieces of lumber and hammering in nails and building a house in the traditional method. Known in the industry as a stick-built home, it is by far the most common and popular way to put up a new house.However, it is not the only way to build a house today. Many new homes are constructed off-site and then transported to their permanent location. Other construction methods include manufactured, modular, and panel.

Now you might be wondering if it makes sense to build a house in a factory and then ship it out to different areas incurring hefty transportation costs. The economies of scale using a prefabricated building process outstrip the cost of shipping in most cases. With a shortage of affordable housing across the nation, it might be the solution we should embrace to improve the affordability issue.

Manufactured Housing

Also called mobile homes, manufactured houses are put together in a factory from prefabricated pieces. Built on a steel frame, these homes require no onsite construction because they leave the factory complete with plumbing, electrical, heat, and air-conditioning installed. When the house reaches its intended home site, the wheels come off, and the home is placed on a concrete slab or a crawl space, the utilities are connected, and it's ready for occupancy.

Like any home, manufactured housing must conform to codes and standards. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, sets the codes, and they supersede any state or local building rules. The ...