ᐅ Modular Home Companies Experience – Ecological, Sustainable, Good Value for Money

Good evening,

My husband and I recently purchased a suitable plot of land. Originally, we planned to build a house in a conventional way, but we have since heard about modular homes, done some research, and are simply impressed!

At first glance, modular homes seem to meet all of our criteria, which would be difficult or complicated to achieve with traditional solid construction houses (one major point is building a relatively small house of about 80sqm (860 sq ft), which is apparently hard to realize with conventional builds).

By now, however, the sheer number of companies, options, and our lack of experience with modular homes have left us feeling uncertain or even somewhat overwhelmed. We don’t know anyone personally with a modular home and couldn’t find any reliable, helpful reviews online from people who have already purchased modular homes—we are missing practical experience. I hope there is someone here who has already had a modular home built by a German company and has been living there for some time, so they can share their experiences with us.

Unfortunately, we have no knowledge of this subject, so we always have to rely on what the companies say. But this isn’t very helpful when deciding which company to choose. Besides the “big” modular home providers like Schwörerhaus, Hanse Haus, or Büdenbender, there are newer companies like Timo-Haus, Bungalow24/Premium Bungalow, or VitalCamp, and apparently the newer container homes, such as those by Olympcontainer, can already compete in this market.

To be honest: Building is quite expensive and usually requires long-term financing, so we want to know exactly if we can save money and whether price should be a decisive factor when choosing the company. Of course, we do not want a substandard home or a house with heating costs we cannot afford.

From a brief search, it seems possible to get a turnkey modular home for around €200,000. Our budget and dream are roughly in this range. However, we don’t want to fool ourselves...

We are just two people (and plan to remain so), so we want to buy a house between 80 and 100sqm (860–1,075 sq ft). The ecological aspect is important to us, and we are willing to choose a “small and lesser-known” company as long as the quality is good.

I really hope to find some like-minded people here in this forum who have already started with a modular home and can share their experiences—maybe even with recommendations.

Best regards,
Family Ri

LaubiRi25 schrieb:

Good evening,

my husband and I recently bought a suitable plot of land. Originally, we wanted to build a house, but we have now heard about modular homes, researched them, and are simply fascinated!

Modular homes seem at first glance to meet all our criteria, which would be difficult or complicated to fulfill with "traditional solid construction houses" (the bigger point is building a "small" house of around 80sqm (860 sq ft), which is apparently hard to implement with solid construction).

Unfortunately, we have no knowledge of the subject, so we always have to rely on the statements of the respective companies. However, this is not helpful in deciding which company to choose. Besides the "major" modular home providers like Schwörerhaus, Hanse Haus, or Büdenbender, there are newer companies like Timo-Haus, Bungalow24/Premium Bungalow, or VitalCamp, etc., and apparently, the newer container houses like those from Olympcontainer can already compete.

Good morning,

there is some confusion here between two types of construction.

On the one hand, there are the "classic" prefabricated houses, with providers mentioned such as Schwörerhaus, Hanse Haus, Büdenbender, and others.

These houses are made from timber frame panels that are prefabricated in a factory and then assembled on site like a kit.

The interior finish is completed on site in the fully assembled house on the building plot.

Then there are actual modular homes, where the house consists of "modules" or "containers," fully finished inside at the factory, and on site they are basically just pushed together and the joints sealed. These are therefore even more prefabricated.

Some of the prefabricated house companies do this, for example, for small technical rooms, but not for the entire house. I don’t know if any prefabricated house companies also offer full modular homes.

The main difference lies in transport and where the trades work. Some modular home providers build the modules, for example, abroad, which naturally lowers labor costs there. Classic prefabricated house providers cannot do this because their tradespeople work locally, e.g., in Germany.

Both construction methods have certain advantages and disadvantages. However, from my impression, modular homes are really rare: roughly 3/4 of houses are solid construction, 1/4 are timber frame—and of those, the vast majority (estimated well over 90%) are classic prefabricated homes, not modular homes. (And among timber houses, besides prefab and modular, there are a few others making up less than 10%.)

A major disadvantage of modular homes: the distance to the street may not be too great (for example, this was the reason why the technical room was not prefabricated for us; the crane couldn’t lift it that far). Also, the design is quite limited by the modular construction method. The zoning plan therefore has to fit.

I’ve heard that the manufacturing costs of modular homes are slightly lower; however, they come with certain disadvantages (including less design flexibility due to the fixed module shapes; also, I only know modular homes as bungalows with flat roofs, but that might be due to my limited knowledge).

Honestly: Building is quite expensive, and you usually go into debt for a longer period, so we want to know exactly whether we should save money and also consider price when choosing a company. Of course, we don’t want a cheap, poorly built house or one where we won’t be able to cope with heating costs.

Heating costs are hardly an issue anymore with modern houses.

We are only two people (and that will remain so), so we want to buy a house of 80-100sqm (860-1075 sq ft). The ecological aspect is important to us, and we are willing to choose a "small and unknown" company if the quality is good.

Be careful with payment plans when dealing with very small and unknown companies!

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you find something suitable. My experience is mostly in the area of prefabricated houses; modular homes I only know superficially.

Hmm, let’s be honest, everyone is just using water to cook.

With that budget, dreaming of 80 to 100 square meters (860 to 1,076 square feet) is unrealistic. 80 square meters (860 square feet) might be achievable with some DIY work, assuming a practical, simple square layout. There’s no room for any fancy details. And over 100 square meters (1,076 square feet) is out of the question.

The mentioned modular homes are usually designed as vacation homes or for campsites. Once we talk about a house for permanent living, we are dealing with building energy regulations, building permits / planning permission, structural engineering, and so on.

Let’s face it, big manufacturers are not even worth considering because their cost structure simply doesn’t fit small buildings. So only a small local manufacturer remains.

I looked at two of the options mentioned along with their prices. One already states it is a special version eligible for approval. Okay. But he doesn’t say how much extra that costs. Then of course there’s the question of how much more the extra technology adds to the price.

The other one has production in Eastern Europe (you can tell immediately) and doesn’t even mention technical features.

A house today is more than just four walls and a roof. Especially with the technology, things get complicated and, above all, expensive. Buzzwords like sustainable or energy-saving are not enough; you have to seriously think about a proper concept, especially for such “small” houses.

Rübe1 schrieb:

Hmm, let’s be honest, everyone just boils down to the basics.

With that budget, dreaming of 80 to 100 square meters is unrealistic. 80 could be achievable with some DIY work if we’re talking about a simple, practical square layout. There’s no room for fancy details. And don’t even mention more than 100.

The modular houses mentioned are usually designed as holiday homes or suitable for campgrounds. Once we’re talking about a permanently inhabited home, we’re dealing with energy regulations, building permits/planning permission, structural engineering, and so on.

Let’s be realistic, you don’t even want to consider the big manufacturers because their cost structure simply doesn’t fit small buildings.

A house today is more than just four walls and a roof. Especially when it comes to technology, things get complicated and expensive. Buzzwords like sustainable or energy-saving aren’t enough; you need a serious concept, especially for such “small” houses.

What budget are we talking about? Of course, we can spend more if needed. We just don’t want a traditional masonry house but also don’t want to pay a fortune for an architect-designed home. We have been living in 40 square meters (430 square feet) for seven years, with no balcony or basement, right in the middle of a big city. In short: we would really give a lot for a bit of freedom. We simply don’t want 150 square meters (1,615 square feet), since we now live minimally and don’t really need much. We just need one more room for our office and to be close to nature for my hobbies.
That has to be possible somewhere, right?

LaubiRi25 schrieb:

What kind of budget are we talking about?

3000€/m² (about $320/sq ft) is a good estimate. Depending on the region, building design, and level of finish, you might come in a bit lower. Of course, there is quite some room for variation on the higher end.

For 80m² (860 sq ft), that would already be around 240,000€ (about $257,000). It might even be a bit more since heating systems and the foundation slab tend to be disproportionately expensive at that size.

This applies to "classic" prefabricated houses. Whether modular houses come in cheaper is possible, but I don’t know for sure.

Recently, someone here built a fully finished house far off the beaten path for 2400€/m² (about $256/sq ft) — but that was a solid construction with a basic level of finish. I didn’t believe it at first either.

Papierturm schrieb:

3000€/m² (approximately $279 per sq ft) is a good estimate. Depending on the region, building type, and level of finish, you can come in somewhat lower. Of course, there is also quite a bit of room to go higher.

For 80m² (approximately 860 sq ft), that would amount to €240,000 (about $265,000). It tends to be even a bit more because at that size, the heating system and foundation slab tend to be disproportionately costly.

This applies to "classic" prefab houses. Whether modular homes come in under that, I consider possible but do not know for sure.

Recently, there was someone here building turnkey in a very remote area for 2400€/m² (about $223 per sq ft) (although: solid construction and low level of finish). I also didn’t believe it at first.

Thanks, that sounds reasonable for now… Do you still remember the company and whether the user was satisfied? I guess I’ll look into prefab houses again after all…