Prefab homes from Proto
In 2014 existing home sale prices have appreciated by 13% along with median home prices in most counties in Silicon Valley. In additional, more than 45% of Americans surveyed state their strong preference to buying newly remodeled homes. So, why don’t these two strong trends translate to prefab homes which are quicker to build and install ?
Well, the problem might lie in the design of these homes which are not that appealing in our opinion. In fact, these post modern designs will appeal to a very narrow spectrum of buyers who are willing to tear down a tradition house located in a traditional neighborhood to build house that looks like a rectangular box!
But why not take advantage of the new technology that is part of the DNA of these homes and use them to build much more traditional looking homes? In other word, offer buyers traditional styles such as Ranch, Tudor options but build it with pre-fab walls?
We contacted Proto Homes for that reason alone to see if we would be able to use our existing design that’s been approved by the Town of Los Gatos. According Frank Vafaee, the company “can only build the home based on their own plans” which is a shame.
So, perhaps that’s why the prefab homes are not coming to Silicon Valley any time soon. After all, you might be the last buyer of that home since these styles will limit the appeal of your home to majority of buyers. And to make matters worse, finding comps for these prefab homes will be impossible since there are very few fab homes in our area. How will a lender find a value to use in their underwriting?
For these reasons we can not recommend prefab homes in Silicon Valley. What do you think?