Last evening I talked with a friend about his adventure in building a new home and to say he and his wife were disappointed would be an understatement.
John and Anne decided about 18 months ago their beautiful ‘gentleman’s farm’ was too much for them to maintain in their second decade of retirement. They bought a lot in an upscale gated retirement community five miles from the farm and contracted with the exclusive builder for a nice ranch home built to their specifications. Whthin 2 days of putting their farm on the market it sold at 120% of asking price.
Here it is, a year and half later, and they still won’t be in their home for a least another 2 months. All this time they’ve been renting a home within the community and watching the slow progress of their new home.
The builder will build about 30 homes in his community this year but is facing a huge labor problem. He is down to two electricians and one plumber all of whom are about to retire and he can’t find anyone to fill their positions. There simply aren’t enough skilled trades around to complete the work within the time frame promised to his buyers.
Nearly 200,000 construction jobs each month go unfilled, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The labor shortage is so acute that 91 percent of more than 2,700 contractors, construction managers, builders and trade contractors surveyed in the latest Commercial Construction Index reported having a difficult or moderately difficult time finding skilled workers.
Those new home builders that are struggling to find those elusive plumbers and electricians to finish their homes might want to take another hard look at becoming modular home builders.
Modular homes are delivered to the jobsite with approximately 80% of all electrical and plumbing installed, tested and approved. Each individual module is finished almost to completion and the thermal integrity of a modular home is inherently built into each home. They are also greener and more energy efficient than almost any other type of site built home.
I simply can’t believe there are still independent and regional site builders that would rather risk losing and irritating customers rather than even give modular housing a chance.
Just doesn’t make sense to me.
