Many Montanans Say Prefab Homes Are Fab

Bob Curtiss spent 10 years working on his first fixer-upper home and was two-thirds of the way through his second when his family decided to relocate from the small town of Circle, Mont., about a year ago.

By then, he was ready to hang up his tool belt.

Instead of diving into another “home in progress” venture, Curtiss and his wife opted to let someone else work on their home. The three-bedroom abode was assembled in a factory in Minnesota and arrived at their lot in Simms, Mont., on wheels.

The Curtiss family is now among the 14.2% of households in Montana living in a manufactured home.

Manufactured homes make up a bigger share of all housing in Montana than in 42 other states. For example, the homes account for 10.3% of housing in Florida, 11.5% in Arizona and less than 1% in some highly populated states such as Maryland.

The state’s rural nature and modest per capita income have long made it a natural for factory-built homes, which are typically less expensive than traditional site-built residences.

“Back in the 1960s and 1970s, when there was a lot of population growth, people could turn the key quicker in a manufactured home. It was housing that met the need faster,” said Stuart Doggett, executive director of the Montana Manufactured Housing & RV Assn. “Then over the years as the Housing and Urban Development codes regulating the construction were modified, people found them to be a good form of alternative housing.”

Manufactured homes have come a long way from the tin-can style of the early models.

Jetted tubs, skylights, stainless steel appliances, textured walls and open floor plans have replaced the old narrow hallways, paneling and flimsy fixtures.

But the changes go beyond aesthetics.

“Now they come with 2-inch by 6-inch walls, a variety of sidings and shingle roofs,” said Mike Louttit of Louttit Homes in Great Falls. “They have efficiency windows and insulation. A manufactured home will be tighter than a stick-built house.”

Price remains a key selling point.

A factory-built home runs an average of $50 per square foot, a price that includes carpeting, appliances and window treatments.

“With stick-built, you hear prices all over the map, but $130 a square foot seems to be the middle number right now,” Louttit said.

And the prefab homes are far from one-size-fits-all.

The Curtisses picked out a floor plan, then added custom touches.

“We had the bar counter in the kitchen extended three feet and added a natural gas fireplace,” he said. “The kids picked out the carpet in their bedrooms. We upgraded the appliances.”

Their home was built to specifications in weeks and ahead of schedule. With the work done inside, the Curtisses didn’t worry about weather delays.

Improvements are winning new fans, but the manufactured home industry is still haunted by a “mobile home” past. Many subdivisions impose covenants that exclude manufactured homes.

“The standards have been raised, and these are structures that are well made in controlled conditions, but there is still a stigma,” said Julie Evans, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Cogswell Real Estate in Great Falls. “There are just some people who don’t want to buy them, and they don’t want to live next to one.”

Factory-built housing is an attractive option for folks who live miles from urban centers, lumberyards and building contractors. Transportation fees can significantly boost the cost of building in more remote parts of Montana.

Louttit said about 70% of his sales were in rural areas.

The industry is dealing with more than its less-than-glamorous reputation, however.

Significant growth in the mid-1990s of sales of new manufactured home was followed by a serious slide beginning in about 2000.

A comeback is on the horizon, Doggett predicts.

“We see a continued need for these products,” he said.