"Whats your opinion on flat pack homes"
I suspect you are talking about pre-engineered homes. My experience- and I have lots of it in building homes and assembling pre-engineered structures- is they are great. But, only if you get a quality manufacturer and strictly follow their assembly instructions. Most jurisdictions, you will also have to get all the same building permits of a normally built home. Also, the foundation has to be properly constructed. No pre-built or engineered structure will assemble correctly on a sloppy or poorly built foundation. It has to be perfectly level and square and made perfectly to the specifications for the home design you are buying. Also, many pre-engineered homes do not come with plumbing and lighting installed (Although, there are some that do). it all depends on the design, the manufacturer you select, etc. I would do two things before making a purchase. First, I would visit someone who has built on similar to the one you are planning to buy- ask them how it went for them, what problems they encountered, etc. Most manufacturers will be glad to provide you a listing of their homes assembled near you. Then, before making a final decision, visit the manufactory of the home you are thinking about buying. The factory should be super clean, well organized and the workers should look professional. You would be very surprised at how sloppy and disorganized many of these "manufacturers" are. Some are in barns or temporary facilities and operating on a shoe string and go out of business long before many warrantee service requests are called in. You would be amazed at how many are “Pop” and “Son” operations. Also, and importantly, many of the more reputable manufacturers offer classes and videos on assembling their products. I strongly advise anyone making a purchase of one of these type homes to take the course- usually, it is free if you buy the home and is only a half day or less long. You will greatly benefit. My last piece of advice is to closely supervise the assembly process. Many local building contractors only think they know how to assemble these type homes- you would not believe the atrocities I have seen on the job as the local boys literally butcher the kit to fit their “absence of knowledge” on how to do the job properly. I have known them to throw the instructions that come with the kit into the burning barrel before any assembly starts- and laugh about it! Good luck.
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