4th TIME THE CHARM FOR NATIONWIDE HOMES

For the fourth time in two years, Nationwide Homes has been selected to participate in ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Martinsville, VA-based Nationwide Homes will work with lead builders, The Fusion Companies of Annapolis, Maryland on the modular home project. This project will be assembled in Salisbury, MD on Maryland’s Eastern Shore between Sept. 28th and Oct. 5th.  I lived Salisbury for years and I know that getting modular homes to this area can be an adventure. 

Brothers Wes, left, and Josh Sims, co-founders along with Mike Sponseller of Annapolis-based builder The Fusion Cos.,  celebrate their firm being chosen to do renovation work for the ABC show “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.”

“Nationwide is proud to support Fusion as they take on the challenge of building a high-performance, environmentally friendly modular home for a very deserving family,” said Dan Goodin, Nationwide’s vice president of sales and marketing. “We look forward to once again showing millions of Americans the precision, efficiency and green attributes of modular homes.”

Nationwide Homes was the first modular builder to be used in ABC’s Extreme Makeover program, in which a deserving person or family is provided with a new house donated by volunteers. The winner is notified and immediately sent away on vacation, while volunteers build the new house on the recipient's lot within the tight time frame of 106 hours.

GOOD NEWS FOR BLUE RIDGE LOG CABINS

I sat and watched the entire Extreme Makeover Home  Edition show on ABC last night.

Chip Smith, the President of Blue Ridge Log Cabins, was very much in the camera for his company and for the modular housing industry and that was a good thing.  Chip is an excellent spokesman for modular housing and he is always working hard to improve his homes.

Chip Smith

The sad part was that outside of 55 seconds of filming inside his factory and a shot of the first of 13 trucks delivering the modules, you would be hard pressed to know that Chip runs one of the most unique modular factories in the world. 

Blue Ridge builds modular log homes.  Not just log clad homes, but real honest to God log homes in a factory.

DOUGLAS CUTLER'S MULTIFAMILY DESIGNS LOOK GREAT

If you've never visited the Modular Architecture website of Douglas Cutler, now might be a great chance to do it.  You will see what a good Architect can do with modular construction and get an idea of how far we come as an industry.

I just learned that they have designed multifamily buildings for the White's Bay Resort in Collingwood, Canada.  What makes this project interesting is that a Canadian developer is shopping these units in the US because it will save them about 35% over having them manufactured in Canada.

Each building will have 4 units, 2,400 sq ft each featuring 3-4 bedrooms. 

The project is slated to begin later this year or early next.  A factory has not been chosen yet but you can bet that there will be plenty of competition for a factory to put their name on this beautiful project.

EXPRESS MODULAR SHOWS YOU HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEW HOME

I have been writing about the benefits of modular housing for many years, talking about how eco-friendly and energy efficient modular homes are and why you should really consider buying one.  There are many factories to choose from as well as many great modular home builders serving the area where you want to build.

Now there is another reason to build a modular home.  There is a company that I found that just might be the way for you to build your next home.  It isn’t a factory.  It isn’t a builder with an office in your town.  Rather, it’s a national company with sales professionals that work with many factories to help you find the perfect home for you and your family.  

Over the years, Express Modular has used their system to help tons of home buyers become home owners.  They have established a network of builders and factories throughout the US to provide great modular homes and save you money as well.  They are NOT a “drop and set” company that is just there to sell you a house and then leave after the modules are delivered to your foundation.

Rather, they work with home buyers from first contact to move-in to insure that even if you do a lot of your own work on the house, every step is taken together.  They even offer a free e-book to help you take the first steps.

I know, I sound like an advertisement for them but I truly think that if you would like to save money and get a great new home, they just might be the key.

I-HOUSE STILL TRYING TO FIND AN AUDIENCE

A ribbon cutting will be held Aug. 12 at 10:30 a.m. for a Clayton i-house at Green Bridge Farm, a subdivision near Rincon, GA.

The home, which is a manufactured home and being offered as a real modular home, will be one of the first places where people can see, tour and buy Clayton Home’s new i-house.   

It looks like two single wides built on a huge deck.

The i-house is a net zero energy residence, meaning the combination of energy-efficient appliances, geothermal, solar panels and the innovative time-of-use rate from Georgia Power will result in a net zero energy cost over the year. The owner of the i-house will also charge his new Chevy Volt — one of only a few in the entire state— through the home’s solar panels.

The i-house does have a lot of neat features including roof that boasts both solar panels and a rainwater collection system for use in irrigation, bamboo floors, a tankless water heater and low-E energy-efficient windows. 

To make it look more like a tree hugger’s wet dream, the home’s design includes furnishings from IKEA, optional flex room and rooftop patio.

NATIONWIDE BUILDS 35,000th HOME

Nationwide Custom Homes, Martinsville, VA is beating the bad economy, in Virginia's highest unemployment rate area.   

The company finished building its 35,000th house Wednesday.

Nationwide Homes was part of Palm Harbor Homes and was sold to Cavco's Fleetwood Homes after Palm Harbor filed bankruptcy.  CLICK HERE to read about the sale.

"We're really excited.  It's a big milestone for our company,” said Nationwide’s’ Vice President Robert McHugh.  "It's exciting, it's exciting.  Especially in the housing business, because it's taken a little bit of down turn, and actually our business is up.” 

At the plant, 140 workers crank out about one and a half modular homes per day.

This was Nationwide's first Extreme Makeover show for ABC TV

The company shows no signs of slowing down.  Nationwide Custom Homes has orders in to keep these workers busy through the end of November.

ZARRILLI HOMES OPENS SECOND RETAIL OFFICE

Zarrilli Homes, LLC in Brick, NJ recently celebrated the Grand Opening of its second office and design center in Manasquan, NJ on Route 70 West in Manasquan.

Anthony Zarrilli and family opening their newest office/design center

“When selecting a location for this new facility, our top priority was to make it convenient for the client,” said Anthony Zarrilli, founder of Zarrilli Homes.  “With an increasing number of customers from Monmouth County, it only made sense to open a second location closer to their properties due to the amount of one-on-one consulting time required to design a truly custom home.”

Not unlike their home office in Brick, the new location provides “3D Walk-throughs” that shows buyers what their homes will look like on a 42-inch flat-screen television before construction begins.

“This makes it easy for the buyers to visualize their new home and make changes early in the process to ensure customer satisfaction,” added Zarrilli.

With the increasing popularity of Modular homes for teardown-rebuild projects along the Jersey Shore, Zarrilli modular homes are particularly attractive to homeowners because they are distinctly custom designs while still offering the benefits of high-quality modular construction.

“We’re probably as custom a modular builder as you get in the business,” notes Zarrilli.  "Each of our homes is extremely complex in its design. We set ourselves worlds apart from our competition using innovation that allows for wide open floor plans not often seen in modular construction. We also offer custom kitchens, three story designs, elevators, and some forward-thinking ‘green’ features such as geothermal heating systems, solar panels and Energy Star ratings. We give the customer an alternative to the basic ‘out of the book’ designs that anyone can build, and provide more options, room for changes and attention to details.”

What has impressed me about Zarrilli Homes is their marketing.  Anthony Zarrilli understands the importance of getting his name and reputation out there during this housing downturn.  I'm sure that when things turn around for the housing industry, Anthony will be poised to reap the harvest because of all the hard work and effort he has put into making his company one the strongest modular builders in the Mid-Atlantic region.