How Our Program Works

Through our many years of on-the-job experience building modular homes, we have created a program that allows you to build your own home with little or no down payment!! We provide you with the assistance to act as the Project Manager. This enables you to greatly reduce the cost of the entire project and gives you the advantage of creating "sweat equity".

Imagine being able to save thousands on a custom home and create the best investment of all - equity! Custom Modular Direct was designed to eliminate builders overhead, profit and sales commissions by dealing directly with the modular manufacturer on your behalf. If you have the ability to coordinate and manage 5-10 subcontractors, you have the ability to save THOUSANDS! If you think this sounds too good to be true, read what our customers have to say.

What Does Custom Modular Direct Do?

Making It Easier For You!

We take you through a step-by-step process to select, design and price out your home.
We work with the manufacturer to define and coordinate the blueprints and order processing of your home based on your selections, material specifications and ideas.
We guide and assist you in the construction process using our comprehensive Construction Building Manual and Construction Checklist.
We keep you on track in the order processing and delivery scheduling of your modular units.
We help you establish a construction budget.
We provide you with a list of experienced set crew subcontractors.
We coordinate the delivery of your home.
We provide customer service & technical assistance once the units are set.
We help you through the Financing process. We can suggest lenders (see our financing page) or you may wish to use your own local lender. We give you assistance in structuring your draw schedules and setting up your loan so your out-of-pocket expenses are minimal.

What Do I Do First?

Qualify With A Lender

One of the first steps in the process is to get qualified with a lender for a construction to permanent loan. This is important! You need to know what you are eligible to borrow. NOT ALL LENDERS qualify the same way. Some are more liberal than others. Be selective in who you approach to pull your credit. Each time a lender pulls your credit using your social security number your overall credit scores are reduced. Credit scores (the higher the better) are one of the main components lenders use to qualify you.

OK... What's Next?

After you have been pre-approved, CMD will work with you to price out a home you have selected. All of the following items have the potential to be included in your loan depending on the programs available from the lender you select:

Land
Site Improvements
The Modular Units
Permits and Closing Costs

It is quite possible, due to the degree of equity on your project, to secure a loan with 100% financing! Credit scores and loan-to-value (LTV) ratios play a significant part in this. That's why it is important to know how much you qualify for.

What Is My Role As A Project Manager?

Your Tasks

You will need to oversee the construction of your home by keeping everything and everyone on schedule and within budget. You will need to make daily visits to your site to verify that the subcontractors you have hired have completed their work, on schedule and in a satisfactory manner. You will need to coordinate the progression of the job following the guidelines set forth in our Construction Manual. You must be organized and be willing to "roll with the punches" -- construction at it's best is NEVER perfect -- scheduling conflicts, material shortages, cost overruns, weather problems, and unanticipated construction issues can and will happen.

Be Flexible

You will need to schedule and meet with building inspectors and material suppliers; work with the regulatory agencies to ensure that you are building to local codes and observing their rules and regulations. The fact that you are building modularly reduces approximately 85% of your work. We are able to help you make your project a success. With our guidance and years of experience, you will appreciate the ease at which you can quickly build equity!

How Much Money Will We Save?

On Average...

Based on industry standards, you should save at least 15%. On a home that appraises for $200,000 and costs $170,000 to build, you would have $30,000 in equity. You could also save more by performing many of the project tasks, for which you are qualified, yourself. We have found that most customers' homes on the market appraise for 18%-24% more than what they borrow. Remember this is your profit and serves as your down payment.

Your Decision

It is also important to realize that every customer's situation is unique. You may want to hire a professional general contractor to oversee certain aspects of your project which may affect your bottom line. Or you may already be involved in the trades and take on more of the project than most - thereby increasing your profit. We would always suggest the services of a licensed subcontractor to perform any major work unless you are already involved in that particular aspect of work.

9 Simple Steps

I'm Pre-approved & Have A Building Lot... Now What?

Contact us so that we can finalize your home design and pricing. Once you have decided on a floor plan you can follow the steps below...

The 9 Steps

Submit Form #200, the Preliminary Drawing Request. Once your preliminary drawings are completed by our engineering and design staff, you will review them, make any needed changes and submit them back to us, approved. You will use the preliminary prints to secure an appraisal from your lender and to obtain quotes from sub-contractors and material suppliers.
Fill out a Selection Sheet (form #300) and choose colors and selections from our sample kit.
Submit a signed and deposited Home Purchase Agreement and...
You then must sign-off on your final blueprints using Form #202, Final Print Approval. At this stage, submit for your building permit, begin your site clearing (if you have already settled on your loan) and once your building permit has been obtained, complete your foundation. A detailed step by step guide is provided in your Construction Manual. As a quick guide you can always refer to your Construction Checklist.
Form #201, Permit Print Request to receive FINAL building permit copies of your blueprints. Once CMD has received these forms, our staff begins the process of coordinating the order and delivery of your home with our manufacturer and your lender.
Delivery Procedure Sheet (form #400) must be submitted so that we can finalize and coordinate the delivery of your modules.
Production Release Form (form #500) - This form tells us that you are ready to place your home into production and at this point we require a 10% start deposit.
C.O.D. Acceptance Letter (form #600) needs to be signed by your lender and on file with us. Through form #600, the lender agrees to pay for your modular units upon delivery.
Accept delivery of the modules and proceed to finish your new home!

Teamwork!

Remember, we are here to help make building your own home a success. With your commitment and the many years of CMD's construction experience supporting you, that desire can become a reality.