Hi Matt,

I'm not sure what your loan officer is thinking. The truth is if you can aquire a piece of land at the proper price then you may find yourself in a better situation building a new home versus purchasing an existing one. You will have more homework to do with regards to building a new home, thou it certainly is worth your time in research.

There are companies who make what is called a pre-fabricated home. These homes are built in a factory and then transported to your property. Once there, your builder puts the home together piece by piece. The benefits with a prefab home are many. First, these companies have many custom home designs for you to choose from. You may also design a totally custom home yourself from scratch with their help. You can complete the framing of your home in a single day, since the walls of your home are built in the factory. You might have seen the show on ABC, thou I have forgotten the name of it. However, the show focuses on families who are choosen to have their homes completely rebuilt from scratch for various reasons with no cost to the family. The manpower, time, and materials are all donated. Prefab homes are what make it possible for this program to build these custom homes in such a small period of time.

One company that I have found is outstanding with prefab homes is called American Home Source. They have a huge data base of custom home designs for you to choose from. And you may also choose to design your new custom home from scratch yourself. I have seen people put these homes together for less than $100.00 a square foot. I have also seen people put these homes together themselves without the help of a contractor. The choice is yours. Lastly, you will not be able to tell the difference between a prefab home or a non-prefab home. I'm not sure if you have a local American Home Source franchise in Ridgecrest. I have a good friend who owns one of their franchises here in Glendora, California. While I'm not sure that he could be your contractor since he is so far away. He might be able to to answer any further questions you may have. Maybe even refer you to someone in your area. Feel free to email me at mbartlettrealestate1@earthlink.net or reach me by phone at (626)221-8252. Good luck!

Matt