Energy Efficient Prefab Homes – Why you should spend more today to buy one
Building a new home is an investment. In the span of a lifetime we get to do it just a few times; so we want to make it right.
Generally, a prospect house-owner looks for a builder that has long experience, with proven records, and whose buildings are known to be long lasting, beatiful and comfortable.
We all want to live in beautiful and comfortable homes, however the hard truth is that we have to come to compromise with what we can really afford and in the end – says our experience as Sellers – many prospect house-owners make a decision that it is based mostly on their budget.
Now, while there is nothing wrong with that, anyone who is about to make a decision based on just a “money-factor”, should look further than the simple cost of the house. Understanding hidden costs in the economy of a new home could (and in general it does) make the difference and lead to a totally different choice.
Let’s see how
In most cases when we buy a house we are not going to pay all the sum from our own pocket; most likely we will rely on a Bank to grant a Loan/Mortgage that we will then have to pay for many years, in form of a montly rate. So, in the end, it all comes down to a monthly payment.
When looking the picture from a “monthly-payment” view, a few thousand euros of difference on the price of our brand new home do not make anymore that impression: 10 000 EUR (for example over 30 years) would impact the montly payment for less than 55 EUR. The difference on the investment price would cost us less than 660 EUR per Year.
If you are hunting for a new custom-made home, it is fair to assume that this is not your first one and that you know a thing or two about monthly bills. These hypotetical 55 EUR, would be the least of your worries when you have to face utility bills which are in the range of 200 EUR.
So, after all, it is not such a big nonsense considering to spend a few thousands euro more to buy a prefab house that is made exactly how you like and not how you have to accept for compromise.
But what if those money – that very same money that you spend more to buy today the house you like – will cut your utility bills to half or less?
Then you understand that, in a “monthly-payment” view, you are actually saving money and not spending more!
In this example you eneded up spending 55 EUR more and saving about 100, which leads to a net saving of about 45 EUR/month 🙂
The Big Picture
The “monthly-payment” view is the big picture, it is how things really work. You should then pay carefull attention to the economy of the big picture and not just to the first down payment that you will have to make in order to purchase your new prefab wooden house.
Qhaus invested a lot of brain-hours of highly skilled engineers to make of its timber-frame houses one of the best prefabricated element product that money can buy. The solutions we use in our constructions are especially developed to save Energy and to ensure better comfort. This might result in a little increase of the overal price of the house set, but it brings the indisputable advantage of a lower Energy consumption and a better living experience.
Outstanding indoor comfort and low-Energy consumptions are two key characteristics of modern buildings and, given the goals of EU for reduction of carbon footprint by the year 2020, all new built houses will have to have excellent Energy performances.
This will be tomorrow.
However, what does it suggest today?
The answer is simple. On top of saving money due to lower Energy needs, the value of a high-quality and high-performance building will NOT decrease in time. On the other hand, a house built today with mediocre characteristics, will be worthless by the year 2020.
Conclusion
Given the direction the housing Market is taken today AND given the possibilities we, as a wooden Element House Producer, are able to offer you, is it really reasonable to turn your back on better comfort and lower bills because the house – built just the way it should be – costs today a little more than other cheaper choices?
We firmly believe that investing in Quality and Performances is the best way to keep a higher value in the future… and, of couse, to save money on the way.