Modular homes

As owner of Quell Petroleum Services, David Cutbirth was able to find housing for his employ-ees, putting the single men in travel trailers and the families in larger mobile homes.

Now, as mayor of Monahans, he’s looking to find housing for the middle class of the Ward County city.

“We’ve got a few developers building,” he said. “They’re building stuff for people that make $90,000 to $100,000 a year. The vast majority make $30,000 to $50,000 a year.”

But Cutbirth said he might have the solution to the problem. He purchased a modular home to sell in Monahans.

In the days before Saturday’s open house, Cut-birth said 25 people had come by to look at the house, with some expressing interest in buying. He already has plans to buy five more, and if those sell, he could get five or 10 more after that.

“I think it’s entirely possible we could get be-tween 100 and 200 of these in the next 12 months,” he said.

Modular homes differ from a mobile home in that they’re set in a concrete foundation, Teresa Burnett, Monahans Chamber of Commerce execu-tive director, said. Because they have to meet all building codes, they’re also much easier to get financed from a bank.

“A modular home isn’t any comparison to a mo-bile home,” she said.

The homes require fewer workers than a tradi-tional home. Cutbirth said. After a modular home is delivered, it takes about four hours to set in using a crane. After that, it takes between four and six workers around a week to finish the details, like plumbing and electricity.

About the only drawback with the homes, which can vary in size from 1,200 to 3,500 square feet, is the cost of transporting them. Cutbirth said it could range from $4,000 to $8,000 to get them to Monahans. He would like to see incentives offered to companies to build an assembly plant in West Texas.

The homes are needed to appease a mid-range housing shortage in Monahans. Realtor Phillip Derrick said of the seven houses currently for sale in Monahans, four are between $30,000 and $60,000 and the other three are above $150,000.

“We have nothing in the 70, 80, 90 range,” he said. “We haven’t in a couple months.”

And with several new businesses coming to town, and the possibility of FutureGen 20 miles up the road in Penwell, Cutbirth said demand would only increase.

After seeing the first modular home built in Monahans, Jacob Lopez said he’s ready for one himself. He has had a hard time finding an afford-able house in the country to move his family.

“The prices are cheaper than having a house built,” he said.

Monahans isn’t the only place looking at more efficient ways of building homes. Wesley Burnett, the economic development director in Andrews, said a subdivision with the capability of holding up to 80 ready-built homes is already being built there.

“The market is pretty tight,” he said. “Any time we can get a significant amount of new homes it’s good.”

Lopez said he wants to get into a new home as soon as possible.

“We’re ready,” he said. “As soon as Phillip Der-rick can find us a place, we’re going.”