<p> In the early 1900's, Sear and Roebuck offered a selection of pre-designed homes in their mail catalog. For a mere $2,500-$3,000, one could buy all the materials needed to build the home they selected. Additionally, detailed building instructions were included for the 30,000 plus pieces needing assembly. From 1908-1940, Sears and Roebuck sold over 70,000 catalog homes. After seventy years since the last Sears home was built, the next generation of pre-designed homes is becoming very popular. Unlike the Sears homes, pre-designed homes are prefabricated and constructed off-site in an assembly-line fashion, which is then transported to the permanent site. These homes are designed and built so well, that even experts in the housing industry have trouble discerning a prefabricated home from a traditional home. For a first-time homebuyer or even an existing homeowner looking to purchase a vacation home, prefabricated or "prefab" modular homes should be considered as an alternative to traditional or "stick-built" homes. Prefab homes are seen all across the world, with heavy concentrations focused in limited-space areas such as Japan and Western Europe. Additionally, even since the housing market crash, the U.S. has seen a surge in prefab home purchases over the past several years. Reasons for the rise of prefabs across the world could be deducted from the following benefits: </p><p>
