~~ "manufactured" homes ? ~~ (55, beach, weather, move)

[nancy thereader]

I have been investigating tons of places for my eventual move (as soon as this spring). I have heard about many places that sound wonderful ; I have read about many from this site. There seems , for example, to be a wonderful sounding community in San Clemente , CA (hello, Richard Nixon ???) . Often the homes are described as "manufactured". Is that a polite way of saying "trailers" ? Some of them look beautiful , cozy and pretty with flowery yards.
I could be vey happy in many of them, but I have heard that you do not own your own land and that often the owner sells the land and you and your pretty little home are left without anywhere to go. They do not appear to be moveable like traditional trailers (well, the ones that Lucy Ricardo had).

Is that what manufactured homes are? That would be just my luck , to fall in love with an area , fix up a new home & then find out that my home and me have to get out of town.

Has anyone had experience with this type of home ? I notice that they are more popular in some areas of the country than others. I don't think that we have any here on Long Island.

[Avalon08]

Nancy, I'm no expert, but I think manufactured homes = trailers aka mobile homes, albeit perhaps on a permanent foundation. (The Google ads under your post, in fact, are for "mobile homes".) Some of these communities can be very lovely, and some can be...not so lovely. There are a lot of them in vacation-home or warm-weather areas -- e.g., Florida, Jersey shore, Calif. I know they're in other areas of the country (Midwest) because it always seems they get hit in tornadoes -- not sure why.

I guess the advantage of a manufactured home is that it's like being in a single, as opposed to multi-unit condo living. They're usually fairly inexpensive to buy, and they can be fairly large (double-wides). I believe there is a monthly rental fee for the land, and yes, there was a story in FL about waterfront land being sold out from under a trailer park community. When I lived in CA, there was a trailer park right on the beach outside Laguna, at the base of a cliff -- I mean, it couldn't have been in a more gorgeous location. When I was out there on vacation recently, I noticed the trailer park was gone! Turns out the land was sold and the residents (who rented) were evicted. Some of the places in (or near) The Villages are manufactured homes.

I'm sure there are others who know a lot more about these communities. Out of curiosity, where's the place in San Clemente? By the way, Laguna Woods Village has no manufactured homes.

[GreenGene]

I did a little searching online, and this is what I found.

Manufactured homes are houses built in a factory. According to Wikipedia:

In the United States, the term "manufactured housing" specifically refers to a house built entirely in a protected environment under a federal code set by the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The term "mobile home" describes factory-built homes produced prior to the 1976 HUD Code enactment.

I watched a recent HGTV show on log cabins, and one of the log cabins - a very nice house - was a manufactured home (I believe they may have referred to it as a modular home) - the various parts were made in a factory and then assembled onsite. Another term for manufactured homes is prefabricated homes.

I think mobile homes (or trailers) would be considered a subset of manufactured homes (since they are built in a factory), and would be specifically referred to as mobile homes rather than manufactured homes.

I guess the best thing to do is to talk directly to a real estate agent involved in a listing for one of the manufactured homes that has caught your eye, and ask for more information. It could indeed be a trailer, or it could be a modular home ... or maybe something else??

[esselcue]

Manufactured home are NOT trailers, nor are they Mobile. They are, simply, homes that are factory made and placed on your property, which you OWN. Of course, you can rent a space in a park for them and pay space rent, but many folks I know who live in manufactured homes (including my sister and daughter) are on acreage or lots of their own. Personally, I would never again build a site-built home...if I wanted a new place I would go with a nice piece of property and a well-made manufactured home upon it!

[elousv]

I have seen the terms "manufactured" and "modular" used interchangeably, but some define the two separately. Generally the modular is made in pieces in a factory then put together at your location and has to meet those codes. The manufactured is totally built in factory, moved on it's own wheels and has to meet a federal code and not the location code.

[knoxgarden]

RVs are the only homes on wheels these days.
Manfauctured homes are moved on flat bed trucks and off-loaded at the site.
One of the largest manufacturers, Clayton Homes, is located in and around Knoxville. They had the contract with FEMA for emergency shelter after Katrina and related hurricanes and there were huge conveys of trucks with single-wides on flat beds stretching for miles down the Interstate here. All had "FEMA" banners on the back.
Mdoular/Manufactured homes can be very elaborate. You see a lot of them around here since they are so much cheaper to put on a plot of land, especially if you're out in the boondocks and there are lots of boondocks in East Tennessee!
They can be quite elaborate and you really can't tell them from stick-built houses.
Norris I Home Plan | 3/2 / 0 Floor Plan from call Builder (http://www.americanhomeguides.com/community/brochure_request/hpc-146819.html?fpid=9401877 - broken link) - Knoxville, Tennessee

[Ellise]

You see a lot of manufactured homes in the south. I live in one now, and it's actually the nicest house I've lived in. It seems to be very well built, well designed, and well insulated, which is more than I can say for some of the old houses in Boston that I've lived in.

A lot of people coming down here looking for a place to live do turn their noses up at manufactured homes, though. And I don't know how (or if) it's going to appreciate in value over the years, compared to a stick-built house.

[Avalon08]

Yes, I agree that the OP will have to investigate the community she's considering to find out the real scoop. Out of curiosity, I googled over-55's in San Clemente. I did find a couple "luxury" developments (i.e., in the millions) and then I did find a few mobile homes for sale (they were described as mobile homes, but didn't specify the name of the community). Anyway, they were still over half a million bucks! Not sure if this is the development OP was talking about.

A lot of people coming down here looking for a place to live do turn their noses up at manufactured homes, though. And I don't know how (or if) it's going to appreciate in value over the years, compared to a stick-built house.

Yes, my mother in FL turned her nose up when she and her neighbor were discussing a nearby mobile-home senior community. This particular community is really lovely and well-maintained....nevertheless, my Mom thinks of it as a "trailer park". Turns out that's where the neighbor had moved from! Uh oh....egg on face....

Speaking of modular homes (which are different from mobile homes), I know of someone at the Jersey shore with a HUGE modular (5 or 6 bedrooms, multiple baths, etc.). Looking at it from the outside, I would've had no idea it was not a "stick-built" home.

[Avalon08]

Thanks for that info on Clayton Homes. On their website, they say they are the nation's number one retailer of modular and manufactured homes. They include some helpful definitions on their website for "What is a Manufactured Home?" (below). According to them, the term "mobile home" is no longer used and the correct term is "manufactured home". A modular home would be referred to as "modular", not "manufactured". I think this information would be helpful for the OP in understanding what is meant when a community markets itself as "manufactured homes".

Manufactured Home:

• Built entirely in the factory under federal cod"e administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which became effective June 15, 1976, and has been upgraded numerous times. Covers single or multi-section homes and includes transport to the site and installation. Regulations include: design & construction, strength & durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency & quality.

Modular Home:

Built to state, local or regional code where the home will be located. System-built homes are transported to sites and installed.

Panelized Home:

• Built in factory, where panels that include windows, doors, wiring & siding, are transported to site and assembled. Codes are set by state or locality where sited.

Pre-Cut Home:

• Materials are factory cut to design specifications and then transported to the site and assembled. Examples are: kit, log and dome homes. Standards are set by state and locality.

Mobile Home:

• The term mobile home used for homes built prior to June 15, 1976, when HUD code went into effect. Voluntary standards were previously in effect.

[cobolt]

I think there is something to be said about manufactured homes. You can usually afford them outright. You own your land. No HOAs and housing mess and all that other noise. Just seems the best of both worlds