Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Our friends bought a double wide mobile home with fireplace etc., in a park with lot rent in a nearby village. It was new and beautiful compared to my 1870 bungalow. We both paid in the low sixties for these homes 32-34 years ago.
They sold their mobile home for $30k a few years ago and we sold our house for 192k last year before moving to different areas.
Okay? Next question.
A real good measure is financing. NO ONE (hardly) will finance a double wide/modular/manufactured.
Ok then........I've had 2 homes built in the last 14 years. Both are still standing great with no issues. Guess it depends on your builder. At any rate.... I still think the traditional built home will stand the test of time longer than a manufactured home and definitely a modular home!
The difference between modular and manufactured homes is often in the permanence. For instance modular homes are placed on a permanent foundation; whereas trailers, or manufactured homes are built on a steel chassis with wheels attached. This is so the trailer can be moved or towed. Manufactured homes (mobile) usually depreciate like a car.
You can't get conventional or other mortgage financing for a manufactured home UNLESS it is set on a permanent foundation, on real property (not a rented lot) and any wheels are removed. And if they ARE ever moved, they no longer will qualify for financing.
Modern manufactured homes are not "mobile"... they are intended to be moved once, and set in a permanent setting, never to be moved again. While they ~can~ depreciate, in most markets where land and home values are climbing, so will properties with a manufactured home.
A real good measure is financing. NO ONE (hardly) will finance a double wide/modular/manufactured.
Not true.... not all banks will, but manufactured homes as old as 1981 can and do qualify for good available 30 year loans.... conventional, FHA, and VA.
Not true.... not all banks will, but manufactured homes as old as 1981 can and do qualify for good available 30 year loans.... conventional, FHA, and VA.
If they are on a deeded lot or on private land. No one will finance old MH with lot rent.
There are some areas where it's hard to find financing for mobile homes and then finding insurance is a challenge, too. Gotta go with a company that specializes in those.
I had a double wide in Mississippi where "yer only trailer trash if yer in a trailer park." Shucks my coworker's dad lived in a 2-story mobile home! I have to say, the seller fixed it up for his daughter and did a great job. She decided she didn't want it so my gain.
In some high cost living areas MH on private land with no HOA or senior communities can be expensive.
That same 1970s mobile home that is worthless on a lot that has a high lot rental fee and can not be moved because another park won't accept it or it will fall apart when moved is worth over $100K in other areas.
Right now in my area you can't find anymore inexpensive starter homes. Now the older mobile homes on private land, and some in senior parks with low HOA fees cost more than the smaller older homes did 2 years ago. It's all about supply and demand.
Another bad thing about mobile/manufactured homes when you try to sell them they are not going to appraise anywhere near what people are asking for them so they will have to wait for a cash buyer.
Right now it's better to buy a land lot and buy a new mobile home to put on it in my area than buy an older mobile home on it's own land.
This holds true in my area. Manufactured homes get snatched up pretty quickly if they are on land. They aren't cheap either. Manufactured homes and modular homes are 2 different things. People confuse this all the time. Modular homes are stick built off site in a controlled environment and get transported to be put on a permanent foundation. Manufactured homes still have to be built to certain standards but are mobile and not built like a stick built home. A manufactured home is considered a vehicle until it is put on a foundation and then it is considered real estate like a stick built home. You would be surprised to see the finishes they do on these new manufactured homes. They look pretty snazzy. A stick built home still holds it's value better and appreciates better. As far as getting a loan on a manufactured home, it can be challenging. It still can be done if it meets the requirements.
Some modular homes are built to higher standards than stickbuilt (2X6's instead of 2X4's, for example), and modualars can be just the bare bones, finished off (sheathing, porches, garages, even the roof) on site and cannot be visually distinguished from a stickbuilt home. In lower end homes (non-embellished modular; poorly built stickbuilt) you may not have any value difference. There are numerous other factors that determine the market value of a house. If it looks rickety for any reason, it's not going to be worth as much. Almost any house (stick or modular) that looks like a trailer is going to get less money, just for architectural reasons alone.
1:1
I had a factory built. in ten years I doubled my money. Buyer didn't ask, I didn't tell. Don't know if the realtors knew.
My cousin had one he had built in VT that sold for way more than it cost him.
Go for it.
In this area there are many, many manufactured homes, from the old ones in the 70s to the newer ones costing over $100,000. If manufactured homes are pretty much all that's available to buy, they hold their value somewhat. And they do make them nice now. The one I bought was built in 2002 and had vinyl siding and double paned windows. It was also made to withstand stronger winds than most regular houses. I saw it a couple days ago when I was land hunting and it still looks fine. And when I bought it and the land, I got an FHA loan. Oh, yeah, it was almost 1000 sq ft, three bedroom, two full baths and it cost $22,000. Eat that, tiny home people!
Some communities here won't allow a manufactured home. Maybe they want to keep the snob factor, I don't know. But the only thing I don't like about a manufactured home is they look like manufactured homes. Designers and builders tend to keep things pretty simple to keep the price down, so there's not a lot of variation in roof line or trim or anything else. They look and are pretty generic.
Having said that, I've seen a few I really like. I would far prefer to live in a nice old house with lots of details (but none of the problems of old houses), but you can add a lot of stuff on to a manufactured home to make it look better, like porches and bay windows.
And if you do buy one, while you won't find them under $30,000 these days, when your mortgage is paid off in 10 years instead of 30 and you're saving all that money, remember that the land you put a MH on will still be there and if you don't have a house to pass down to the kids, well, they'll just have to fend for themselves.
Edited to add: Thanks, Crash, I had forgotten that. I bought the land and put the MH on it for $85,000. I sold the lot and MH a year and a half later: $120,000.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Okay? Next question. 
I have to say, the seller fixed it up for his daughter and did a great job. She decided she didn't want it so my gain.
