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I had a friend who worked in the home loan division of a national bank. He advised me at thay time that his bank would not lend money on homes built back when the term "Mobile Home" was in use, only built after 1980 (I am pretty sure).
The cutoff is actually 1974.
The idea that modern manufactured homes are made of substandard or cheap materials is probably not accurate. Today's manufactured homes are made from 2x6 walls and have the equal structure, insulation and finishes as stick built homes. Good quality cabinets and real stone countertops. They're not all cheap and they're not about being light anymore. They're heavy and in no way "mobile". They are no longer "trailers".
We sell many MFHs on land out here, and they can certainly be a good investment. They will finance with conventional, FHA or VA financing and do appreciate in value.
The problem with the situation the OP describes is not the quality of the house, it's that they're not being placed on their own lot and sold as real property. MFH's in parks don't qualify for traditional financing because they don't own the property. You still have to pay rent, and if they neighborhood is sold or goes downhill or the rents go up, people are stuck, they aren't easy or cheap to move any more.
What's the attraction of buying a home when you can't own the land? Historically how have these appreciated over time considering land isn't included.
While appreciation only is beneficial when you're selling the property, Lending Tree quotes a study that found that MH prices are rising faster than single-family home prices. It's mostly dependent upon condition of the home and location:
Many are refurbished/redecorated, and if it's set on a lot in a beautiful park (many with mountain or desert views), with a pool, tennis court, fitness center, and a golf course, you can bet it's going to hold or exceed its original value if it's kept up-to-date.
MHs could be a good solution, even on a temporary basis, if you're interested in moving to the Phoenix area and want to try it out. (Or you want to come out for spring training or golf.) Apartment rents average over $1500/mo. for a bit over 800 sq. ft., but many are above $2k. Lot rents are generally $650-950. If you want a place of your own, don't have the best credit score, but have a steady job and maybe $5k to put down, you very well may be able to afford a mobile/manufactured home of your own. Some older homeowners don't want to mow anymore. They want to downsize. Many may not be able to drive as far safely as they used to and simply want company around. My husband's aunt used to live in a beautiful park and couldn't wait for the potlucks. She'd been a homeowner previously, her husband died, and she didn't want to take care of the lawn. Totally understandable.
We're receiving more and more calls for MHs set in family parks now. Single-family homes are out-of-reach for some people, and they want a safe, gated environment for their kids. Again, understandable.
Per the weather:
I've lived in Phoenix for over 50 years. Yes, we have dust storms on occasion (only in the last few years did they start calling them haboobs, BTW), but they've really gone down in frequency. Sustained high winds aren't a problem, and neither are tornadoes. We've lived in the same house since '75, and even with double-pane glass, we get dust. Nearly 5 million people live in the Phoenix metro area, and we're rife with concrete, grass, and trees, but we still live in a desert. There's going to be dust.
Someone mentioned heating/cooling problems. My hubby and I lived in a couple of mobile homes when we were in school in the late '60s/early '70s. We were in downstate Illinois. Even though it was cold, I don't recall ever having problems with a drafty living space.
I've attached a pix of the living room of that beautiful home with the 80" TV that we're selling in a family park. Does that look like it's a tin can?
Mobile/Manufactured home living is not for everyone. It's a niche market, but there is a market. As a newbie to this, I was trying to tap into the collective mind on how best to reach it. Thank you for your thoughts.'
Last edited by LagunaMom; 03-04-2024 at 02:37 PM..
Mobile/Manufactured home living is not for everyone. It's a niche market, but there is a market. As a newbie to this, I was trying to tap into the collective mind on how best to reach it. Thank you for your thoughts.'
There is a market for them among independent seniors who still want their own place and pets and flowers and garden areas but like the idea of a close community with shared recreational space and activities.
I see some of these up here on private land, which, if you want to go off-grid, is relatively cheap.
I grew up in Indiana, where there are a large number of home manufacturers in the northern part of the state, along with the RV industry. I worked in and around a number of these facilities in the 80s, and even then the advantage was clear to me: manufacturing tolerances.
A stick-built home will never be perfect, because it's stick-built. A manufactured home is built in a controlled environment using modern manufacturing methods that allow for tight tolerances and consistent construction/assembly practices. Much the same as a "panelized", site-built home might have (almost.)
I have lived in a "mobile home" as well as a "manufactured" home, and the differences were significant. While this was in the nascent days of manufactured homes, I can say that if the interior finish materials had been of a higher grade it would have been hard to distinguish between it and a "regular" site-built home.
Can you "upscale" these? Possibly. But other than the demographics previously mentioned, I think they would be a hard sell.
Mobile/manufactured homes often have the same or greater distances between next door neighbors than do current 55+ developments with their white and gray stick built houses.
And singlewide mobile homes tend to have their larger windows all on the same side (essentially the passenger side if going down the road originally) such that there is actually greater visual privacy on the lots than in those new stick built hoa developments. Hmm.
But you CAN distinguish it from traditional homes because you wouldn't own the LAND underneath it! That is a GIGANTIC minus ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zymer
I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not about to pay $225k for an immobile mobile on a rented lot, even if it is a fancy double-wide with a TV thrown in. ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MortonR
...I see some of these up here on private land, which, if you want to go off-grid, is relatively cheap. ...
Missing from the usual "mobile home" discussion is the question of land-ownership. Land appreciates, of course. But why should the dwelling appreciate, whether mobile or not?
Suppose that I buy 20 acres of raw land, but choose not to build a "proper" house. Instead I buy a used trailer on Craiglist, park it on my land, and live in the trailer permanently, as if I were camping. Some jurisdictions don't permit this. Why not? Is the value of my land somehow diminished, because it went from raw lawn to raw land + trailer?
Distinct from "mobile home" is a "manufactured home". By this we mean wall-units that are factory-built. The foundation is still poured on-site. The utility connections are the same. But instead of framing the 2x4s on-site, installing insulation on-site, doing the drywall and mudding on-site, and so on... this is done in modules at a factory, then trucked to the building-site and assembled on-site. Why is this approach considered to be downmarket and inferior, to stick-built construction?
I had a friend who worked in the home loan division of a national bank. He advised me at thay time that his bank would not lend money on homes built back when the term "Mobile Home" was in use, only built after 1980 (I am pretty sure).
If it had a title it was a mobile home and you paid MH rates and terms. If it was attached to a permanent foundation and the tongue removed and on the owners property- it could qualify under HUD for a conventional mortgage. At least that was 25 years and 4 banks ago in WV.
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A Trade-Off
If the buyer so desires, they can be placed on a full basement or concrete slab. 
