How to Change Perceptions on Mobile/Manufactured Homes? (square footage, agent, investments)
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A couple of months ago, I became a licensed sales agent for mobile/manufactured homes in Phoenix with a company in which I started investing years ago. (Their investments earn 14%!) It started providing affordable housing to vets and seniors and then expanded into the family market.
While some of the older ones are what you'd think of as typical mobile homes and have a lower price tag, many are virtually indistinguishable from traditional homes. One we're repping has 2 fireplaces and comes with 3 TVs (including an 80") and an 8-camera security system. It's set in a gorgeous 55+ park with a couple of 9-hole golf courses and a fishing lake and is in upscale Scottsdale. It's offered at $225k, which is the same or more for which you'd be buying a home in some areas of the country.
Since I'm still new at this, the question is how to change people's perceptions of these homes. No, they are not low-cost housing when you've got to have a down of at least $5k and be able to afford financing (in most cases) and lot rent ($650-$950), but they do make for a solid alternative for people who either are downsizing, can't afford to buy a traditional home (median in Phoenix is $460k) or want amenities they can't afford. (Family parks tend to be pet-friendly and have basketball courts and playgrounds.)
Other than on Zillow, Craigslist, and MH (Mobile Home) Village, they're difficult to market. As an old post stated, many people think of them as "tin can" housing in rundown parks. My kitchen should look at nice as some of the ones we've got in inventory.
Unfortunately, it will be next to impossible to change mentalities of people who every never lived in or seen a "manufactured home". Don't forget that in the late 70's the term "mobile home" was changed to make them sound more modern. I did live in a beautiful manufactured home for almost 20 years and loved it very much. The newer manufactured homes look more and more like regular site built homes and the amenities have improved dramatically since my last manufactured home from 1980. I moved around 1999 to a townhome but wouldn't hesitate to live in another manufactured home newer than my last one as long as it was clean and in good condition.
Bottom line is that no realtor can change someone's opinion about them, just try marketing to the right consumer who would be happy to live or rent one.
The term "mobile home" actually reflects homes built before 6/15/1976 with lighter-weight materials. "Manufactured homes" were built to HUD standards after that. They have higher ceilings and are more durable. But we use them interchangeably.
We've been selling the lower priced homes lately ($27k-$45k), while the nicer ones (above $100k) are more difficult to move off the market. Clearly there's a perception problem there. The question is how to reach our target buyers. Because of spring training, I posted the expensive one in the Chicago area Craigslist in hopes I could find a buyer who'd want it as a second home to come back to (between baseball and year 'round golf) but had no bites.
My hubby and I lived in a couple of MHs when we were in college, and these are nothing like them.
A "manufactured homes " is still considered lower quality versus a stick-built or modular because they adhere to a lower structural and building codes developed by HUD and are not necessarily built to the local building code standards.
Why do you think a "manufactured home" with an exact duplicate "modular option" cost much less, has more actual interior square footage and weighs much less? Now many of the "manufactured homes" of today are nothing like the "mobile" homes of yesteryears but in the end, HUD Code structures are not up to the same standards as their modular counterparts. Since local municipalities can set certain planning criteria, modular homes built to local codes may still have problems in some areas getting approval, so you can imagine the issues "manufactured homes" will have since they do not have to meet tougher local building codes.
I would think it would be easier to sell a mobile home in a park where the home owners own the land beneath them, or if selling from the manufacturer, then it's easier to sell to people with their own private acreage/farm.
The big problem is when owners want to re-sell. I think the mobile home like you're talking about might not be movable after it's first location. So if the park gets sold and the rents could jump up substantially, people might worry.
But having seen some of the fancier 55+ type parks, these homes look really nice with all the porches etc. and people might buy the used ones in place.
as i always say
having a home that is mobile and two cars on the front lawn that aren’t is just inherently wrong
nothing like going down to the basement , looking up and seeing axels ha ha
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