As houses get more and more expensive, as well as the fact that home rentals keep going up and up, many people are looking into manufactured homes as an alternative. popular since after World War II, the early mobile homes were often little more than tin can shelter on wheels.
However, since the mid-70s, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development created Home Construction and safety laws regarding insulation, plumbing, electrical, fire safety and tornado resistance regulations, the home manufacturing business has become better and better.
Today, you can purchase a three and four-bedroom manufactured home with granite countertops and virtually any amenity you can get with a traditional home.
The difficulty of zoning with regard to manufactured homes, and obtaining loans
However. there are two problems with manufactured homes, both quite related. According to the New Your Times Cities Start to Question Single Family Zoning Laws nearly 75 percent of the entire country prohibits zoning of any kind of housing other than single-family homes, and in most suburban areas, the percentage is higher.
The second problem is that even if government programs such as the VA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD loans do allow for mobile home loans, that doesn’t mean that lenders don’t discourage it. They do, and one of the reasons they make new manufactured homes Michigan and other places difficult to finance is that over time, manufactured homes tend not to appreciate in value compared to single-family homes.
As a consequence, should the buyer default, the bank figures they are likely to lose more money than if they take possession of a single-family house.
Buy or develop a manufactured home with a value
One of the keys, according to industry insiders is to buy or develop a manufactured home that resembles a traditional family home in value. This means, not only buying the property that the manufactured home sits on, but fix the home on a foundation.
First, buying a new manufactured homes Michigan in which you own the property adds to the overall value of the property in the unfortunate result of a default. Secondly, having a zoned property, a mobile home on a foundation, and perhaps a developed property with a yard, a small fence, and shade trees give lenders more of an assurance that this is an actual home that others would desire to have.
The advantages of buying an existing manufactured home over buying new
Another thing that buyers need to keep in mind is that to develop a piece of property is far more than just putting down a foundation. Estimates are, depending on how far from the existing hookups you are, you will spend between $10,000 and $30,000 to get water, sewer (or a septic tank,) electricity and gas to your property.
As a consequence, often buying existing properties with all those hookups already in existence is a great benefit.
The problem here then, is you are stuck with what you get in design. If the house and property are three-bedroom but you’d really prefer four, you don’t have the option of adding a bedroom. A brand new manufactured home, on the other hand, offers you the opportunity to customize your home in countless ways that match what new home builders will offer.
What about mobile home parks
If you wish to live in the city, you can, of course, put a mobile home onto a mobile home park, but here there are a couple of problems.
The first is that since you are renting the space, you probably won’t be able to put in on a foundation. And no foundation generally means a non-traditional chattel loan, not a property loan, or some kind of loan directly from the manufacturer.
In addition, just like rents, mobile home park rents often go up and may approximate local apartment rents.
Finally, mobile home parks often sell to new owners, and they may not do as good a job at running the park as your existing park rental company. So then you either have to move or try to sell your space in the park, both of which can be costly.
