Can a metal frame be removed from a Modular?

[searly]

I have a two-year old two story Modular with steel framing undernieth. When we purchased the home we were told that the metal undernieth would make no difference in the value of the home,only make it sturdier, which is why we chose to leave it there. While recently refinancing, however, we found that the home is considered a mobile home because of this. We were told if there were not on metal it would be considered "stick-built" and the vaule would increase dramatically. Is there any way to remove the metal and have it set onto a permanent foundation? The current foundation is a pier foundation with a brick perimeter. If not, how hard is it to sell just the home and not the land? Any advise would be much appreciated.

[rmurray]

If the home is a modular ( not a HUD certified manufactured home) your lender has informed you correctly..Most lenders treat on frame modular home the same for appraisal and mortgage purposes as manufactured homes....You cannot remove the existing frame since it was designed as an important part of the foundation system..The home was engineered to use the frame in the overall structure of the home..It would be hard to sell this home independent of the land it is on...the losses would be very large..as they would be for any home sold this way..

Sorry you were miss informed when you bought the home...This new attitude about on frame modular homes is only in the last few months...

[searly]

Since the metal framing cannot be removed, would there be any benefit to installing a permanent perimeter foundation? I have seen sights that have these available, but I am unsure if this will make the home considered a permanent structure and therefore looked at the same as a regular modular or stick-built. If this will not benefit, and the house would permanently be classified as a manufactured home, what are the chances of it gaining equity? We have already lost about $10,000 from the original purchase price not counting the $15,000 we have put into the home and the surrounding land (according to the appraiser).
Thank you

[Sylvia]

We are incorporating our metal framing into our basement. The value of the house as we purchased it two years ago was 36k. It's worth about 60k pre basement and was appraised to be worth 110 when the basement project is complete.

[searly]

Did you add the basement once the home was set? We had thought about adding a basement to our current home, but weren't real sure how we could go about doing that. My biggest concern is the value of the home. It is a modular, I have looked everywhere for the "red tag" outside and any indicaters that may say that it is manufactured, but it is appraising as a manufactured until it is set on a solid foundation and a basement may be the way to "hide" the unsightly metal chassis. If you don't mind, let me know how you have gone about doing the basement. And thank you for your help!

[Sylvia]

Our home was lifted up by hydralyic lifts like any other home would be. The concrete piers were removed and now we have four very large sets of "cribs" they look like a bunch of wooden pallets to me. While the layers of bricks go up the house is resting on the cribs and when the bricks are 13 and half bricks high the cribs will be removed and the metal basement posts will be stragetically placed based on our basement room layout. After that the home will be lowered down further onto the basement and will set on it's new foundation.

Our home has been sitting here for at least 15 years. We've lived in it for 2 and needed more room. The bank wouldn't loan us money unless it had a real foundation. We bought the house next door too (old victorian bungalow) and have been using it for a severe weather shelter but that's really getting old carting two overweight dogs and the chihuahua over there each and every time.

[rmurray]

Most likely the appraiser is only doing what your state's appraisal board requires..The states (SC) I sell intro that allow on frame mods..have state rules for appraisers that REQUIRE they appraise them as manufactured home and only use manufactured home comps and NO stick built comps.....

[admin]

searly -

Unless your trying to sell your home NOW!- the question is really not very important. I live in a beautiful lake side home that was originally a 24x40 block fishing camp. In the 1980s we insulated and renovated the original home, then brought in a pre-owned 24x40 Fleetwood double wide and joined it to the home in an "L" shape. We then built a new roof over the entire home, which added covered porches and walkways. We then stuccoed the entire exterior from the roof down to the ground. This made it look exactly like all the other homes in the area. At the time the value of the home tripled. Today it is valued at over 100 times what we originally paid.

Regardless of the type of home or even commercial structure, the value depends on location and condition. If our not going to sell any time soon... just enjoy your home, continue to make improvements that make it more comfortable to you and let the time value of real-estate take care of adding more value every year.

[searly]

I spoke with the NC appraisal board and they informed me that it is not NC state law that the home be looked at as a manufactured when appraising an on-frmae modular. He said that it is actually more to the contrary. The only guidlines they have is that the home be compared to homes most like them in the area, in our case he said that we would fall under the stick-built/off-frame modular category. However, he did say that the lending institution has the discretion to have the appraiser value the home differently. Unfortunately, most lending institutions now require that if the home is on-frame, then it needs to be compared to manufactured housing. We are trying to refinance and have hit a huge brick wall in the process due to these guidlines.
We have decided to sit on the home a while longer and continue to make our improvements, but are still interested in trying to get the metal removed just to make this problem, not a problem in the future is we ever go to refinance again.
Thanks so much for the input from everyone and any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!