The Manufactured Housing Forums

An accurate pulished index retail price for "a new mobile" -

Is a concept that does not exist in the manufactured home industry. So, if you are reading this note and you are considering buying a mobile home, you better think about it for awhile because there are industry forces at work that do not want to publish cost information about the price of new mobile homes.

NADA is entirely inaccurate to be completely irrelevant when estimating the value of a "new" mobile home. There appears to be rampant corruption in this industry. As an appraiser I find disheartening that this industry would with-hold retail pricing on a national scale. Rather the burden has been placed on the appraiser in a cost conundrum with no "Unit in place" benchmark for an accurate "Cost Approach" to value.

This industry agents/mechanics are opposing the natural law of econmics.

First there is no such thing as a new mobile
so your first statement is true.
If you wish to appraise A MF home as real estate then all you usually need is three comparables in its area .If its home alone then as mentioned previously there is no appraisial.New MH pricing varies by region and dealer like many other products in this country.You don't get the same square foot price for cost estimation on stick built homes either.It varies by contractor,options,etc etc etc..

As far as your thoughts on corruption you ought to look into home building contractors
in yout free time.

Then why does the price I look up in NADA so much lower than the retail lot price? An Oaknoll, Fleetwood 2003 - is about $30,000 in the book, but the retailer wants $50,000. 28 x 48 for Florida

I have said it before...NADA is NOT for new homes...

I think Bill Fry is hitting on a point...There is NO NEW MOBILE HOME"

An appraiser who puts himself out as an expert should know this..OR...leave the business alone....Would you attempt an appraisal of a nuclear power plant?????????I doubt it...it would be very unethical because you have no expertise in the field..It is very obvious you have no expertise in manufactured homes and it is very unethical for you to hold your self out to be an expert and charge a fee for your services...

There are many appraisers in the part of the country you are in that have taken the time to understand the industry (it is fully 35 to 40% of all the new homes in the area you are in...85% in some of the counties you service)...the bank requirements..the market...and the accepted practices of the appraisers trade association..The best thing you could do is refer your appraisal requests for manufactured homes to one of them...

NADA is used, I believe, and does not consider any expenses associated with the home like moving costs, setup, touch-up. I think if you try to find out the price of a Pulte home you would have the same problem, there is no new published data for the home alone. Check with three dealers on best price and that should give you a fair appraisal, much the same as a site home. I can't agree with the widespread corruption of the industry but there are a lot of shady dealers and salespeople, but that is the nice thing about these boards, you can get an education.

So, essentially you want the consumer to believe they are "not paying an inflated price" for a new mobile home. The reproduction cost for a new mobile home is much higher than its replacment cost - this is not usually true for a conventionally built home. As far as my experience and expertise - I will be the judge of that.

You are getting accurate answers to your questions from posters on this board.Unfortunely this info is bouncing off your skull as you already seem to have your MH paradigms firmly in place.Why ask questions on this board if you already believe you have the answers?You sound more like an attorney then a appraiser.

Now that was a low blow - calling me an attorney. - I am a peace loving individual who merely is trying to learn something. I spend thousands of hours looking at NC Florida and seeing a progessive scurge taking place - the very characteristics of what real estate is supposed to be is being manipulated by thieves in the governments back pocket.

It would be nice to have an MSRP listed next to the model on each company's web site for comparison shopping. I was told that they can't put a fixed price on a home because there are too many variables (options). OK, so why does every car manufacturer in the world publish an MSRP with all their cars? ie, new 2004 Chevy Tahoe, starting at $26,299. It is just another way for shady dealers (no insult intended to Mr. Murray and crew) to take advantage of people. Of course, stick built has the same problems. Just my $0.02.