The Manufactured Housing Forums

I just read two horror stories in this forum. The first was the FHA problem and the second was the repairs on the new home. Both of these appear to be the fault of the dealer.
My question is; What is the best way for a buyer to prevent problems like this from happening? I know check the BBB but that doesn't allways work. Ask for references, but the dealer isn't going to give the name of a dissatisfied customer. What else can a buyer do to protect themselves?
Thanks in advance for the reply.

Like any major purchase you need to be informed about every aspect of the sale and the product. My opinion is the BBB is not very reliable because in order for them to have a complaint one has to be filed and that seldom happens and if the complaint is taken care of it is not active and not reported. You are correct that a dealer is not going to refer you to an unhappy customer so unless you drive around looking for the type home you are considering and contacting the owner you have no viable information.
You need to feel right about the purchase both in the manufacturer and the dealer, is the dealer knowledegable about their product or do they just give general answers, did the dealer pressure you to buy before you have all the answers, would they put EVERYTHING in writing. Invest in some of the publications about MH and ask a lot of questions from sites like this. Use the books and the information they provide so when you interview a dealer and take a plant tour you know the questions to ask. Be sure to do a plant tour.
Hire a lawyer to oversee the transaction and review all of the paperwork from contract to closing. Hire your own engineer/home inspector independent of the dealer. Have an escrow account that holds back the dealer profit until the home is accepted by you that way the dealer knows the money is there and you know he is not making anything until the work is completed, most dealers do not like this idea but insist on it. Do not accept the home until all of the significant work is completed which means your engineer/home inspector has OK'd the home, this does not mean not accepting the home because there is a crack in a seam or a door sticks but does mean that is was set correctly and all of the systems work.
You will have to invest and additional $1,000-$1,500 to hire experts but this in investing in you significant investment and worth the price.

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The idea of forums like this is to help these things from happening...You have started the process just by reading the posts and getting the understanding that things can go wrong...Of course they can in any home purchase...no matter where or how it is built...

Buying a home is like no other purchase..It takes a lot more education and understanding to have the best chance of successful out comes...Read...READ...ask...ASK...

The other post has some good ideas...some would scare the weak dealers...good dealers would be OK with this process...

Just remember that most dealers run good businesses...Most manufacturers guild a decent home for the money...high quality cost more..you can get as high of quality as you could possible want in this industry...shop..shop..shop..

Confusion is a necessary part of the process...once confused things will crystallize and move forward and you will be happy..
Go for it..