Appraiser can't decide if home is manufactured or modular

[Tessa]

I am in the process of trying to purchase a home on a basement. The home was placed in 1986. When the home was placed, the assessor and building inspector listed the home as a "doublewide". The homeowner was under the impression that it is a manufactured home. But she has never had a title for the home, which is required for manufactured homes in MI. Before we looked at the home in the first place, we were under the impression it was a manufactured home but decided to look at it anyway because we liked the location and land so much. When we went into the basement, it looked like a modular home. There is no steel frame anywhere on the home, it has 2" X 8" floor joists. It also has 2 X 4 interior walls and 2 x 6 exterior walls.

The appraiser has seen all of this, but is afraid to say it is a modular because the assessor says it is a mobile. The appraiser has said if we can give her BOCA standards that show the house is a modular then she will classify it as a modular. I have found several websites that list the current differences but there are a couple of discrepancies because the house was built in 1986. The biggest issue is that it says modulars always have drywall and manufactured homes have paneling with drywall as an option.

Does anyone know where I could find documentation showing that modulars used to have paneling and didn't always have drywall? If I can show the appraiser that it qualifies as a modular then the deal will go through, if not then we will lose it because the bank won't lend on manufactured homes.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[rmurray]

A manufactured home MUST have a frame under the floor. ALL post 1976 homes would have been built to the HUD code and it would have a HUD label affixed to the side. The red HUD label would probably still be there. You can find it if you face the front door and look to the left far corner near the bottom of the sidewall..Modular homes would have been built to a state building code and had a label on or very near the electric box inside the home certifying that it meets this code.

The most obvious clue is the lack of a frame..Also the next immediate clue is the lack of title. Modular homes never had a title.. The wall covering has NOTHING to do with the code that it is built to. Panel, Sheetrock has nothing to do with the code the home was built to..An example I have always used was portable classrooms.. They are ALL modular structures but almost always have panel wall covering. An experienced appraiser should know the difference and not worry about a local inexperienced government office who have employees unfamiliar with the differences. The ONLY definitive proof is the modular certification label on the wall ( of course after over 20 years these may well have been removed by the former owner long ago).. The lack of a frame IS DEFINITIVE PROOF that this home IS NOT a manufactured (mobile) home..Good Luck

[fredcdobbs]

rmurray Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
The lack of a frame IS
> DEFINITIVE PROOF that this home IS NOT a
> manufactured (mobile) home..

Well not really 100% proof but for the most part that is a good indicator, I have run across 2 HUD homes that were basement set and the frames were removed, I visited a home in Colorado and in New Mexico that were both new HUD units at the time and were under factory warranty.Both these units were set by the homeowners, they dropped the frames and built walls under the floor and cut a stairway into the floor,both happened to be in an area that was not subject to installation inspections at the time.This is not something you would expect to see often.(Both of these guys did very nice work by the way) Now the fact that the frames were removed did cause me to void the warranty on any part of the house that was affected by the frame removal.Get someone that has MFG housing experience to check it out for you, should not be that hard to determine there are plenty of clues.

[Tessa]

The original paperwork shows the frame was replaced. Here is a copy of the page that shows the intent to replace the frame. It looks to me like it was done in the factory but there is no way to know this for sure as the original owner is deceased.

[rmurray]

This page looks like a marketing document for a well built(for the time) manufactured home.. The hand written note must have been done by the home owner or sales person when they ordered a home. If the factory built it without the frame it IS NOT a manufactured home. At the time a few manufacturers did build both products often sharing many of the specs and floorplans. This looks like something I could have given a prospect when they were shopping for the modular but I only had the manufactured version. I would have given a brosure and made note to the differences..Have you found the manufactures name in the paperwork you have...Have you seen a vin number in any documents..
I just zoomed your photo to a much larger size and see they hand wrote the floor joists to 2x8 (replacing the frame) AND hand wrote the 2x6 exterior walls...For most modulars this would be the most obvious difference between the homes..The more I looked at your picture, the more sure this was a retail sales document of a manufactured home given to a prospect (or customer to high light the obvious differences between it and its modular cousin..Is this a Vindale Home?. This document reminds me of some they would have had..

[trmimo]

At this time many HUD homes were set improperly with the frames removed. No frame is not proof. Look for the seals or perhaps the township has the building permit on file.

[Tessa]

I am sure that rmurray is correct. They didn't have the right documentation for a modular so they changed the manufactured one. I have gotten some suggestions that it may be a Redman home. There is a Redman factory in Indiana and I am in MI, so that would make some sense. I am working on getting in contact with the closest Redman dealer to see if they have sales records dating back to 1986.

The document I put in a previous post is from the building permit. On the actual permit page, it is listed as "doublewide".

[rmurray]

Tessa what part of MI?

[Tessa]

Just north of Grand Rapids.

[trmimo]

The cut away you posted does look like Redman literature of that time.