The Complete Buyers Guide to Manufactured Homes and Land

[David Oxhandler]

The Complete Buyers Guide to Manufactured Homes and Land

by John Grissim
How to find A reputable dealer and negotiate a fair price on the best kept secret in American Housing

Forget everything you’ve thought about "mobile homes." Manufactured homes (as they are now called), have come a long way from their trailer house origins. Constructed in climate-controlled factories using top-grade materials (and built to exacting federal standards) today’s manufactured homes offer a wide range of styles and floor plans that can meet the expectations of the most discriminating mainstream home buyer.

Many models are indistinguishable from conventional homes, although they can be sited and readied for move-in in far less time than a comparable site-built dwelling, often at a great savings.

Yet for all their advances, manufactured homes are still sold like cars: through street dealerships, most of them still focused on selling lower end models to consumers unable to qualify for conventional home loans.


Yes, most retailers are reputable but until now no comprehensive resource guide has ever been available to consumers that explains just how the manufactured home industry operates, how to find a dealer worthy of your trust,
how to make the right home selection, and, as important, how to be informed and empowered.

This buyer’s guide is that resource—and it could save you thousands of dollars.

Exhaustively researched, and with extensive input from both industry insiders and consumer advocates, this guide contains much information that retailers, even the good guys, don’t want you to know. Whether you are in the market for an affordable first home or a vacation getaway, or a larger residence, or you’re thinking about moving to a land-lease community, this guide gives you all the information and tools you will need to successfully find and purchase the home of your dreams.


Topics include


The top 25 manufactured home builders rated
Pros and cons of manufactured homes
The 19 warning signs of an untrustworthy dealer
The 19 encouraging signs of a reputable dealer
Trapped entrances, up rotation, write-ups, and other mysteries explained
How buyers get fleeced, a worst case scenario
Checking out a dealer, getting the local lowdown
The anatomy of a dealership, factory rebates, how retailers make their profit

Calculating your buying power—get your own credit score and shop for the money first
How dealers determine their retail prices
Guidelines for checking out lot models Back-lot bargains: repossessed homes, the pros and cons—danger signs
Handling high-pressure sales technique
Shopping for land—Search tips, how to get the best effort out of your Realtor
Construction loans—making sure your lender protects your interests

How to determine the fair price of a home
Smart negotiating tactics, what not to disclose
Deal terms—what to insist be in writing
When disputes arise—best strategies for prompt resolution

Checking out Land-lease communities—questions to ask and where to ask them
Deciphering lease and rental agreements
Preventive steps to avoid contractor rip-offs
Site-preparation and installation—what you should know, an inspection check list
Warranty problems—how to get prompt and satisfactory service


About the author: John Grissim is a journalist, author and recent convert to manufactured housing. During a career spanning more than 30 years, he has authored eight books and contributed to many periodicals in the U.S. and overseas, including Rolling Stone, Discovery, Sports Afield, Surfer, Playboy and Smithsonian. He lives with his family on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.



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Rainshadow Publications
240 pages, 66 illustrations
soft coverISBN 0-9725436-0-0