The Manufactured Housing Forums

A couple of questions here. My mom has about 5-8 good years of work left in her and is looking at a modular/double wide on about an acre of land. What kind of advice can y'all give on buying a home of this nature? Do they lose value quickly or retain some? The agent ( we know him well) said that a lot of mortgage companies have steered clear of financing these types of homes unless the buyer has something to put down on them. Regardless of the house or not, The lot it sits on is worth a pretty penny by itself. Prior to buying the home she plans on new carpet throughout, new roof, new AC/Heat unit and painting the place. She just wonders how hard they are to re-sale, Say in 5-7 years?

First....real estate agents are notorious for not giving great info when it comes to manufactured homes...most would rather sell her a much higher priced (translates to higher commission) home...

There are hundreds of national mortgage companies in the country...almost all of them finance manufactured homes with land with the same or similar programs as any kind of used home..Many of them are listed on this site...

As far as appreciation/depreciation is concerned...Consumers Union (the parent of consumers report magazine) has done an extensive report on this..The basic conclusion is that manufactured homes over time..appreciate the same as any home would on the same piece of property...Appreciation is a function of location and some condition...Take care of this home as you would any other...treat it like a home..it will treat her like a home...Will she be able to sell...depends on the market for home in the area..It is a home..just like any type of home..it can take a while to sell and find the buyer willing to pay top market price...

If she likes the home..she should go for it..

Forgot to put the link in my reply...To see the apprciation study in its complete form..go here..

http://www.consumersunion.org/pdf/mh/Appreciation.pdf

Thanks so much for the info. One thing I forgot to mention though. This house shes buying is really a doublewide. But it was referred to as a modular. Does that make any difference? I would post a link to the home, But the dang listing is gone from the site now. It sits on a solid concrete/brick foundation.

It is a manufactured home..the reference to it as a modular is incorrect...but the study was about manufactured homes...doublewides..