The best built manufactured home.

[Andrea]

Hello, we have been looking at manufactured housing for some time now. Everyone says they are the best. I live in Washington state, and am very impressed with Valley Quality homes. Only the best materials are used. We don't like the homes that use cellulose blown in insulation. Do you have any recommendations on the best built MH???? Are prices always negociable?? We would like to get the best deal of course. Is there a website or any info that rates manufactured home builders on quality and building materials? I cannot find anything. I would sure appreciate some help. Thank you for your time. Andrea, Spokane, WA

[Bryan]

BUY THE BOOK

[Doug Dvorak]

Which manufactured homes are best and which are the worst, name brands??

[Sphinx]

I'm in your neighborhood, (moscow, ID) and from what I've seen, if I buy a new mobile it will be a Guerdon. I haven't looked at Palm Harbors in several years, but they impressed me as well. A step down, but still a good choice would be Golden West or Fuqua. I wouldn't even CONSIDER a Fleetwood. At our Lewiston dealership, the so-called Caddilac model was falling apart everywhere and really looked like hell. The rest looked like they had been lived in by a pack of wolves, and these were new models.

I suppose there's likely to be some difference in quality and workmanship depending on the factory the home comes out of, and the dealership itself on how much care they put into setting up their display models. You may have more brand options up there than I have here, and if you make a trip to Tri-Cities, there's quite a few dealerships to browse. The Guerdon dealer in Lewiston had beautiful homes, set up with care and attention to detail. The owner took me on a tour of his new homes and answered all my questions even though I was honest up front about my low probabilty of buying. And strangely, the fabulous Guerdon homes didn't run that much higher than the junky Fleetwoods.

So there's my opinion anyway.