Mobile vs manufactured vs modular

[Mike]

Hey everyone,

Please forgive this naive question. My wife and I just purchased a small lot near the beach that we'd like to put a single wide on for family use. My question is this....is a single wide considered a mobile home, a manufactured home or a modular home? I've spoken to realtors, home dealers, insurance agents and financing experts and the answers never quite agree. They seem to have different definitions depending on their line of business! What I think I understand is that manufactured and mobile are interchangeable terms when referring to the home.

Can someone PLEASE confirm or correct??!!

Thanks for your help.

Mike

[rmurray]

The number of sections has nothing to do with which code the home is built to..

Go here for the correct definitions..

http://www.manufacturedhousing.org/lib/ ... =446&cat=5

You are correct that most folks use the wrong term and call manufactured homes mobile homes...but this has nothing to do with the formal definitions of the terms...

Most single section homes will be manufactured homes..or mobile homes if they are older than a 1977 model...A few modular are built into single sections usually used on narrow lots.....

All the "experts" consulted should have known the facts...Try a different dealer in the future...He should have known the answer...

Good Luck...buy one soon before prices go up much more...

[Mike]

Murray, thanks for the clarification! Here's another one from someone who has never been in this market...have prices been rising and is the general consensus that they will continue to do so? And I assume this would also hold true for 'used' homes (later than 2000?)

Thanks again,

Mike

[rmurray]

Yes prices have been rising a lot since Katrina...The large amount of building going on in LA,MS,AL is sucking building materials from the whole country...Causing some shortages and lots of cost increases..This is reflected in higher building costs nationwide in every kind of construction..Factory built is no exception...

Most expect these increases to continue until the building in the hurricane area catches up...You are right to expect used homes to follow new ones up....

[David Oxhandler]

Mike -

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[Glen A. Smith]

rmurray. I saw your response to Mike and you sound like a person willing to give straight answers. I am a director of a home owners association in Pennsylvania. Our covenant deed [pre-1976] prohibits mobile homes and structures like that. For some months now we have been in utter turmoil, mainly because in an association like this we are gifted with more experts than members. As a result I have gone through a pretty heavy education in the stick vs. manufactured vs. industrialized homes.

A family purchased a lot and home from a questionable builder -- who is now out of the picture. The builder had them select their home from a dealer. They were told in a most convincing way that their home was a modular home. But when it was delivered to the site many months ago our "experts" took the position that the home they had was a double-wide trailer -- i.e. a manufactured home -- and that it could not be erected here because of the prohibition in the covenant deed. One director in particular has been fighting the cause against this home with great vehemence. He rallied the membership and the board into asking for an injunction. They would not listen to my argument that an injunction action put us at risk for monetary damage inasmuch as this home is not HUD certified but certified by the State of Pennsylvania as an industrialized home [modular home]. When the unit owner started talking of $60,000 or more in damages the board backed off and dropped the injunction action.

But the director opposed is like a dog with a bone. He went through all the paperwork with a fine tooth comb and finally found an error. The home is 64 feet long. As there is a required setback of 15 feet on either side this would require a lot 94 feet wide -- but the lot is only 90 feet wide. So he got the building inspector to block installation. The family then appealed for a waiver with the zoning commission. They have no money so couldn't [or at least did not] have an attorney represent them before the commission -- and lost. Now they have determined to turn the house [there is room for this] and thus meet the setback requirements. So now our director in opposition is fighting this.

Several of us feel that the only fair thing is to let them install the home in accordance with the township requirements and be done with it. This home will look at least as good as many of our existing homes -- and better than some.

My question for you is: Is it possible for a home originally designed and built as a manufactured home under HUD to now qualify as an industrialized home built under Pennsylvania rules and certified by Pennsylvania as a modular? This particular unit has a rigid steel frame with I beams running up the center. This frame is recessed -- mainly because it has a sunken living room. The builder is Colony Crafted Homes. Colony has produced and continues to produce HUD approved manufactured homes as well as Pennsylvania approved industrialized/modular homes. There is no wood sill and it does not fit well onto a foundation. [As a result the building inspector required the installation of 32 lolly columns which will make it the best supported building in the region.] Incidentally Pennsylvania just recently adopted the IRC as its building code for stick builts and for modular homes. Does the IRC, to your knowledge, permit rigid steel frames? I could not get a straight answer out of the council which publishes the code.]

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. I'm sick and tired of hearing all our local experts -- who probably couldn't find their way to the emergency exit in case of fire.

Glen Smith

[rmurray]

Hope there are no fires in your area....

You asked..."Is it possible for a home originally designed and built as a manufactured home under HUD to now qualify as an industrialized home built under Pennsylvania rules and certified by Pennsylvania as a modular?" Yes

Most modulars built in the country are built this way right now are this...Manufactured homes re-engineered to meet the state's "modular" code..

I am not sure but your laws seem similar to Ga's..even the name industrialized housing is the same...I am not sure but the IRC "International Residential Code"
Seems to be a recent change in your state ..if this unit was built prior the prior code would prevail..Metal Frames are not allowed on Industrialized Housing in GA...BUT are allowed in SC and recently in FL..NC recently just changed to stop this type of home...I would suspect if you called a plant engineer, State Engineer in your state you should get the answer if they still are allowed.

The legal standing of 30 year old deed restrictions vary from state to state..In many states they expire in 30 years..Of course the attorney who wrote them in '76 was badly out of the times...by that is the HUD code was passed and new "mobile homes"were no more...In court the intention of the rule is nearly meaningless..The law depends heavily on definitions of words..Often those written by legislative bodies...So your state legal definitions would weigh heavily...The courts also way heavily on precedence...case law on this exact situation is varied in the country..only a good local attorney would be able to give your organization good advice..Also some organizations lose cases if ALL restrictions have not been strictly enforced over the years..If there are other violations in the community that have not been enforced it is not likely a court would side with selective enforcement of the covenants...Again only a local attorney can give you good advice...
There is a landmark case here in GA exactly like yours (of course the modular is off frame) in which the first level of court has sided with the association and ordered the removal of the home..this court order has been stayed and the case in in appeals..Which in GA means there will be years of legal wrangling..and tens of thousands in legal fees for both sides.....I am aware of another similar case in SC that went the other way..but in that case the selective rule enforcement became the basis of the ruling..

I myself once bought a lot in a golf course community in FL..It had an architectural committee where the plans had be be approved by the board...I submitted the plans and the "know-it alls" approved it..I bought a building permit..Then the directors found out where I worked and called and asked who was going to build the home..When I told them it would be factory built modular they went ballistic...But their attorney told them they would lose if I defended my rights since it met the zoning codes and the fools had approved the prints...They got the group to buy the lot from me for a nice $15,000 profit..That might give your members and idea of a solution to satisfy all...

Consult an attorney..unnecessary hindrance might very well be making the association liable...

Good luck keeping peace...Remind your obstinate director that his "trailer park" enemy might bring his "tailor park beer drinking buddies over" and terrorize the whole neighborhood..Good Luck
If you nare up for a little fun..go here to see pics of your neighbors...

http://www.drbukk.com/gmhom/park

[Tim]

Before you go too far, contact the State agency that approves the homes. The person in charge of that program is Mark Conte and can be reached at 717-720-7416.

[Joan in Florida]

Hi~
I just started to research the more affordable modular (manufactured) home, not a double wide trailer. I read that recently Flroida has allowed metal frame mod homes? What does this mean? If I am in the market, where would I go to see if the existing home was built to today's codes, espeicially in Florida and specifically, the east Coast? Many for sale but which is good, which are not? How can I tell the difference?

Thanks for your insight.

[Roy T. Bonney]

First, you must understand the difference between the two products. A manufactured home is built to the federal HUD code. A modular home, is built in a factory, but built to a state code for the state for which it is intended to be sited. They are two different products. A modular home, can be built either with a frame, (( known as an "on frame mod") which remains with the home, or built to be delivered on a chassis that will be removed when the home is put on the foundation. Many of the same manufactures that build manufactured homes, also build on frame modulars. Both require a third party inspection, so in the manufactured home, will be a data plate indicating the home was built to the HUD code. In the modular home, will be a similar certificate affixed to the wall, showing that the home is a modular, and to which building code it was constructed. Check with local manufactured home dealers in your area for info on what manufacturers are also offering "on frame mods" in your area.