Frustrated in Harrisburg

[edelia]

the MH industry needs to do a lot of educating realtors and lobbying legislators to end the discrimination I've been running into with MH housing. I've been searching 3 years here looking for something affordable where I can have horses. What I have been running into is a series of 'covenants' and land restrictions with clauses of no mobiles, doublewides and MH. It is so frustrating I may eventually be forced into buying a stick built house.

[Dan O'Flaherty]

You are very right. The Manufactured Housing industry needs to bring both real estate and government officials "up to speed" on our housing. You might be able to challange the deed restrictions on manufactured housing as it may have been placed to restrict the placment of single wide housing and not the more traditional multi-sectioned housing. Also, you might check with the Pa. Manufactured Housing Assoc. they might be able to help, they have a web site.
good luck

[Patty]

Hold on, Dan!!!!!! Why is it okay to restrict single-wide housing, but not double-wide housing? Remember --- when you acquiesce in the belief that government has the right to tell you what kind of housing you can/can't live in, then you can't quibble over details. Either you own the land or you don't. It's either your choice of home, or it isn't. And yes, Edelia can fight this thing,but it takes time and money. The manufactured housing industry needs to get very aggressive about this instead of hanging the individual home-buyers out to dry. And the home-buyers need to let our elected officials know that we're not going to allow them to play with our lives. If somebody wants to buy a single-wide - or for that matter - if they want to live in a tent on their own property - that is entirely THEIR RIGHT!

[Dan O'Flaherty]

Zoning is a fact of life, and it has a place. Without zoning someone could excersize their rights and next door to your home build a stock yard or slaughter house or something else that you would deem offensive.
The problem is that most zoning that restricts the use of HUD coded manufactured homes addresses what the industry was, and not what it is.
It is a plus that growing numbers of towns now allow for the multi-sectioned homes even though they still restrict the single wide product, it is a step in the right direction.
Local planning boards and zoning officials are under local pressure from established neighborhoods to only allow thoes homes that will maintain value and neighborhood character. As strongly as some feel about their individual property rights just as many, if not more, feel restriction is needed.
Many feel that putting a singlewide home in established neighborhoods will have a negitive effect on the homes surronding them. That is incorrect, as proved by several studies but, when you mess with long held beliefs and the value of families biggest investment you are playing with fire.
IT is correct that the industry as a whole does very little to assist buyers when they meet problems. The manufactured housing industry does, mostly through state associations assist folks in getting land zoned for manufactured housing use. No, but contacting the state association in Pa. will offer assistance, in this case.
Now that the industry is changing and looking to sell homes in more urban settings, it will have to get more aggressvie to zoning issues. It is unfortunate that many industry insiders have yet to get that message.
It is correct everyone has rights, we also seem to forget about the responsiblities that go with them. If you buiild in a neighborhood that is established you have the right to build a home that is affordable, but you have the responsiblity to make it approprate to the area. Zoning that maintains neighborhood character does not shut out the products of this industry.
People do need to contact their local town officials and tell them that not allowing affordable manufactured homes is wrong.

[rmurray]

Well said...

One of the major problems is that zoning is local...state associations are not..

Every planning meeting that I attend is dominated by local developers and builders...all with local connections...dealers have a problem in that most of us are regional in our business...We regularly deliver homes into 8 counties...There is no way we can be locally connected in them all....as a matter of fact..the local builders with the clout see us as a direct threat to their income...Local building supply places hate us..

I am a big believer in organization of those in the industry that earn thier living off the business...Get them involved with thier home counties...This includes salespersons, service persons, suppliers, well, septic, clearing contractors...all hundreds that directly benefit..Even mortgage originators and appraisors lately..Unfortunately most local associations are nothing but the dealer principles getting togather to chew the fat...

My wife works for Krogers...Printed on every pay check is a reminder that this check was brought to you by the happy customers of Krogers...If we did nothing else...We could all do the same with ours.."This check is from the happy manufactured home owners...support the industry"

[Jefferson]

Zoning laws may be well-established, but so was slavery at one time.

The example of somebody building a slaughterhouse next door to me is one of those extreme examples that always pop up. It ain't gonna happen! As people flee the big cities and the formerly rural areas get built up, the property becomes more valuable, in spite of the fact that there may be a "trailer" here and there.

I'll give you a great example very close to (my) home - Mountain Park, Georgia.

This is a tiny little city of fewer than 500 homes which sits right next door to Roswell, Georgia. Roswell's average household income is $90,000.

Back in the 1960's, Roswell was a hick town and Mountain Park was a haven for hippies who wanted to smoke dope without being hassled by the police. Since Mountain Park had no police force, people bought single-wide trailers and put them on lots where they could light up and commune with nature to their heart's content. Because of the existing lake, it was also a very DOWNscale fishing community.

Today, many of those single-wides are still there (and these are TRUE trailers)---- right next door to $300,000 houses and nobody bats an eye at plunking down the money. I'm thinking of one house in particular that sold for $204,000 and the property next door boasts a single-wide trailer that has been added on to over the years and is no thing of beauty, but who are we to judge?

And you know what? Mountain Park is charming for that very reason. Besides the trailers, there are very old site built homes, ranch-style houses from the 70's, log cabins, the newer upscale houses - and there's even a "dome home" that looks like a wooden igloo. It's very eclectic and the place has character - something you don't see anymore in these cookie-cutter neighborhoods being thrown up.

My point is - - - - as property becomes more valuable for the reason stated above,
manufactured housing is not going to "bring down the neighborhood." I could enlarge on what REALLY brings down neighborhoods - things like latch-key children with no manners, no respect and no morals - but I'm sure I'd get censored on this website so I won't elaborate.

Home-owners need to get a grip on reality - if you're not wealthy enough to buy up enough land around you to act as a buffer between you and the "riff raff", then you just take your chances! And you have no right to discriminate against somebody who chooses to live in manufactured housing, which - by the way - may very well be better built and much nicer than your site-built home!

[Bryan]

Well said. You are so right! It's amusing that the home-owners of the cloned tract-housing get so uppity about manufactured housing or any other kind of structure that they deem unacceptable.

[edelia]

It's not zoning. In fact, many of the municipalities I have been looking in have no zoning. It's the OWNERS of the land who are subdividing a farm or acreage OR it's developers who have bought up large tracts of land and then subdivide it. I don't know how realtors play in all of this, but I don't think they're that amenable to MH housing. (although a realtor that I was working with has been converted!). When I say I want to put up a 2000 square foot manufactured house, they wrinkle their nose. IT'S BIGGER THAN MOST OF THE SITE BUILT HOMES THAT ARE GOING UP. They put covenants and restrictions on the land or they just don't accept your offer.

Some things I think the industry can do is take realtors out to lunch, as well as local officials, state legislators and developers. Wine and dine (I work for government, I know how that works). Also, it would be soooo nice if the manufacturers were to develop some very nice glossy brochures, with pictures of the houses, all dolled up and ready to go out. If I had that, I could win over some people. all they have in their minds, is the 'mobile' down the road with all the junk piled around it. A nicely done glossy brochure would sure change their minds. I know it! Meanwhile, I'm back to searching for land that I can afford AND I can put my MH house on and horses!

[L Jane]

Edelia, While your idea of taking officials, etc., out to lunch I would like to make another suggestion. Rather than showing them some well-done, glossy color brochures, why not walk them through some lot models? There's no better way to make your point than to have them actually walk through a MH, see the quality of workmanship, show them how they are built - inside out - and then ask them what a site-built home of the same quality would cost. As far as "dolling up" a place to demonstrate how nice a MH can look. Please, whatever you do, do not go overboard like some places have been done that we have seen. We have walked through some MH that look like bordellos. . .gaudy to the max. However, we have also seen a few very well-decorated, upgrades that anyone would mistake for a house. The homes that have 1/2" sheetrock throughout, plywood subfloors, cove molding throughout and (what I personally prefer), "flat" ceilings with 8' sidewalls, porcelain sinks, thermal pane windows, etc., etc. should impress the most diehard anti-MH person. Someone commented about the local builders, etc. This is what I feel is the main driving force behind a lot of covenants which are meant to keep MH out of any given area. The fact that a house is "site-built" by a "name brand" contractor is no guarantee. . .just ask a few people in the Atlanta area who thought they were buying a "quality-built" home. I have very good friends who live in Mid-Town (a part of Atlanta). Exclusive neighborhood. . .their full two-story home with full basement is appraised at $330,000. What did they get for that $330,000? Not long after they moved in they found out that not one of the homes in that small neighborhood had tar paper under the shingles - all the homes had to have a new roof installed! Then this year they discovered the house had a serious settling problem. Come to find out. . .the house had been built over a landfill. The company that fixed the problem by installing pilings bored down 40 feet before they hit "something" which later turned out to be a tree! To top it all off. . .this is a four-sided brick home. The entire face of this two-story home will have to be re-bricked since the builder did not install enough brick ties therefore the bricks are pulling away from the front. There is a gap of atleast 3 inches along one side of their very nice front door. So exactly why do people think MH are poorly built today? When we finally get our new home installed our neighbors are going to want to come over and see it (not that they come over now). They will be welcome because I want them to see exactly what a MH can look like. One neighbor has already seen the inside of one home down the road from us and she was impressed. Just wait, I think she's in for a surprise! Good luck on your search! L Jane

[Tracy]

Hey, L-Jane, do you also live in the Atlanta area, or is it just your friends? If you ARE in the general area, where is the land you're going to put a manufactured home on? And how did you find it? I've been looking in Pickens, Dawson, Cherokee and Hall Counties now for that UNRESTRICTED piece of land, but can find nothing. Please advise.

Thanks