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Considering MFG home- questions
Old 04-21-2014, 04:32 PM   #1
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Considering MFG home- questions

We'll be downsizing in a year or so and are able to relocate as we want. We are considering mfg housing community living. Haven't really lived or been familiar with mfg housing since living in trailers in college. Any tips about how to find upscale, quality homes? Looking for contemporary floor plans with open living, nice kitchens etc... can you get more 'bang' for the buck with mfg homes? We're not fancy, just want to be comfortable.

Relatives in CA are looking at 'Sterling' brand homes..says the quality is highest. Sterling has no dealers in Texas.

Haven't looked at anything except online... we're in 'sincere' but not 'serious' stage... we just looking for a direction to start with..any tips or info would be appreciated... cheers!
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Old 04-21-2014, 04:52 PM   #2
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No tips from me, but I am a big fan of manufactured homes. They get the snotty attitude from some people who only consider "stick built" homes to be "real" homes. A number of good companies out there.
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Old 04-21-2014, 04:55 PM   #3
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Family owned a mfg sales company 25 years ago. Then there were basically two options; the standard mobile home that was 12-14' wide and 45 to 65' long, came on a steel frame, pull into spot, level it out, hook up water, sewer and electric and hand over the keys. The second option and at least at the time better built was referred to as modular homes. These were better built. The manufactures would state they were more stable than the standard 2x4 onsite built home; had to be better built due to travel and crane onto site, etc. This second type really looked nice, dry wall and 2x4 or 2x6 construction, would should to the site in one or two large rectangles, would crane onto a cement block foundation and we would basically lag bolt the house together and complete siding on each end, then hook all up, hand over keys. Not sure how the industry is doing but have to believe better. I would buy a modular home over a "mobile" home. good luck.
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Old 04-21-2014, 05:03 PM   #4
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My husband (an architect) has pointed out that since manufactured and modular homes are designed to be shipped on trucks- they will likely survive an earthquake better than a traditional stick home. (Designed to be shaken/jarred/etc.)

It's an argument to keep in your arsenal for any naysayers.

Here in San Diego there are very few parks/communities. Some in the surrounding communities - but they are all getting rezoned and redeveloped. The land is too valuable.
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Old 04-21-2014, 05:09 PM   #5
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I was considering buying an old beaten down house for its lot, and replace it with MFG house. Has anyone done this?
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Old 04-21-2014, 05:18 PM   #6
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I was considering buying an old beaten down house for its lot, and replace it with MFG house. Has anyone done this?
As long as the town/county allows it. That is the problem a lot of people run into.
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Old 04-21-2014, 05:18 PM   #7
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My husband is an architect, he would never recommend the purchase of a mobile home - new or otherwise - unless you can afford to loose all your investment.

Buy a modular home and put it on land you own. Modular homes are constructed to comply with stick-built code.

Mobile homes are not the same quality, they depreciate in value. Mobile home parks are subject to re-development and it is difficult to find another park that will accept an older mobile home.
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Old 04-21-2014, 05:38 PM   #8
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I was considering buying an old beaten down house for its lot, and replace it with MFG house. Has anyone done this?
Talk about putting one of these in some towns is treated as a cuss word or much worse.
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Old 04-21-2014, 05:54 PM   #9
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The first thing to do, is to understand the difference between manufactured and modular homes, especially as "community" was mentioned.
Typically, communities are either one or the other, but not commonly mixed.

Manufactured housing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Our feeling is that the community is more important than the house.
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Old 04-21-2014, 06:06 PM   #10
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The few modular homes I'm familiar with were of fine quality, no structural issues. FIL's house was one, BIL has one, a couple of people I used to work with had them. One advantage is speed - they're not as constrained by weather issues since most of the assembly is done in a factory.
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Old 04-21-2014, 06:21 PM   #11
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All good answers.. Please keep them coming...
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Old 04-21-2014, 06:26 PM   #12
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I have been inside a mobile home, but not a modular home. And we have rented a park model once for a vacation. Same as other park models, this one was narrow. Despite its size, its interior and appliances were well appointed. My wife and I agreed that it would make a nice home for single persons or a couple who do not need or want a big home. I thought it was well built.

Are park models still considered mobile homes?
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Old 04-21-2014, 06:44 PM   #13
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Are park models still considered mobile homes?
The way I understand it (which may be wrong) the distinction is that park models are intended to be put in place once and never moved again, while mobile homes are intended to be moved again.

In practice I suspect the difference is the same as the difference between a Chevy and GMC pickup truck.
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Old 04-21-2014, 07:17 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by Tailgate View Post
We'll be downsizing in a year or so and are able to relocate as we want. We are considering mfg housing community living. Haven't really lived or been familiar with mfg housing since living in trailers in college. Any tips about how to find upscale, quality homes? Looking for contemporary floor plans with open living, nice kitchens etc... can you get more 'bang' for the buck with mfg homes? We're not fancy, just want to be comfortable.

Relatives in CA are looking at 'Sterling' brand homes..says the quality is highest. Sterling has no dealers in Texas.

Haven't looked at anything except online... we're in 'sincere' but not 'serious' stage... we just looking for a direction to start with..any tips or info would be appreciated... cheers!
I don't have any information to add except we are in the same spot. From a financial standpoint a not stick built home seems to make a lot of sense. I am just not sure where we would put one.

We looked at waterfront condos that had a senior park with mobile homes right across the street. Same general location, same shopping, same schools, only with the senior park we wouldn't have any shared walls and we'd have some of our own space. I am sure the condos would have more cachet, but I am not sure the cachet is worth an extra few hundred thousand dollars, especially if we want to travel a big part of the year.
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Old 04-21-2014, 07:30 PM   #15
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I was surprised at how the manufactured homes industry has changed recently. There is a company near us, Blu Homes ( https://www.bluhomes.com ) that builds manufactured homes up to around 3,000 square feet. At the top end, the basic home before customization is over $650,000, and the site prep, including grading, excavation, foundation work, and utilities can be over $200,000. So, yeah, with customizations it's pretty easy to get a manufactured home over a million dollars.

These things are just insane. The company uses a huge shop at the old Mare Island Naval Shipyard that used to build Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles and research subs to build the homes. Each home is computer-designed and built to fold up on hinges designed into the frame so it fits on a trailer. The homes are folded up complete with windows and cabinetry already installed, trucked out to the site, and unfolded onto the foundation.

I think the idea is to offset the high labor cost of building in a remote location.
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Old 04-21-2014, 07:52 PM   #16
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We have rented a park model for a weekend. It was pretty reminiscent of our travel trailer, but bigger, better furnished and with more wood in the interior. Its the sort place I could easily have as a vacation home, but would be a major trade down from stick built. Modular is a whole different story. Good quality, does not depreciate like a new car, and all kinds of different designs.
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Old 04-21-2014, 07:59 PM   #17
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Hmm... Our experience was different with the park model that we rented. We felt more like being in a home, albeit a tiny one, and definitely did not feel like we were in an RV. The floor felt solid, compared to some mobile homes that we have been in. Again, we were impressed.

By the way, it was a timeshare location that turned out to be built entirely with park models.
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Old 04-21-2014, 08:13 PM   #18
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Texas - these two have been around for a while
Home Page|OAK CREEK HOMES (Sanger)| Manufactured HomesSanger, Texas, Modular HomesSanger, Texas, Mobile HomesSanger, Texas
Manufactured Homes Texas | Modular Home Texas | Quality Homes From Solitaire

I considered putting a LV on a peice of land once:
Rocio Romero, modern design and prefab architecture
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Old 04-21-2014, 09:23 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort View Post
I don't have any information to add except we are in the same spot. From a financial standpoint a not stick built home seems to make a lot of sense. I am just not sure where we would put one.

We looked at waterfront condos that had a senior park with mobile homes right across the street. Same general location, same shopping, same schools, only with the senior park we wouldn't have any shared walls and we'd have some of our own space. I am sure the condos would have more cachet, but I am not sure the cachet is worth an extra few hundred thousand dollars, especially if we want to travel a big part of the year.
Where was this? it sounds interesting.
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Old 04-21-2014, 09:33 PM   #20
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We looked at modular homes when we built and were impressed but ultimately decided to go stick-built. We also considered SIPs.

Some friends of ours built a modular home last year. It's quite nice. Around here they can take just about any plan you have, chunk it up into modules, build it, deliver it , put it together and put the finishing touches in the field.
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