Information on manufactured
homes from Charlie Taylor Housing:
Factory-built homes have completely changed from the “mobile home” of the 60’s
and 70’s. With a high tech production process and computer aided drafting, manufactured
housing is as excellent choice because of efficiency, affordability, and
innovative design options.
A factory-built home is so close in design and structure to their site-built
counterparts that it is difficult to tell them apart sometimes. Home shoppers have really been able to see
the value of being able to get more home for their money.
- 1998: 336,981 home buyers chose a factory built home
- more than 7% of the US population live in
factory built homes.
- Factory-built homes represent 28% of all new single family homes.
Factory-built housing covers any type of housing constructed in a factory and
transported to a residential site. Manufactured, modular, and panelized housing
for example are factory-built homes. What we will discuss here is specifically the
manufactured home.
Mobile Homes is a term used for
factory-built homes produced prior to
1976, when the national building code went into effect. It is not an accurate term for the double
wide and triple wide manufactured homes of today.
Manufactured homes are homes built entirely in the factory
under a federal building code administered by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD). The Federal Manufactured Home Construction and
Safety Standards (commonly known as the HUD Code) went into effect June 15, 1976. It's the only federally regulated national
building code.
Built entirely in a factory, manufactured homes are transported to the site and
installed. Federal standards, established in 1976, regulate manufactured
housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability,
fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The government also sets
standards for heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical
systems. On-site additions, such as garages, decks, and porches, must be built
to local, state or regional building codes.
The average site-built home costs an average of $70 per square foot, while a
factory-built home costs $35 to $40 per square foot, mostly because they are
more efficient to produce.
A quality manufactured home can cost anywhere from $30K’s even up to $100K’s,
Practically any feature available in a custom site-built home is also available
in a manufactured home.
Benefits to consider
"By not being exposed to the whims of Mother Nature, factory-builders can
shorten the production schedule required to get a house from the drawing board
to a lot. They can also monitor waste better, reduce theft and more accurately
maintain inventories-all of which are very difficult to do when you are
building out in the middle of an open field."-Popular Mechanics
There is a Fleetwood plant right here in Gallatin,
Tennessee. It is a model of efficiency.
Here are just some of the benefits of buying a factory-built home:
- You get more for your money. You get a quality home at a lower
cost than a site-built home because of bulk purchasing of materials and
efficiency of a factory environment.
-
When a manufactured home is placed on a permanent foundation it is
treated as Real Estate when you finance.
If you purchase your home as a package with land, then it's considered
"real" property. That means your factory-built home can be financed
with the same kind of long-term mortgage as site-built homes. These
lower-interest loans are available only for permanently located houses.
"Land/home packages," as these loans are often called, come in a
variety of forms. Depending on the lender, they can be virtually identical to
conventional home loans with 30-year mortgages and competitive interest rates.
- Your home is likely to appreciate in value (if your factory-built home is well maintained and installed
on a permanent foundation).
- Charlie Taylor was instrumental in getting zoning laws changed so
that you can place Manufactured Homes more locations instead of just rural farm
land.
- Horton Homes
and Fleetwood insulate their homes which produces a significant savings in heating and
cooling costs. Energy Star is one program you may be familiar with.
Land
Considerations:
- Zoning: We have plenty of experience
with placing homes on land and dealing with the particular zoning laws in
the counties of middle Tennessee.
- Restrictive Covenants: Many covenants in property deed
regulate housing size or how the land will be used. The title search,
conducted when you buy the land, may reveal information about such
restrictions. Restrictions are
often in your best interest as they often are there to keep people from
doing things next door to you that would lower the value of your home and
land.
- Utilities: A factory-built home comes
complete with plumbing, electrical and heating systems. However, like all
homes, it must be connected to electrical, water and sewage facilities.
Examples: “Utility Pole needs to be set, water tap fee by county,
electrical lines placed under ground to pole, hook up to city sewer or
placement of a septic system.
- Keep in mind that if the land you're buying
doesn't have ready access to electric power, hooking up could cost you a
significant amount. The same is true for water lines; you may end up
having a well-drilling company drill a well. In some places a proper
septic system can cost over double what it would normally run. For example if you need a curtain drain.
Why you should choose us as a retailer:
- Stable and reliable company
- We have a good product (Fleetwood Homes and Horton Homes)
- We shop for the best loan products
- We have a dependable service department
- You can choose a home and the interior features
you want - like carpet grade and color, window treatments and certain
appliances -before you move in.
