I am currently working on a deal to purchase some modular homes from an investor. The deal is currently in limbo because my inspector thinks they are manufactured homes and not modular. He discovered a HUD certificate in one of the units which normally indicates manufactured. The County and the survey lists them as modular. My appraiser is trying to contact the builder (Palm Harbor) to verify the type of construction. He is not getting anywhere fast because the unit were built in 1983 and Palm Harbor is not moving fast to give us an answer.
My concern is where to go from here. The appraiser can’t give a definitive answer so the loan can continue…we have extended the closing twice already…
wish i had a ‘real’ answer but here’s our experience
we have been doing stuff with manufactured homes in AZ for the last 2 years. (Lived in a 2000 sq ft doublwide for 11 years & loved it)
in 2005 we purchased 4 repos which we placed on lots, rehabbed them & are selling them. In our search we asked many people the difference between modular & manufactured
we asked dealers, appraisers, loan officers, wholesalers etc & never got a real answer… the closest someone came to any difference was the height of the walls & others would act like we were nuts when we asked.
A HUD sticker as I understand it means it means HUD building standards- in our county any home moved into it must meet HUD standards.
btw I have found There has also been a misconceotion that no one wants to finance mfg hms… we have not had trouble
M & I bank in Phx. (Kelly Roberts - glad to pass on her email - EXCELLENT to work with - all online & fax) has put through 4 loans on mfg. home with land as investment properties & one was even a 1992 single-wide… they will loan on anything newer than 1976 if affixeed to land - but of course prefer dblwide
not sure if this helps or applies to you but I found these definitions in our city site
Modular Building (Factory-built): A factory built building, residential or nonresidential, excluding mobile homes and manufactured homes defined herein. Such housing is certified as meeting the local building codes as applicable to modular housing and shall be considered equivalent to a site built building and which requires substantial assembly on-site. Also referred to as “factory built” in Department of Building, Fire and Safety Rules, State of Arizona.
Manufactured Home: A structure designed to be a permanent residence that was fabricated in an off-site manufacturing facility for installation or assembly on a building site, bearing a label certifying that it is built in compliance with the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (HUD Code), which became effective June 15, 1976. (See also “Mobile Home”.)
Mobile Home: A structure that was constructed before June 15, 1976, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems. (Pre ‘76 Mobile Homes are not HUD-std “Manufactured Homes.)
Were the house built on the site, or were they built somewhere else and moved to the site. That right there will tell you how the appraiser and lender are going to look at the property. Its says in the definitions “shall be considered equivalent to a site built building and which requires substantial assembly on-site”. If it was totally constructed somewhere else and just tied to the ground at the site then it is a manufactured home.
What's the difference between mobile homes, manufactured homes and modular homes?
If you haven’t stepped inside a manufactured home lately, you’re in for a really big surprise… especially if it’s a Palm Harbor. Technically, modular homes and mobile homes are manufactured homes. Palm Harbor builds manufactured homes and they’re built to a Federal Code. Perhaps you knew them as mobile homes once, but after HUD passed the Federal Manufactured Housing Standards and Safety Act, the term mobile home was dropped. Because we build to the Federal HUD Code, HUD approved third party inspectors are in our factories at all stages during production. Modular homes fall under local jurisdiction. Some of our factories do build modular depending on the factory location and the destination of the home. Modular codes could be DCA, UBC, BOCA, SBC, etc. The differences usually involve design standards versus performance standards. Municipalities differ in that they have different requirements and variations within county governments.
I have actually been googling for modular or factory build/site assembled companies west of the Mississippi & am not having much luck. Off hand anyone know of any or used them?
I need to do more research, but as far as I have ever been able to figure out, all Palm Harbor homes in the SW (& Cavco & Clayton & Champion etc) are built in the factory & hauled to the site. I am refering to homes where parts are fabricated in a factory & assembled on site - other terms are pre-fab - panelized or kit homes.
In past years I built a kit home (not just with my own 2 boney hands ;D), & have purchased & had transported & set up 3 new manufactured homes, & rehabbed 4 used double wide manufactured homes. I still say there in nation wide confusion about the difference between the 2 - mod vs mfg
investigation to continue… :-\
Just called our local Palm Harbor & you are 100% right…
they say the differenced is they are built in a factory & haul on a flat bed - then with a crane are lifted off the flatbed onto the foundation
the per/sq ft cost is about $24/sq ft vs $77/sq ft just for the box
he thinks Cavco also does modular
this is still not what I mean
I’m thinking Panelixed or kit homes
The easiest way to tell the difference fast is to look at the end of each section for the label, (its about the size of a credit card), if it is red its a hud code home, if its blue its a modular. The home you described is a hud code home, I don’t know of any modulars built in the early 80’s by a manufactured home builder. As far as financing goes it is going to be hard to get a lender to loan on a home that old. Look for homes under 15 years old in the future, their easer to get financing on.
by all means banks prefer newer & doublewides but…
don’t know where you are but M & I Bank based in Milwaukee will lend on 1977 & newer including singlwides & not only owner occup. but as investment prop/rentals
I know this is a fact because we have gotten 4 loans from them on mfg home as investments in the last year
yes…
she is married now so name is Kelly Weston Kelly.Weston@micorp.com
I think she has been out of the office the last week
if you can’t reach her, email me…
