I am in the market of buying a house. But with my income level and being a first-time homebuyer, I am on the verge of going the manufactured home route. To get an idea of the manufactured home I will be getting, you may take a look at the photos below:
http://www.idealmfghomes.com/privatePhotos.asp
and in here:
http://www.idealmfghomes.com/landhome.asp - the 2nd column and 3rd picture below is the style of house I am considering.
For the record, I own the property/lot which I will place a manufactured home on a permanent foundation with concrete pad in southern California. The area of which I own the lot is in a nice neighborhood/nice location/nice view with big houses around (not a trailer park!). One would think it would be silly to put a manufactured home in my area, however, I'm considering the newer model built in 2007 with modern-looking interior. And these days, you can put bricks, log, concrete, or stucco as an exterior your manufactured home I heard.
Someone told me the difference between a small-sized traditional home and a new manufactured home these days is the cost and where it is built. The former is built on-site with construction workers that can take many months. The latter is built in a factory (which I am custom designing on its floor plan) and are transported to the location of the property to look like a traditional home fast. If that's the case, I am strongly thinking of putting a manufactured home on my lot within the next few months. I have talked to different contractors in thinking of building a 3-bedroom/1 bath room house and the cost is around $360k total. A 3-bedroom and 2-bathroom nice looking manufactured home will cost me $220K total with safety inspections and of the highest quality material. Either way, the stick-built or manufactured home will have a nice landscape and driveway around it to boost its property value. If I go with the manufactured (which I am), I am planning to make the exterior of the house stucco, so that it looks like a modern stick-built home. That should help it appreciate in value right? Due to my income level and cost savings, I am going for the manufactured home that looks like a traditional house.
Now, my question concerns about the return on investment for it if I were to sell it for at least ($300K+ in the near future). From some sources I read, people say they are a bad investment and tend to depreciate on the following (with my counter arguments):
1) "Many big lenders won't reliance it since it manufactured home can be moved anywhere." This doesn't fit my case since mine will be on a fixed property that I own.
2) "Manufactured home deprecate in values than stick-built homes." Ok, I can understand if mine wasn't on a fixed land or if I do not own the land. However, I do own the land. Additionally, it's just like any stick-built house but mine was built in a factory.
3) "Manufactured are associated with trailer-park stigma and do not appreciate over time. Many mortgage lenders do not consider them as a real house " Ok, I am not interested in an old-fashioned trailer park mobile home that many people associate manufactured home with. The manufactured home I am designing for the factory will be modern model looking look like a stick-built home. It will be built in a controlled, factory environment, and it will be tested and inspected by HUD for construction to pass hazards/fires/natural disaster issues. It is built from high quality and safe materials. It will have a nice landscape and is in a good quiet neighborhood. The only difference with a traditional home and mine is the factory. How is it different from a site built home? What am I missing here?
After reading things with lenders and real estate agent that manufactured home can be a good or bad investment with no appreciation, it seems many still think of them as trailer park. Or, am I missing something here? I'd like to know are the pros and cons based on my situation. Once it time for me to sell the or refinance, I am simply going to tell the lender or real estate agent, I am selling a "house" instead of a "manufactured" house. It looks like a traditional house, exterior and interior will both look like a traditional house. Yet, it was built in a factory, right? I just want people to stay away from this "mobile" stigma/image.
In any case, what do you guys think about my specific situation? Good cost saving and investment for someone with low income but have bought a property in a good neighborhood? I am 90% sure I will get a manufactured home but just wondering what the 10% have against it.
