When was it build and does it have a red tag? The answers will let you know. What is a manufactured home? Manufactured Homes are built entirely in a factory under the federal building code administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These homes are constructed to meet the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standard Act of June 15, 1976. The federal standards regulate manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The HUD Code also sets performance standards for the heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical systems. HUD is the only federally-regulated national building code. Each home or segment of a home is labeled with a red tag that is the manufacturer's guarantee the home was built to conform to the HUD code. On-site additions, such as garages, decks and porches, often add to the attractiveness of manufactured homes and must be built to local, state or regional building codes. Manufactured homes generally come in single or two-section units and their dimensions range from 8 feet or more wide and 40 feet or more long. Manufactured homes can be placed on a basement and include multiwides and expandable manufactured homes. Excluded are travel trailers, motor homes, and modular housing. What is the difference between a manufactured home and a mobile home? Mobile Homes are homes built prior to June 15, 1976, when the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) code went into effect. The code was created due to poor construction methods and techniques and created a new building standard to which all mobile homes must meet. Only those homes built before the HUD code went into effect are considered "mobile homes".

Hi, fixinfool. Thanks for the email alerting me that you brought this one back up! I've been meaning to come over and update it, actually. OK, so here's the update. We did buy this house at the end of December. What ultimately happened with the floor repair situation was that my husband negotiated with the seller/seller's agent to lower the price of the house by around $20,000. This was done because the highest estimate obtained by the seller was just under $20K. It included fixing the sagging joists and getting rid of the mold. However, we were uncomfortable using this contractor because he did weird stuff in his estimate such as adding in a "20% markup" just as a line item. Another contractor (plumbing, not flooring/foundation) came out and while he didn't say anything bad about the $20K contractor, he expressed some level of surprise that the guy was in the floor-fixing business. That was enough for me to want to pass on it. And as it turned out, passing on it was a good thing because we got two or three more estimates, and finally found a guy who jacks up and levels floors for a living. Very down-to-earth guy who works with his father and son and it's something they've all done all their lives. He came in and told my husband what needed to be done and gave him an estimate, which included all materials, jacking up and leveling the floor, and replacing the damaged joists/adding new ones alongside to strengthen everything. He added concrete piers and something called "six buh sixes" (sorry, we live in TN and I'm from PA so my husband had to talk to the guy--I literally couldn't understand a lot of what he said, hehe). He also built a subfloor in an area of the house with a concrete slab (I think it used to be the garage, maybe). The total cost was $5,000 for all of it (including the materials and subfloor that he built). We had to pay him cash and buy the materials ourselves, but he provided us a list and told us what to get. He did a very, very good job. The floors are leveled out in all but one area, and he could not do that area because there is a heat/AC main duct going along the center of the house in the crawlspace. He could not move it to jack up that one small section. But what he did was add piers and joists (? not sure exactly) along either side to make sure that it was all structurally sound and fortified. It took him about a week to get it all done. When they were jacking the house, we were inside and could feel it. That was pretty cool. They would do a little at a time. They also said that one of the original joists was actually broken in half, so they replaced that and then added some sort of sistering thing alongside just to be sure. They did not remediate the mold or the damaged vapor barrier, however. For this, we found a termite guy. We are from Florida, and we used the Termidor system down there. I don't like bait systems; too iffy and "wait for disaster" for me and it's also dependent on technicians coming back and checking. Blech. No thanks. So we were at a home show and one of the termite guys had a Termidor sign. He was also kind of a skinny little fella, which seemed sort of like an advantage when it comes to crawling around in confined areas. This is what the termite guy did for us (it was a total of $3100). He treated the house with Termidor. It's a 3200-3400 sf house with about 800 feet on the second floor, I think. He removed the insulation under the house, which was mold-ridden, soggy, and gross-just a moisture magnet. He also removed the failing vapor barrier. He put up a new barrier for us. He treated the house (the crawlspace, I mean) to kill the mold and mildew. He also installed a vent system with humidity and temperature sensors that automatically starts running the fans if they rise above a certain level, to help prevent any future mold. We felt this was a good deal and we also liked the guy. This took him most of a week to accomplish. He incidentally found an HVAC duct that was separated and hanging down, just blowing hot air all over the crawlspace. Nice! No wonder our power bills have been nearly $500. We are not sure if this just happened or if it has been like this for a while. We also replaced the existing HVAC system and added a new one (we are remodeling an attic space and also adding central heat/air to a room that just had a window A/C unit) just before the floor guys/termite guys did their thing. The HVAC guys are coming out next week to do another duct inspection just to make sure it's all tight and stable under there. Geesh, this was long! I hope this answers some of your questions. The jacking up part of the foundation fixing was actually far less dramatic than I'd pictured it in my mind. I think what they did was check the floors for level (under the house) and then jack until they were level, then do whatever they do to the floors (joist fixing?/joist adding?) to support the floors at "level." Then they checked it again and moved on to the next area. I know there was a lot of wood (expensive wood) and a lot of concrete blocks involved in this process. Probably $2K worth of wood and concrete blocks? Sorry my descriptions are not incredibly technical, but I might be able to answer specific questions if you have them. The answers will probably not be all that technical but they might still work for you. Good luck, and thanks again to sdello, HancyMac and kudzu for helping me out!

Hi there, Royce! I'm very glad you found this forum. The very first thing I would suggest is that you take the time to read the posts on this forum. Yep, all of them. I did just that last October when I agreed to buy a fixer-upper MH (manufactured home) from a friend of mine. It was like taking a course in Manufactured Homes 101. I've now read very extensively on most aspects of MHs, but that's because I'm a researcher by profession and a book nerd, haha! But even today, I consider this forum to be the best education I got on MHs, because the information comes from the best source--actual, real people who have bought and live in MHs. Just take whatever spare time you have and start reading. Most, if not all, of your questions have been discussed extensively on various threads. Second, let me congratulate you! It is really nice to see a young person planning for his future and being mature enough to save up some money. You are doing things the right way, and it will come back to reward you down the road! I'll attempt to answer your questions, and hopefully some of the other long-timers on this forum will jump in too. But don't let that dissuade you from reading the other threads on the forum! I'm sure things will come up that I haven't answered, and that you haven't even thought to ask. What are some of the best brands to deal with? (I really liked the look of the Patriot from Clayton, also the Malibu from Palm Harbor.) The best advice given on this forum is that it isn't the manufacturer, i.e. the company, rather it's the dealer, meaning the person who sells you the home. (I will say, however, that Clayton is a perennial thumbs down--folks on this forum, for the most part, don't have good things to say about them. I'd steer clear if I were you.) The dealer is so important because she or he is the person you are trusting to get your home set up correctly and to take care of any problems you may encounter during the warranty period. The dealer will make your life either easy or unbearable. You want someone with a good track record and a reputation for being honest and fair. Check with your local BBB, look on social media, etc., and ideally try to find someone to talk with who has purchased a home from him or her. And listen to your gut. If you hear any alarm bells going off, your gut is probably right! How affordable are these homes? A manufactured home can start with a base price of $25,999 and go up over $300,000. This is before you buy land. Price depends upon the size of the home and on what kind of upgrades you want, amongst other factors. Another option to consider is buying a used MH, or even a repo. There are some awesome deals to be had out there! You can sometimes find a home that isn't more than a few years old and is in very good condition being sold for pennies on the dollar. If you go that route, educate yourself so you know what to look for. See my thread on this forum, "I found a great resource!" Is it recommended to find your own lot or have them provide you with one? I'm not sure whom you mean by "them," but nobody is going to "provide you" with a lot. When considering the purchase of a manufactured home, there are several options for land to put it on. First, there is the mobile home park. While there are still plenty of the old "trailer parks" around that give a bad name to MHs, today's MHP (manufactured home park) is completely different. Many parks have lovely amenities like a clubhouse, swimming pool, sports courts, community gardens, and so forth. The clubhouse may sponsor various clubs and other community activities. Senior (55+) parks are very popular now, although I realize that wouldn't be for you. Naturally, the more amenities, the higher the lot rent. The park location may also help determine the rental price. In most parks, the owners of the MH pay lot rent that may include some utilities such as WSG (water, sewer, garbage). I pay $300 a month for lot rent, but our park has no amenities and is way out in the country. Some people pay $700 per month and more. A good park will have restrictions as to what kind of MH you may have, i.e. must not be more than 10 years old, must be a certain size and type (i.e. no 5th wheels, park models, etc.), and will be strict about renters keeping their yard nice and not having junk on the property. Increasingly, there are MHPs where the homeowners purchase their lot. My parents bought an MH in a park where everyone owned their own lots way back in 1973, when I was 13. Owning your own lot back then was unheard of, but more and more parks are going that way, at least here out west. I don't know anything about the situation in Florida. So you can find an MHP that you like and either rent the space or buy it. Or you can buy an MH that's already in a park you want to live in. That's often a good bet. If I were you, I would not find the cheapest thing available. Cheap rarely = a good deal. You want to be in a good neighborhood with nicely kept homes and yards. If you don't want to live in an MHP, you can find and buy your own piece of property, buy it, and set your MH on it. Make sure the land you are buying is zoned for MHs. You may have the added cost of bringing in sewer and water lines (or septic and well), but you have the advantage of owning land that may appreciate in years to come. You could possibly rent a piece of property for your MH, but I haven't heard much about that. Here in Washington, if an acre has three or more MHs on it, it is considered an MHP by state law. For a young person such as yourself, I think owning the land, whether in an MHP or somewhere else, is the way to go. That is just my personal opinion. The reason is appreciation. Both your home itself and the land will hopefully appreciate in value. It used to be the rule of thumb that MHs always go down in value, like driving a new car off the lot, but that isn't always the case anymore. christopher_h has written a lot about this topic on this forum. However, owning the land your MH is on is still much more likely to see good appreciation, even equal to site-built homes in your area. Remember that MH my parents bought in 1973? They sold it in 2007 for over $200,000. (Original purchase price in 73 was $69,000 for the home and the lot.) Of course, we can no longer say that real estate always appreciates no matter what, but if I were 25 instead of 56, I'd be looking for land. I've read the appliances they provide aren't really good quality appliances does anyone have any information on this? It depends. It depends upon the manufacturer, the dealer, what options/upgrades you want, and what you consider to be "good" or "not good" appliances. The house my parents bought way back in the day had Sears appliances. The only appliance they replaced was the dryer, and that was after 20+ years. They held up to two parents, four teenage kids, and the various refugees my parents took in on a regular basis. In many cases, you get what you get in the basic, standard package, but have the option to upgrade. Many people on this forum recommend not getting any appliances at all and then putting in what you really want once the home is set up. cathyyg, can you weigh in on this? Of course, if you buy used, you get what is already there. And how long any appliance lasts depends a lot upon how it is (or isn't) taken care of. As far as financing I know it depends on my overall financial situation but what are some of the best options available? Are these considered Mortgages or just standard high value loans? I hate to say this again, but...it depends. As far as financing, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to get a standard bank mortgage loan if you do not own the land your MH will be on. This is because, in most states, an MH is not, in and of itself, considered to be "real estate," rather it is considered to be a "vehicle." My MH has a license plate on it and has a VIN number, haha! Yet, they seem to have no problem collecting property tax from me! Any loan they offered you would be a personal loan, like a really big car loan. But if you own the land your MH is on and meet certain other requirements (such as, it must be set on a foundation as opposed to on piers, etc.) then you can convert the title from a vehicle title to a real estate title. In that case, you can get a mortgage, assuming of course, that you meet the financial requirements such as credit score, income to debt ratio, and so forth. Although you didn't ask, I'd like to add that you will need homeowners insurance. The most popular company on this forum, from what I've read, is Foremost, because they are MH-friendly. And I'll end by saying that you get a lot more house for your money with an MH than for a site-built home. You can get more sq ft and nicer features for sometimes substantially less money. Again, I congratulate you for your wisdom in saving up to buy your first home. I actually bought my first (site built) home when I was 25, before you were born, haha! You are smart to be looking into MHs and finding a good deal. In this post-2008 economy there are no guarantees and the folks who saddle themselves with a huge mortgage they can barely pay might very well be sunk when the next real estate bubble bursts. Feel free to ask more questions! We are very happy to answer them and to give our two cent's worth. :-) And don't forget to read the forum! Have a wonderful day! Sincerely, Debbie

It appears that the joist has settled somewhat due to the decay. It's not possible to know the extent or effect of the decay, so your safest bet is to sister the joist the full length from plate to girder. Something else might work fine--including doing nothing, but I can tell you from recent experience, if you're planning to sell the home at some point, a home inspector won't likely accept anything other than a full length sistering or a structural engineer's report that an alternative is equivalent.