Check inside the kitchen cabinets. If it was a mobile home (and has its original cabinets) there should be a paper stapled to one of the cabinets (probably the sink cabinet) with manufacturer's information.

Is there a way to look at the framing of the original part of the house? The framing would be smaller than 2x4 if it is an older mobile home, which it sounds like it is. I believe the framing would be 1x3 or is it 3x3? Anyway, it is smaller I doubt anybody would put transport rails under a house for the heck of it. Get under the house- look at the plumbing- I know it looks 'different', but I don't know how to tell you- See if you can find evidence of the floor being 'rolled out'- meaning the linolium was jut rolled out under everything when it was built- sometimes you will see the edges from underneath. Hope I am making sense to you- I am to me. I'm sure somebody here will have more educated answers!

Have you asked that question over on the Manufacturered Homes forum? The folks over there are very knowledgeable about various types of manufactured homes, including mobile homes......
HTH
M.

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".

Check with your building dept. In many states, people buy mobile homes and/or trailers put them on a foundation, then add rooms without getting permits. You may have to get permits to bring it up to code. It is that way in Los Angeles County (calif)

The following article provides great info on how to make the determination.

That said...IMO, the presence of the rails pretty much gurantees that it is indeed a MH...at least that particular section.

Here is a link that might be useful: Answers To Your Questions About Manufactured Housing

When I was a realtor one of the homes I listed and sold turned out to be a manufactured home. The first lender would not lend on it. It seemed to be well built and had a full foundation. Another lender had no problem with it. Personally I couldn't tell the difference.

Not all MH structures are 'mobile homes'.

brother in law has a MH that was trucked in two pieces with a 'fold up' roof, hoisted onto a foundation with a crane, the electrical and plumbing interconnections completed, and the last portions of siding installed on the gable ends to finish off the join line.

About the only way you can tell is by going into the basement and seeing the wheel well framing and the presence of flitch beams to transfer weight to the road wheels for transport.

One of the guys I work with has added modular second floors onto houses instead of stick building them.
The 2 units are designed to fit the house, built, then trucked and hoisted into position.
The entire second floor was added in less than one week.
Open weather exposure of the first floor was less than one day.
Old roof off in the morning, modules placed in the afternoon.

The presence of the actual rails would tend to indicate a mobile home though.
They are not used for modular units.

I owned an old place in San Diego that was on "pile & post" foundation. I knew from talking to the couple that had built it that it was not a "manufactured home". It had been built when that part of the county was still very rural but was now in the midst of more modern construction. However, when I was trying to refinance my loan (trying to go from 10% to 7.25% in 1988, can you imagine!) the bank's appraiser called it an MH, which they would not write a loan for. Couldn't convince them otherwise.

The house was built in 1977, so it's not a modern modular home, and it's probably not a manufactured home.

The house is on a hillside, and has very strange architecture, but there is another home on the other side of the hill with very similar architecture - probably the same builder. I'm going to try to talk to that owner, and see if they know anything about either home's construction. The fact that there are two similarly-designed homes leads me to believe that it's not a mobile home.

I have found no red tags and there are no tags in the cabinets. The interior is sheet-rocked.

The home was financed in 2001 and re-financed in 2003, and was not identified as an MH either time.

I've made an offer (should hear tomorrow), and I'll pay special attention to this during the inspection.

Thanks for your feedback.

ronellis: "I have found no red tags and there are no tags in the cabinets. The interior is sheet-rocked."

The HI will be able to tell you is if the house has any visible evidence of being a MH...such as the rails...which you already know.

That said, other signs (such as the red tags) may have been removed or covered....so, if no further visible evidence is left, the HI will not be able to tell you anything for certain...and should recommend that you check the original plans on file with the town in order to be certain one way of the other.

That said...if it is not at least partially a MH, then you really need to find out why the home has rails (aka an undercarriage)....as that is a VERY weird thing to have (to say the least) on a site built house.

The past refinancing is not all that conclusive, given the fact that the mortgage industry was out of control over the last few years...and apparently willing to finance a dog house to make a buck.

As credit as now tightened considerably, its best to determine for certain what type of home this is in order to avoid a possible problem in terms of a financing.

IMO...best bet...go to the town hall, BEFORE the home inspection...and look at the original plans. That will solve the mystery once and for all....in order to make certain that you can obtain financingÂÂ....and also to save you the cost of the inspection if financing will be a problem.

Forget about financing for a Mobile Home that is built prior to June 15, 1976 where I am. It's like financing a 1976 Yugo, if there is such a thing.