Are Manufactured Homes a Good Investment?
For those seeking alternatives to buying a traditional site-built home, manufactured housing is a good investment to consider. In addition to benefits like mobility, energy efficiency, and rapid installation, manufactured homes are a highly affordable option that match or exceed site-built homes in quality and durability. The decision to buy a manufactured home may be your perfect match.
The Benefits of Investing in a Manufactured Home
Manufactured homes sometimes get a bad rap due to their predecessors, mobile homes. Now obsolete, these structures were largely unregulated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), rendering them unsafe and prone to a variety of problems, detailed in our comparison of manufactured, modular, and site-built homes. The modern manufactured home is safe, durable, and built to standards equal or greater than those of a site-built home. These and other benefits make manufactured housing a superior long-term option for many.
Affordability
Manufactured homes are built in climate-controlled factories that order their building supplies in bulk. This lowers their production cost and makes them highly affordable housing to purchase. In addition to fast production and installation, prospective homeowners pay significantly less for a manufactured home than for one built on site. The Department of Housing and Urban Development found that for single-family homes, the cost of existing site-built homes in the US is currently averaged at $272,433, while the average cost of a manufactured home is just $78,500.
Quality & Safety
Site-built homes and manufactured homes are both built in accordance with local building codes, but unlike site-built homes, manufactured housing also adheres to the strict federal guidelines of HUD Code. This gives them equal or greater safety and durability in comparison to site-built homes—even in bad weather. See in detail how manufactured homes stand up against even hurricane-force winds in The Truth About Manufactured Home Safety During a Hurricane.
Energy Efficiency
Today’s mobile homes are built to be energy efficient from the start. Far from covering only construction and safety, HUD Code also ensures that manufactured homes are built to optimize energy efficiency. This can include built-in energy efficient features such as water-saving appliances, upgraded insulation, energy efficient windows, and even partial or whole solar panel systems.
Luxury for Less
Rather than spending your whole budget on a traditional, stick-built starter home, manufactured housing lets you spend less on the base price of a home so you can easily add luxurious upgrades like granite countertops or a fireplace. You can also choose to add additional sections to your home, increasing your square footage for a fraction of the cost per square foot compared to a site-built home.
Mobility
Manufactured housing gives homeowners the unique freedom to move about. Impermanent foundations allow manufactured homes to be transported to other locations if homeowners decide to move but don’t want to sell their home. Alternatively, it’s possible to have your manufactured home installed on a permanent foundation on-site if you prefer.
In Conclusion
Every home has pros and cons to weigh based on your needs, but it’s important to note that manufactured housing comes with a variety of valuable and exclusive benefits, including some perks that homeowners can’t get with site-built homes. Far from the stigmas associated with pre-HUD Code mobile home parks, today’s manufactured and modular homes are durable, efficient, and affordable. Depending on your preferences and needs, purchasing a manufactured home is an excellent option to consider.
More Questions?
Check out our blog. In addition to a monthly newsletter, we talk about everything from the process of buying a manufactured home to how they stack up against other types of housing, like apartments.
