Spend a day driving around the greater Salt Lake City area and you will see a ton of home construction. The same is true for Central Florida, especially in Polk County. Both regions offer plenty of opportunities for buying site-built homes with all of the latest amenities. But you will also find a booming manufactured housing industry in both locales as well.
To some people, a manufactured home is never a consideration. Perhaps that’s due to the misconceptions we have about this type of housing. Until about 20 years ago, manufactured homes were little more than oversized trailers. They are anything but nowadays. Improved manufacturing methods and stricter building codes have seen to it that manufactured homes offer just as much quality as their site-built counterparts.
If you have never considered a manufactured home before, here are five things that make them attractive to some buyers:
1. Considerably Less Expensive
At the top of the list is price. Manufactured homes are considerably less expensive than site-built homes. And lest you think it is because they are cheaply built, it’s not. Manufacturing homes in a factory environment is no different than manufacturing any other product. Factory mass production reduces costs through greater efficiency and environmental control. Comparable site-built homes are more expensive because building them is so inefficient.
2. Easy to Maintain
Making mass production possible requires that manufactured home builders keep designs simple. This benefits homeowners in the sense that manufactured homes are easy to maintain. There are fewer complex systems to worry about. There are no foundations or crawlspaces (everything is self-contained). Single floor construction makes for easy exterior maintenance as well.
3. Customized Floor Plans
Like their site-built counterparts, manufactured homes can often be customized in terms of floor plans. Many home builders start with a set of basic designs and then work from there. And because none of the interior walls in a manufactured home are load bearing, endless configurations are possible. It’s just a matter of finding a model you like.
4. No Shortage of Options
Hand-in-hand with customized floor plans are the many options buyers can choose. A couple that appreciates the minimalism of the tiny house concept but still needs more space for a growing family can choose a manufactured home with very few extras. On the other hand, manufactured homes can be decked out with all the finest amenities ranging from ornate fixtures to marble countertops and the latest entertainment systems. There is something for everyone.
5. Faster Closing and Move In
For home buyers in a hurry, manufactured houses generally offer faster closing and move in. Where it can take months to build and close on a site-built home, manufactured homes arrive from the factory already built. The builder offers a delivery date, and you can count on it. Unless things are extremely busy, moving in within 30 days is quite reasonable.
The Right Choice for the Right Buyer
Salt Lake City’s CityHome Collective says that manufactured homes are not right for everyone. But they do sell quite well on the Wasatch Front, proving that they are the right choice for the right buyers. The same goes in central Florida. Manufactured homes are big in the Sunshine State.
If you are looking to buy a brand-new manufactured home, expect to pay between $100K and $150K. If you’re okay with buying preowned, prices are all over the place. Older homes in need of some TLC can be had for under $10K. You can buy a move-in ready home in a residential neighborhood in the $50K to $70K range. It all depends on where you look.
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