Luca Brammer has some great information on the buying process of a mobile or manufactured home. Check out his article below and be informed going into your home purchase.
Understanding The Process of Buying a Manufactured Home
Buying a manufactured home can be a great experience or it can be quite confusing, frustrating and expensive if you don't understand the unique nature of the home buying process. This article is designed to give consumers the important information they can use to make wise decisions when buying a factory built home.
When buying a manufactured home there are some basic things to understand about the industry that varies significantly from the site built home buying experience. Generally speaking, when you buy a site built home new, you work with the developer and/or builder of the home, they have a real estate agent on site and you are offered the opportunity to use their suggested lenders or to work with your own lender. Buying a new factory built home is quite different.
In the manufactured housing industry, most builders do not sell their homes direct to the public. More often than not, these home builders work with a network of dealers or authorized sellers. Your dealer will help you select a home and choose options that you are interested in. They will place an order with the builder for your home and coordinate with you on the installation process.
Another important difference between buying a site built home versus buying a manufactured home is that the person you interface with in a site built development is typically a real estate agent that works for the builder. Dealers do not work for manufactured home builders and their services vary.
Some dealers will help you select your new home and place an order for your home and then provide you with a referral to a competent and licensed installer, typically a general contractor. Other dealers may offer sales and installation under one roof. Others still may offer sales, financing and installation services. It's important to understand what your dealer offers you so you can weigh the pros and cons of working with one dealer over another.
While a manufacturer may believe that the home you ultimately buy is the most important piece of the puzzle in the purchasing game, in reality, consumers need to feel good about their dealer, have a good understanding of the buying and installation process and be well versed in exactly what services their dealer offers to make sure they are happy with their decision for the long haul. Visit multiple retailers before making your decision. You may like a specific manufactured home, but the cost to acquire from one retailer over another and the services they each provide can vary significantly.
Luca Brammer is the Director of Business Development for Hallmark-Southwest Corporation. Hallmark-Southwest is a builder of California manufactured homes specializing in energy efficient home design and Net-Zero energy efficiency.
