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 require manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The HUD Code sets performance standards for the heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical systems. HUD is the only federally-registered 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 home 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 multi-wide’s and expandable manufactured homes. Excluded are travel trailers, motor homes, and modular housing.

The term Mobile Homes is often used interchangeably with the term Manufactured Homes but in fact they mean quite different things. Mobile Homes refers to homes built prior to 1976 when the HUD code governing building standards for factory-built homes was instituted, greatly improving quality standards. Homes built from that year on should, technically, no longer be referred to as Mobile Homes but instead are Manufactured Homes and are built to a higher standard of quality than yesterday’s "Mobile Homes" and, in fact, often feature better quality construction than site-built homes. But, by whatever name, today’s factory-built homes are a great option for the most home for your dollar!

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Compared to site-built (traditional stick-frame) homes, manufactured homes are about 60 to 65% of the cost per square foot. Due to changes in the California building codes as of January 1, 2008 costs for site-built homes increased over 23% per square foot, which definitely makes a manufactured home much more affordable.

The efficiencies of building homes in factories rather than on-site allow manufactured homes to match or beat the quality of site-built homes for a fraction of the cost.

Manufactured homes are usually purchased through dealers or retailers that sell the homes. The names of lenders in your area which specialize in financing manufactured homes can be obtained from local retailers.

Many lenders will grant a conventional mortgage for manufactured homes, but will probably require that the home be placed on a permanent foundation. Manufactured homes are also eligible for FHA and VA home loans.

Modular homes are homes that are built in two or more sections in a controlled factory setting that are then transported and assembled at the building site. Modular homes are built to either local or state building codes as opposed to manufactured homes (sometimes still erroneously referred to as mobile homes) which are also built in a factory but are governed by a federal building code.

Modular homes can be completely customized to meet the home-buyers needs and tastes as well as to meet local building and zoning codes and to better withstand local issues such as hurricanes, earthquakes or snowload.. Modern modular homes are built with the highest quality materials and construction.

The benefits of building homes in a factory are similar to the benefits of building automobiles in an factory and can include:

*High degree of quality control

*Lack of exposure to the elements during construction

*Better control of inventory of materials including protection from theft and the effect of rain and snow.

*Volume purchasing discount as well as more efficient use of materials.

The greater efficiency of building homes in a factory environment, rather than on-site, means that you, the home-buyer, can move into the home of your dreams at a significant savings and with a higher level of quality than you would if you were to choose site-built homes rather than a manufactured or modular home.

Since they are built to HUD or local building codes, manufactured and modular homes are treated the same as site-built homes with respect to zoning, financing, appraisal, and value appreciation. The amount of property tax you pay is directly related to the amount you pay for your home, currently approximately 1%. Property tax and mortgage interest are both tax deductible.