When most people decide to buy their first house, they only consider purchasing a traditional home. The tough of buying a mobile home doesn’t even cross their mind. Even though things have started to change a bit in recent times, as homebuyers realized that mobile homes can be a great option for a variety of reasons, there’s still a lot of confusion surrounding this topic.
The preconceptions on mobile homes are the reason why people are reluctant to buy them. There’s a lot of wrong information that people take for granted, without doing any research to form a more accurate opinion. These false ideas are still being perpetuated, making it difficult for people to understand what mobile homes are really about.
If you think that a mobile home and a trailer are one and the same thing or that only poor people live in these types of homes, then you’ll have to think again. Here are some facts that will shed some light on the matter and will help you form a correct and educated idea on mobile homes.
Simply put, mobile homes are structures built in a factory and then transported to a specific site. In 1976, the HUD Code standards were adopted, and so the term “manufactured home” appeared, designating mobile homes that were build according to these regulations. The new structures built after 1976 are therefore safer and offer a higher standard of quality than previous constructions. However, people still use these terms interchangeably as they describe mostly the same concept.
On the other hand, comparing a mobile home with a trailer is completely wrong. While travel trailers were amongst the first types of mobile homes, things have evolved greatly since those times and now the modern mobile homes are in a category of their own, being comparable with site-built homes.
Today there’s a wide variety of mobile homes one can choose from as companies offer different options to suit everyone’s needs and budgets. Whether you want a basic home without many bells and whistles or you want to a high-end house with all the imaginable comfort, you will surely find a mobile home that ticks all your boxes.
Although you can customize a mobile home to your heart’s desire, usually they can be divided into three categories:
Since they are called “mobile homes” you might wonder if this mobility is still real or if it’s just a reminiscence of their humble beginnings. Mobile homes are still movable, but not in a way you move a trailer. They can only be transported from one place to another by professional teams with special equipment, and it obviously comes at a pretty high cost.
This characteristic doesn’t mean that a mobile home is designed to be moved from place to place in your nomadic adventures. It makes sense to put them on a chassis since they are manufactured in a factory and must be transported to a site afterwards. However, once they’re placed on a site, they can become as permanent as a traditional home, if the owner wants that.
Lack of safety is one of the myths that has affected mobile home’s reputation since forever. People believe they are less safe because they don’t offer the same quality as site-built homes, but that’s completely untrue. Of course, there were mobile homes manufacturers who focused less on quality aspects, but nowadays, the HUD Code ensures that all mobile homes are built to the highest standards and are just as safe as traditional homes.
That doesn’t mean that the owner of a mobile home shouldn’t take measures of precaution for his property, especially if they live in a high-risk area. For example, investing in a good mobile home insurance in Florida is just as important as investing in a traditional home insurance, as the risk of losing your property and assets shouldn’t be ignored, no matter what type of house you live in.
Although mobile homes are cheaper than traditional homes, buying one comes with a few challenges. Mobile homes that are not permanently installed on owned land are not considered real estate, but chattel. Therefore, if you want to take a loan to finance your purchase, you will only be eligible for chattel loans and therefore have fewer options to choose from. The other possibility is to transform your mobile home into real estate by making it immobile and then search for a conventional loan.
Usually when taking up a mobile home loan, the down payment is significantly lower, even as low as 5%. However, keep in mind that interest rates for chattel loans are higher than traditional mortgage rates.
If you don’t own a piece of land where you can place your mobile home, you should also consider the costs for leasing a lot, as well as transport costs, insurance and other expenses that homeowners should be aware of when buying a property.
Disclaimer: This is a promotional article. The New Indian Express does not take any editorial responsibility for it.