Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just a question for everyone to think about. I do understand that manufactured homes does provide proper housing for many that can't afford a site built home. But with the high cost of HOI and the past history of devastation in mobile home parks, is it safe to live in one. With our proven history of hurricanes, tornadoes, etc... is this an accident waiting to happen....Do we need to get state or federal money to assist families in procuring a safer home?
Should manufactured homes be banned in the state?
Should site built homes be made more affordable to replace the manufactured homes?
See below for a bit of info:
Since you live in a manufactured home, the possibility of harm to family and home is considerably greater than with site built homes. According to HUD, in 1992, 97% of all manufactured homes in Hurricane Andrew’s path in Dade County were destroyed, compared to 11% of single-family, non-manufactured homes. In the wake of such destruction, new higher standards have been adopted in the construction of manufactured housing since 1994.
Even though these new homes are considered "safer" than older models, hurricane winds and related dangers continue to threaten all manufactured/mobile home residents.
The devastation of hurricanes Andrew and Hugo made headlines, but weak hurricanes and tropical storms are damaging as well.
Manufactured home residents can be victims of storm threats without being in the direct path of the storm. The threats include:
• Inland winds - Minimal hurricane force wind speeds can destroy homes many miles inland from where a hurricane makes landfall.
• Falling trees/branches - Old trees and rain soaked branches will fall in high winds causing destruction to structures.
• Flying debris - Signs, roofing material, siding and unsecured objects left outside become flying missiles during a hurricane.
• Tornadoes/microbursts - A very common and sudden cause of severe inland destruction during a hurricane.
You can’t control when or where the next hurricane will strike.
Don’t gamble with you family and property. Do everything possible to insure your safety before a hurricane threatens.
When an evacuation order is issued all manufactured/mobile home residents must evacuate regardless of location, structure or tiedowns.
Just a question for everyone to think about. I do understand that manufactured homes does provide proper housing for many that can't afford a site built home. But with the high cost of HOI and the past history of devastation in mobile home parks, is it safe to live in one. With our proven history of hurricanes, tornadoes, etc... is this an accident waiting to happen....Do we need to get state or federal money to assist families in procuring a safer home?
Should manufactured homes be banned in the state?
Should site built homes be made more affordable to replace the manufactured homes?
See below for a bit of info:
Since you live in a manufactured home, the possibility of harm to family and home is considerably greater than with site built homes. According to HUD, in 1992, 97% of all manufactured homes in Hurricane Andrew’s path in Dade County were destroyed, compared to 11% of single-family, non-manufactured homes. In the wake of such destruction, new higher standards have been adopted in the construction of manufactured housing since 1994.
Even though these new homes are considered "safer" than older models, hurricane winds and related dangers continue to threaten all manufactured/mobile home residents.
The devastation of hurricanes Andrew and Hugo made headlines, but weak hurricanes and tropical storms are damaging as well.
Manufactured home residents can be victims of storm threats without being in the direct path of the storm. The threats include:
• Inland winds - Minimal hurricane force wind speeds can destroy homes many miles inland from where a hurricane makes landfall.
• Falling trees/branches - Old trees and rain soaked branches will fall in high winds causing destruction to structures.
• Flying debris - Signs, roofing material, siding and unsecured objects left outside become flying missiles during a hurricane.
• Tornadoes/microbursts - A very common and sudden cause of severe inland destruction during a hurricane.
You can’t control when or where the next hurricane will strike.
Don’t gamble with you family and property. Do everything possible to insure your safety before a hurricane threatens.
When an evacuation order is issued all manufactured/mobile home residents must evacuate regardless of location, structure or tiedowns.
Hurricanes aside, they are fire traps. You read about people dying in them all the time. It seems like a few times a month you read about a fatal MH fire down here.
What type of manufactured homes are we talking about? That term covers a lot of territory.
Take a look at this page, which contradicts the info you presented:
Quote:
Many Americans have been victimized by an outdated conception of manufactured homes—one which has been perpetuated in the news media, and reinforced by the reporting of disasters such as Florida's six-week-long siege of hurricanes in 2004. During this period, a number of erroneous "facts" were spread either by rumor or reporting. In many cases, the news media, rather than searching out the truth, simply passed on the same kind of rumors one hears waiting in line at supermarkets.
For instance, CNN meteorologist Chad Meyers, reporting during the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, told a nationwide audience that "National Guard guys this morning said there are stacks of bodies in that mobile home park in Punta Gorda." Such rumors were rife in the aftermath of Charley. One Punta Gorda resident was quoted by the media as saying "Six hundred people are missing from trailer parks and the bodies are being stored in freezer trucks!"
But passing along rumors is not responsible reporting. IN FACT, according to state officials, in all of Florida, 16 people died as a result of this deadly storm. Only two of these fatalities were related to manufactured homes, and those deaths occured when the residents of a decades-old mobile home ignored an evacuation order.
It's true that some of the newer manufactured homes are claimed to be far stronger than the old ones - Palm Harbor, I think it was, claimed 175mph wind resistance. Not sure how that's possible, but that's what the ad said.
The older mobiles are quite dangerous. They are indeed fire traps - they can reach flashover faster than the occupants can get to the door. They use tie-down "anchors." These are thin-guage straps that supposedly hold the mobile home in place. Fact is, they deteriorate, and they're not very adequate in keeping the home stable. Far better are numerous under-chassis anchors when used in compliance with codes.
Manufactured homes are the answer to affordability, however, and the new ones are neither ugly nor unsafe. But there are so many of the older ones still around - what a shame they can't be replaced with Katrina cottages which would be far safer and nicer.
My dad had a manufactured home that was adequate, but nothing special. I was somewhat surprised when news began filtering in from Punta Gorda after the hurricane there, that the new mobile homes had fared better than many of the stick-built structures. I filed that away in the back of my mind.
When looking for property out of state, I was discouraged with the sorry excuses for regular homes, and decided to look at some of the builder homes that could be built anywhere, and the manufactured homes. Boy, were my eyes opened. The stick-built builder homes were about $90 to $125 per square foot, and the manufactured homes from $50 to $70. To be expected, right? But the stick-builts were 2x4 walls, and the manufactured homes 2x6 studs and built to better standards. Fire trap? Gee, with 1/2" sheetrock walls, I don't think so.
We are planning on using a upscale manufactured home as the basis for our new house. We'll make modifications and additions, but it allows us to have the core components available quickly and at a lower cost.
Do we need to get state or federal money to assist families in procuring a safer home?
No.
Where I live, people that choose to buy one of these homes are CHOOSING to live in one, they have other options at the same price point, but they go this route instead.
I think the reasons are many, some that I've seen are:
1) They can get "NEW" for cheap (instead of an older home that may need some work)
2) Bad credit doesn't matter; financing options available to nearly everyone
3) Taxes (there is a different tax basis for trailers...hardly any property tax from what I understand)
4) Lifestyle (want to live rural and this is what the Joneses are doing)
Years ago, I watched a coworker make this choice. She came into an inheritance, and wisely decided to buy a modest home. She had enough money to build a small home in a brand new community.......'nope, neighbors too close'. She had enough money to buy a small older home in an established community with a bigger lot.......'nope, want all new, want to pick my colors'.
So she chose to buy a larger lot in a semi-rural area and plunk a trailer down on it.....stupid, stupid choice in my book, but it was a lifestyle choice for her.
riveree, what you are talking about are trailers, or mobile homes, I think? Yes, they are "manufactured homes", but there's a world of difference between those and the more upscale manufactured homes-- such as harry chickpea may be talking about.
My sister, in Southern California (earthquake country) owned a manufactured home. Not the kind with wheels, but the kind that is set up on a real foundation or cement slab. You could not tell either by looking at it or living in it that it wasn't stick built, and she sold it a year or so ago for $400,000. That was right in line with what stick builts were selling for in her neighborhood.
So when we're talking about manufactured homes we need to define exactly what kind we're referring to. The newer breed of manufactured homes (often called "modular homes" to differentiate them) is actually a whole different product; I guess I should make that distinction, too, when I talk about them.
harry chickpea, are you going for a "manufactured" or "modular" home?
Of interest: in 1999, the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles approved new installation standards for manufactured homes (trailers/mobile homes) so they would remain in place during high winds. The state rule is recognized as a national model.
A Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles report Aug. 24, 2004, states that of all manufactured homes in the path of Charley's 145 mph winds that were built to meet modern standards, not one received any structural damage.
Is there a way to phase out the old models, which don't have a track record of being safe in practically any way?
"harry chickpea, are you going for a "manufactured" or "modular" home?"
Sorry for the longish answer, but I think some points need to be clarified:
We debated this for a while (manufactured or modular). Manufactured homes tend to decrease in value, while modulars tend to stay the same or slightly increase, and stick builts *depending on market conditions and construction* can appreciate in value.
Part of the increasing value of homes comes from location, part comes from intrinsic value (cost of comparible construction), part from general inflation, and part from speculation (flipping) and other market factors.
Hold on to the location factor for a bit, I'll get back to it.
I personally think that a lot of the speculation that we've seen is a transitory fad, just like the dotcom craze, and that we are seing the end. Once a few markets go sufficiently bust that people become disenchanted with flipping, and once a new investment craze begins, things will settle back down, perhaps at close to pre-flipping-craze prices. For me, speculation seems like it won't be a positive factor for a few years, and selling our house in Broward was a no-brainer.
Manufactured homes have suffered in reputation in part because the manufacturers have worked too hard to keep prices down. The cheap homes with substandard materials, construction errors from low-paid workers, and poor design, have continued to sell to folks who can't afford anything better. I know someone who worked at one of those plants, and even the workers try to avoid purchasing from that manufacturer.
On the other hand, a number of factors are working to change the industry.
First, the low cost home loans, for all of their faults, have taken a substantial portion of lower income families and moved them into homes rather than the cheaper "trailers." This has put a lot of pressure on the industry, driving some manufacturers out of business, and forcing others to improve their reputations with buyers by building better homes.
Second, "trailer parks" are seen as undesirable by communities, in part due to the problems associated with low-income residents, and whenever a community goes "upscale", those are some of the first developments to be bought out and removed. That means the purchaser increasingly has to have his own land, and meet ever-tightening community standards for construction. This is another force putting pressure on the manufacturers, with many communities allowing "double-wides" but not the traditional single-wides. Expect more restrictions, even as general acceptance of manufactured housing increases.
Third, as noted by a previous post, HUD has pushed for better standards in mobile home manufacture, to the point that one of the new selling points is that a manufactured home has to meet higher standards than the southern building code for stick builts! That goes miles towards explaining the anomolies in Punta Gorda, where stick-builts failed and manufactured homes weren't damaged, and why builders in north Florida were complaining so loudly that they couldn't afford to build to the Dade County building codes standard. If manufactured homes are being built where the quality is so low that employees won't buy them, and their standards are higher than the southern building code, you can see how poorly built and profitable some of the stick-builts are.
Fourth, there is a market of retirees that has been through the home ownership mill, and want something less expensive than a stickbuilt, but not as cheesy as the older mobile homes. This growing market has pushed manufacturers into building homes with more ammenities like garden tubs, fireplaces, plantation shutters, crown molding, and the like.
All of this means that the manufactured homes are starting to see increases in materials costs, and getting pricier with less profit margin. In short, the intrinsic value of manufactured homes is finally beginning to go up.
Now, let's return to re-examine location as a factor in home and property ownership. The people who have made REAL money in real estate are visionaries (along with some who just lucked into happy situations). The owners of drive-ins stuck out a dying market for years, barely paying their expenses and taxes, because they knew their land was increasing in value every year that the cities expanded outward. Trailer park owners have found themselves in a similar situation. Golf courses built near the edges of cities have increased in value by millions.
If you now re-examine the original factors of location, intrinsic value, and speculation, you'll find that the land itself has the most potential for appreciation. However, this does no good if taxes and insurance offset the gains. The save-our-homes ammendment, and low priced homes made the early homeowners along the intracoastal waterway in Broward into millionaires.
Instead of spending money on a pricey stick-built in a highly taxed area, we've taken the money out of our old house in Broward, and put it towards 15 acres of land with a year-round stream in a very rural low tax area, and an upscale manufactured (not modular) home. Is this a stupid stupid move? I think not. It used to take 15 minutes of driving through traffic to get to shopping. And now takes 30 minutes of driving down uncrowded country lanes. Although we use more gas, the mpg on the same vehicle has increased for 10 to 18 mpg. We no longer have a mortgage. Our insurance is far less. Taxes are less. Electricity is less. Health insurance costs dropped by about 30%. Our neighbors routinely leave doors unlocked. When we go shopping, we can leave the car windows rolled down. IF we ever decided to sell, we might make money, but there are some lifestyle changes that money can't buy, and in fact can hinder.
"harry chickpea, are you going for a "manufactured" or "modular" home?"
Sorry for the longish answer, but I think some points need to be clarified:
We debated this for a while (manufactured or modular). Manufactured homes tend to decrease in value, while modulars tend to stay the same or slightly increase, and stick builts *depending on market conditions and construction* can appreciate in value.
Part of the increasing value of homes comes from location, part comes from intrinsic value (cost of comparible construction), part from general inflation, and part from speculation (flipping) and other market factors.
Hold on to the location factor for a bit, I'll get back to it.
I personally think that a lot of the speculation that we've seen is a transitory fad, just like the dotcom craze, and that we are seing the end. Once a few markets go sufficiently bust that people become disenchanted with flipping, and once a new investment craze begins, things will settle back down, perhaps at close to pre-flipping-craze prices. For me, speculation seems like it won't be a positive factor for a few years, and selling our house in Broward was a no-brainer.
Manufactured homes have suffered in reputation in part because the manufacturers have worked too hard to keep prices down. The cheap homes with substandard materials, construction errors from low-paid workers, and poor design, have continued to sell to folks who can't afford anything better. I know someone who worked at one of those plants, and even the workers try to avoid purchasing from that manufacturer.
On the other hand, a number of factors are working to change the industry.
First, the low cost home loans, for all of their faults, have taken a substantial portion of lower income families and moved them into homes rather than the cheaper "trailers." This has put a lot of pressure on the industry, driving some manufacturers out of business, and forcing others to improve their reputations with buyers by building better homes.
Second, "trailer parks" are seen as undesirable by communities, in part due to the problems associated with low-income residents, and whenever a community goes "upscale", those are some of the first developments to be bought out and removed. That means the purchaser increasingly has to have his own land, and meet ever-tightening community standards for construction. This is another force putting pressure on the manufacturers, with many communities allowing "double-wides" but not the traditional single-wides. Expect more restrictions, even as general acceptance of manufactured housing increases.
Third, as noted by a previous post, HUD has pushed for better standards in mobile home manufacture, to the point that one of the new selling points is that a manufactured home has to meet higher standards than the southern building code for stick builts! That goes miles towards explaining the anomolies in Punta Gorda, where stick-builts failed and manufactured homes weren't damaged, and why builders in north Florida were complaining so loudly that they couldn't afford to build to the Dade County building codes standard. If manufactured homes are being built where the quality is so low that employees won't buy them, and their standards are higher than the southern building code, you can see how poorly built and profitable some of the stick-builts are.
Fourth, there is a market of retirees that has been through the home ownership mill, and want something less expensive than a stickbuilt, but not as cheesy as the older mobile homes. This growing market has pushed manufacturers into building homes with more ammenities like garden tubs, fireplaces, plantation shutters, crown molding, and the like.
All of this means that the manufactured homes are starting to see increases in materials costs, and getting pricier with less profit margin. In short, the intrinsic value of manufactured homes is finally beginning to go up.
Now, let's return to re-examine location as a factor in home and property ownership. The people who have made REAL money in real estate are visionaries (along with some who just lucked into happy situations). The owners of drive-ins stuck out a dying market for years, barely paying their expenses and taxes, because they knew their land was increasing in value every year that the cities expanded outward. Trailer park owners have found themselves in a similar situation. Golf courses built near the edges of cities have increased in value by millions.
If you now re-examine the original factors of location, intrinsic value, and speculation, you'll find that the land itself has the most potential for appreciation. However, this does no good if taxes and insurance offset the gains. The save-our-homes ammendment, and low priced homes made the early homeowners along the intracoastal waterway in Broward into millionaires.
Instead of spending money on a pricey stick-built in a highly taxed area, we've taken the money out of our old house in Broward, and put it towards 15 acres of land with a year-round stream in a very rural low tax area, and an upscale manufactured (not modular) home. Is this a stupid stupid move? I think not. It used to take 15 minutes of driving through traffic to get to shopping. And now takes 30 minutes of driving down uncrowded country lanes. Although we use more gas, the mpg on the same vehicle has increased for 10 to 18 mpg. We no longer have a mortgage. Our insurance is far less. Taxes are less. Electricity is less. Health insurance costs dropped by about 30%. Our neighbors routinely leave doors unlocked. When we go shopping, we can leave the car windows rolled down. IF we ever decided to sell, we might make money, but there are some lifestyle changes that money can't buy, and in fact can hinder.
I am sure you have probably mentioned but wher are you doing this?
"I am sure you have probably mentioned but wher are you doing this?"
North Alabama. A lot of Floridians have moved to north Georgia and into Tennessee, doing something similar. It isn't a good move for everyone. I grew up in a rural area and knew the plusses and minuses beforehand. We also lived in Alabama before having to move to Florida to follow work, so this is more like going home than going into something completely new. Even so, I didn't expect the tick problem to be as bad as it is.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
