Manufactured

What is That And Now What Do I Do?
Regarding Factory Built/Assembled, Mobile, Modular, and Manufactured Homes

by Jo Ann Meyer Stratton, IFA, SRA

Manufactured homes, modular homes, factory built homes, or factory assembled homes have as many variations in style, materials, workmanship, exterior and interior finish, etc as "site built" homes. Homes that have been completely or partially constructed in a factory may be one to two stories high, long narrow boxes, several combined units, distinctive design, arrangement of sections, installed over a full basement, and many other factors. Some have steel undercarriages and some do not; that is not an indication of a type of home. They are not your grandfather's "trailer" or father's "mobile home" anymore! To add to the confusion, government agencies interchange the various terms and at times, it is impossible to recognize what type of home you are observing until you find the documentation for the building code. So it becomes extremely important to know the original building code of the home and what effect that has on many different factors.

Manufactured homes are constructed to the nation wide HUD building code. If the home is constructed completely or partially in a factory to a building code that is NOT the building code first established by HUD June 15, 1976, it is NOT a manufactured home! Homes constructed to one of the building codes typically used for site built homes (for example CABO or BOCA or UBC) or a local version of a building code are known as modular homes, panelized homes, pre-cut homes, kit homes, and the newest term-industrialized homes.

Mobile homes were constructed prior to June 15, 1976 and may or may not have been constructed to a voluntary industry standard. Due to the lack of uniformity of building codes prior to that date, mobile homes can not be financed with an FHA mortgage. Fannie Mae will finance a mobile home if it has been reconstructed to at least the June 15, 1976 HUD building code. The Fannie Mae requirement is worded as follows: "The unit must have been built under the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards that were established June 15, 1976". Compliance with the HUD code would require verification by a licensed building contractor, state or local building inspector. The HUD building code has had several revisions since the original 1976 date.

Fannie Mae will not finance a single wide manufactured home unless it is located in a Fannie Mae approved project. Multi-sectional homes can be located on acreages or subdivision lots, whatever sites are typical of the neighborhood. HUD only has requirements regarding a minimum livable area of 400 square feet and does not require the home to be multi-sectional. HUD will only finance a manufactured home if it has been moved only once from the factory or a dealer's lot. Fannie Mae will finance a manufactured home if it has been installed in several locations.

This an annotated version of an article posted at http://www.naifa.com/gram/2001oct/stratton-oct01.html.

For updated articles please refer to http://www.naifa.com/gram/2003apr/stratton-apr03.html and

http://www.naifa.com/gram/2003oct/stratton-oct03.html.

Following are web sites to obtain information on manufactured, modular, and other types of homes with some type of factory construction:

Manufactured Housing Institute has many good articles under "Understanding Today's Manufactured Housing": "Factory Built Housing", "The HUD Code", "The Inspection System", "Financing Manufactured Housing", etc. Check out their "Fast Facts". Their article on Factory Built Housing has definitions of the various types. http://www.manufacturedhousing.org

Handbooks, guidebooks, mortgagee letters can be obtained from the library at: http://www.hudclips.org
Chapter 8 of HUD handbook 4150.2 applies to manufactured housing.
National HOC Reference Guide, Chapter 1, Appraisal and Property Requirements, pages 1-09a through 1-09g apply to manufactured housing.
Information on Data Plates is located in 3280.5, Certification Labels is in 3280.11, Modular homes is in 3282.1.
Permanent Foundations Guide HUD-007847, formerly HUD-7584
A photo copy can be obtained at a cost of $25 from HUD. The copy on the Internet lacks illustration of the over forty types of acceptable HUD foundations.
Lenders handbook for VA; search for word or phase of manufactured:
Manufactured Homes: Chapter 7.11, Chapter 10.05, Chapter 11.12, Chapter 12.10, Chapter 13.06, Chapter 14.04

A list of inspection agencies for manufactured homes:

http://www.hud.gov/fha/sfh/mhs/mhsid.html

A list of manufacturers of manufactured homes:

http://www.hud.gov/fha/sfh/mhs/mfrlst.html

Construction/safety standards regulatory back ground for manufactured housing: http://www.hud.gov/fha/sfh/mhs/mhsmfgst.html

Fact sheet for builders/manufacturers:

http://www.hud.gov/fha/sfh/mhs/mhsshtmr.html

"What is a Legitimate Manufactured House Comparable for the URAR" The second article under FAQs.
http://www.ncappraisalboard.org

Fannie Mae’s Announcement 03-06 may be accessed at:

http://www.allregs.com/efnma/index.asp

Information regarding Missing HUD Labels (Tags)

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/mhs/mhslabels.cfm

A chat room regarding manufactured housing and other types of factory built homes is at:

http://www.appraisersforum.com

Please notify the author at jmstratton@aznex.net if you locate any additional resources available on the Internet.

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