Frequently Asked Questions

• Does a manufactured home appreciate in value?

• Do manufactured homes meet the same construction standards and pass the same inspections as conventional site-built homes?

• What type of financing options will I have if I buy a manufactured home?

• Why are manufactured homes so much less expensive than site-built homes? Is it because of poorer quality?

• Isn't a manufactured home more likely to be destroyed or damaged by natural disasters than a site-built home?

• What is the difference between a manufactured home and a "trailer"?



Does a manufactured home appreciate in value?

People assume that the value of manufactured homes depreciates. However, recent studies conducted at the Universities of Michigan and North Carolina reveal that the location for both manufactured homes and conventional site-built homes is the most telling forecast for real estate appreciation. With the building costs of manufactured homes significantly below those of site-built homes, there is an immediate appreciation of value between what the home actually costs and its fair market value. In fact, multi-section manufactured homes sold for more the second time than the first -- the best definition of a profitable investment.

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Do manufactured homes meet the same construction standards and pass the same inspections as conventional site-built homes?

Most manufactured homes are built to a higher quality than the average site-built home. Both industries use the very same windows, siding, roof truss systems and more.

Manufactured houses are also built to the HUD Code standards. Built in a controlled, factory environment, the homes are tested by HUD for design, construction, strength and durability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and performance of internal systems.
HUD inspectors are on the scene regularly, and every home has to be inspected in at least one station by an independent inspector.

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What type of financing options will I have if I buy a manufactured home?

Some buyers of new manufactured homes finance their homes through their retailer, while some buyers arrange their own financing through their local bank, savings association or credit union.

Historically, manufactured homes were financed as personal property as they were most frequently sold without land. Currently, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offer lenders loan insurance and loan guaranty programs for personal property home loans. But more than 90 percent of new manufactured homes are placed on permanent foundations on private land, and are never intended to be relocated. These homes are financed as real estate.

Real Estate
Manufactured homes may be financed as real estate when the home and land are both purchased or owned by the homeowner, the home is on a permanent foundation, and the home and land are treated as a single real estate entity under state law. Both FHA and VA programs for real estate mortgages accept these loans.
Secondary Markets
Secondary markets provide an important source of capital for lenders. Just as most home buyers raise the money for their home purchase through a primary lending source, many housing lenders raise money to lend through secondary markets.

Secondary Markets:Personal Property
The Government National Mortgage Association, known as Ginnie Mae, provides a secondary market source to personal property manufactured housing lenders who make FHA and VA backed loans. Personal property lenders also access the secondary market through Wall Street by issuing what are called asset-backed securities.

Secondary Markets: Real Property
The Federal National Mortgage Association, known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, both accept manufactured housing loans as long as they are real estate mortgages rather than personal property loans. Also, FHA- and VA-backed mortgage loans on manufactured homes are eligible for Ginnie Mae's single-family home loan secondary market program.

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Isn't a manufactured home more likely to be destroyed or damaged by natural disasters than a site-built home?

Foremost Insurance, an insurance company specializing in manufactured housing safety issues, found that manufactured homes are safer than site-built homes in many ways. In the past, Colorado had restrictive zoning laws that forced manufactured homes to be sited in the least desirable areas of a municipality. This meant homes were placed in flood plains.

A University of Michigan report revealed that manufactured homes have a lower rate of fires than site-built homes. When fires do occur, research shows no fire safety differences between the two types of homes.

In a full-scale experiment conducted May 16 and 17, 2001 by researchers at the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech University, the propeller wash from a C-130 aircraft was used to produce high-speed winds, and a manufactured home was used as a test specimen to collect data on structural response. The propeller wash from a C-130 aircraft can generate winds up to 90 miles per hour.
The building was instrumented to measure its internal and external pressures, its deformation (deflection or movement) during exposure to extreme winds, and changes in its insulating properties. During the test, the structure was exposed to wind gusts and sustained winds at normal wind speeds, around 20-30 miles per hour. The speed was increased gradually to approximately 90 miles per hour. Collaborating with personnel from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Oakridge National Laboratory, and the Texas Air National Guard, Texas Tech researchers tested the data acquisition system and collected a significant amount of data during the two-day testing period. The data will be analyzed to determine the speed of the wind generated during the test and to characterize the response of the structure to the high wind speed. When that data is published we will make it available to you, but the important thing is that the test home was not only still intact, but the only visible signs of damage were a few shingles blown from the roof.

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What is the difference between a manufactured home and a "trailer"?

"Trailer" typically refers to an older product, usually from the '40s or '50s, that predates the HUD code. To help clarify some of the terms associated with manufactured housing, we've included the following definitions:

Factory-Built Housing
Many types of structures are built in the factory and designed for long-term residential use. In the case of manufactured homes, units are built in a factory, transported to the site and installed.

Modular Home - UBC
These factory-built homes are built to state, local or regional codes and are multi-section units that are transported to a site and installed.
Manufactured Home - HUD
This refers to homes built entirely in the factory under a federal building code administered by HUD. Manufactured homes may be single or multi-section and are transported to the site and installed. The federal standards regulate design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The HUD Code also sets performance standards for the heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical systems. It is the only national building code. The Manufactured Home Safety and Construction Standard (the HUD Code) was adopted by Congress June 15, 1976.

Mobile Home
This is the term used for homes built prior to June 15, 1976, when the HUD Code went into effect.

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Need to contact us?

We would be glad to help you; simply contact us via our site, by phone, fax or email. We also have both our Warranty Processing Form and our Service Request Form online for your convenience.

Toll Free: 1.888.760.3314 X149 | RBH Office Tele: 205.935.1997 | RBH Office Fax: 205-935-3567
Mailing Address: River Birch Homes | 400 River Birch Drive | Hackleburg, Alabama 35564

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