Factory Built Housing, Affordable and Responsible Living

Factory Built Housing, Affordable and Responsible Living

Manufactured home industry professionals are feeling that the recession might not have hit so deep if more buyers had purchased their homes, instead of investing in costly site built homes and condominiums. Lenders created many programs that made it all too easy for first-time buyers to purchase these real property "stick-built" homes, often at twice the price of similar manufactured or mobile homes. This over buying trend also led to the sharp price hikes seen in many real estate markets across the nation.

A large portion of the market share for manufactured and mobile homes were lost beginning in 2001, this is when the financing for stick-built homes became available to more than before. With a surplus of un-accountable and irresponsible loan types, many first-time buyers (who would have been perfectly positioned to purchase a brand new manufactured home within their true budget) were presented with the opportunity to purchase something too good to be true. Many buyers went ahead and purchased these site-built homes for twice the financial liability than they truly should have. When simple math showed that they would not be able to make mortgage payments, thousands of loans were still underwritten.

Had those same buyers purchased a reasonably priced manufactured home, they could have accumulated steady equity in their homes while also making affordable payments, and reducing the principal balance on their Mobile Home Mortgage. Instead, 3 million homeowners went into foreclosure in 2008 alone, resulting in 850,000 home repossessions by the lending institutions that financed these unwise home purchases.

Manufactured home industry professionals experienced the impact of irresponsible mortgage lending and the current housing crisis long before the current recession began. The mobile home industry topped out in 1998, when one manufactured home was being sold for every three traditional stick-built homes being sold. Even before the latest recession had begun, that figure had declined to one factory built home for every ten stick-built homes sold.

While the manufactured home industry is indeed struggling, the mood at last month's annual Manufactured Home Industry convention was optimistic. Salespeople, dealers and manufacturers are now beginning to see a new kind of customer. These new buyers are interested in economizing and recognizing that today's factory-built homes actually have the same features as their traditional stick-built counterparts.

Recent trends in this shift show that many sensible families are now selling their traditional stick-built homes and using their profit to purchase factory built homes. This segment of the buyers market is growing. More buyers are downsizing to affordable homes out of necessity. In a time where social security payments and IRA funds are unfortunately shrinking, the retiree segment is facing a lifestyle on a limited budget. Many seniors are even tapping into their home's equity through refinancing their manufactured home loan.

Despite the recession, an ailing real estate market and new limitations in obtaining home financing, the dream of home ownership is still alive and well. The manufactured and mobile home industry continues to take great leaps forward in these troubling times. Including state-of-the-art construction techniques, today’s manufactured and mobile homes are being built with a quality never before seen in the industry, with the price advantages and affordability that all home buyers can count on.