House vs. Manufactured homes

[Samantha Swenson]

After days of research I simply can not figure out if investing in a few manufactured houses is a good idea or not. I dont quite understand why they dont hold their value as well as a regular home (or maybe they do! Tell me if I am wrong!). In cash flow they seem like a good Investment, in my area they rent for the same price as a regular home, but when it comes to 30 years from now, will I be completely screwed over? They have a foundation, siding, drywall, a shingle roof.... in my mind there really isnt a difference. What is it that I am missing here? 

[Kevin Campbell]

We need to be precise with our terms. All of these are "Manufactured" homes.

1. Single Wide Mobile Home sitting on blocks. Could be in a park or on own land. Here in New Mexico these are considered personal property.

2. Multiple Section (Double/Triple) Mobile Home sitting on blocks. Could be in a park or on own land. Here in New Mexico these are considered personal property.

3. Multiple Section (Double/Triple) Mobile Home attached to permanent foundation. Usually, the foundation is concrete pillars that the home sits on and is attached. Then it uses traditional mobile home skirting. Almost always on own land, but doesn’t have to be. Here in New Mexico these are converted to “real property”.

4. Modular Homes are a completely different animal. They have a full foundation. Can be a basement or crawl space. They look like a traditional site-built home. The biggest thing with “modular” is they can participate in market appreciation. Here in New Mexico these start out as “real property”.

Hope this helps!

~Kevin