How to choose the right Manufactured Home

[Marlon P.]

Hi everyone, I have a property in Shelton, WA that’s 512 sq ft stick built home in a 6,000 sq ft lot.

The area is very MH friendly so I'm planning to use the available land to put a 27x40 Double Wide MH that will be the main house and the small one I already mentioned will be the ADU.

The MH will be 3bed 2 bath with 1066 sq ft and my goals is to get $1,400 out of in in rent. The area is acceptable for that price with a 3 bed house but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get the same for a brand new MH in a private land.

The contractor that is going to put the foundation for the MH advices me to get the largest MH possible and make sure it’s over 1,200 sq fr because the more sq footage the more rent I can ask.

The thing is that’s those MH with over 1,200 sq ft are priced over $60k and the one I’m looking at it’s on sale for $47k(all of them are 3 bed 2 bath even though the difference on price)

So, will it be worth to spend $20,000 more for same amount of bedroom and bathrooms but just to have more sq footage?! I mean the only difference is that the bedrooms are a couple inches larger.

Also, will it make any difference that the MH main entrance will be on a side and not facing the Main Street??

In order to get one with a main entrance facing the Main Street I’ll have to get one of those over $60 thousand ones.

The MH on sale I’m interested in has the main entrance on the side and I don’t know if that might decrease somehow the aesthetic value on the eyes of a possible tenant.

Even with that kind of entrance I’ll have a 5 feet space to use it as corridor for the people to access the main entrance of the MH.

The MH seller is Factory Expo in Oregon.

Any advice or recommendation will be highly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Sean McDonnell]

There are those that argue that manufactured homes are very different from actual houses in that they depreciate in value like an automobile. They are also cheaply built, require more maintenance/upkeep and are less desirable of a place to live. 

If I were in your position, I would construct a modular home on that lot to rent out. It will cost more, but a modular home is an actual house and should appreciate in value along with the market norm.