The property has two manufactured homes on it, and banks won't touch it.

Key industries include transportation and manufacturing.

@JD Morris - I found three lenders that will loan on manufactured homes with land in Colorado.

@Dan KelleyOne piece units are my preference for new construction or if you have lots of room (and large doorways), but are frequently impossible to use for a retrofit/renovation simply because you cannot get them to, or into, the bathroom.We use a couple of 3-piece models with rolled/sloped seems which the manufacturer claims will drain and require no caulking.  

@Nubianna A.I have a friend who ONLY lends on Manufactured Homes in parks or land not connected to the lot.

Generally,  unless there are additional restrictions set locally, Mary  may move in to that commercially zoned area since her residential use is higher than set by zoning.Now, if Mary starts a trailer manufacturing operation, building utility trailers, she will most likely be out of compliance  with the commercial zoning, since manufacturing is "industrial" use which is the lowest use category (light and heavy industrial and those are broken down to specific operations as well).

Although I had never done it in the past, I couldn't imagine it would be so hard to buy a home.My agent suggested I look into other options, such as purchasing land and putting a manufactured home on it.

My only claim to "real estate" writing was a writer for hire project I wrote for a social entrepreneur called "the Cash Garden" which was designed to give working class people a blueprint for using manufactured housing units as a way to build wealth.  

The difference is that the crime in that area is low, and there are several manufacturing jobs around the area to help support wages (as well as restaurants, etc.)If you mean high crime then yeah this is a concern.

The state will add 70,000 new jobs next year, down from 78,800 in 2018, he said.Our economy is diversifying and no longer relies strongly on any one industry, like it did on construction and real estate earlier this century, he said.While construction is still the fastest-growing sector in the greater Phoenix area, other sectors like education, transport and warehouses, professional and technical, and manufacturing all showed strong growth."