Cost-Effective:

• Depending on the region of the country, construction cost per square foot for a new manufactured home averages from 10 to 35 percent less than a comparable site-built home.
• Independent appraisal studies confirm that manufactured homes can appreciate in value the same as other forms of housing.

Built for Quality:

• All aspects of the construction process are controlled.
• The weather does not interfere with construction and cause delays.
• All technicians, craftsmen and assemblers work as a team and are professionally supervised.
• Inventory is better controlled and materials are protected from theft and weather-related damage.
• All construction materials, as well as interior finishes and appliances, are purchased in volume for additional savings.
• Cost of interim construction financing is significantly reduced or eliminated.
• All aspects of construction are continually inspected.

Amenities:

• Floor plans are available that range from basic to elaborate, with vaulted or tray ceilings, fully-equipped kitchens, walk-in closets, and bathrooms with recessed tubs and whirlpools.
• A variety of exterior siding is available, including metallic, vinyl, wood, or hardboard. In some cases, homebuyer can also opt for stucco exteriors.
• Homes have pitched roofs with shingles and gabled ends.
• Design features such as bay windows are available.
• Awnings, patio covers, decks, site-built garages and permanent foundations are available as upgrades.
• The home can be customized to meet the needs of the consumer.

Safety:

• The building materials in today's manufactured home are the same as those used in site-built homes.
• The homes are engineered for wind safety and energy efficiency based on the geographic region where they are sold.
• Manufactured homes may be one of the safest housing choices available today because of federal laws requiring smoke detectors, escape windows, and limited combustible materials around furnaces, water heaters and kitchen ranges.
• Properly installed homes can withstand 120-130 mph 3-second gust winds in areas prone to hurricanes.

With the crisis in affordable housing continuing across America, manufactured housing offers a unique source of quality, nonsubsidized homes that people can afford. With an average per-squarefoot cost ranging from 10 to 35 percent less than site-built homes, depending on geographic region, today's manufactured homes provide homebuyers with the best value to be found in the housing marketplace.

The affordability of manufactured housing can be attributed to the efficiencies emanating from the factory-built process. The controlled environment and assembly-line techniques remove many of the problems encountered during site building, such as poor weather, theft, vandalism and damage to building products and materials stored on site. Also, factory employees are scheduled and managed more effectively and efficiently, as opposed to the system of contracted labor employed by the site-built housing industry.

Manufactured home building also benefits from the economies of scale that result from being able to purchase large quantities of building materials and products. As a result, manufactured home builders are able to negotiate better prices on many construction materials and products for the home and pass these savings on to the homebuyer.

In addition to affordability, today's manufactured homes also offer the quality, amenities, and technologically advanced features that homebuyers desire. Ranging from vaulted ceilings to working fireplaces to state-of-the-art appliances, today's manufactured homes offer the homebuyer the opportunity to customize a home to fit a family's particular lifestyle and needs, at a price they can afford.

Once known primarily for providing rural housing, today's manufactured homes are evolving, with architectural styles that blend into most neighborhoods and offer real housing options for suburban and urban markets. Exterior designs make these homes indistinguishable from site-built homes, allowing them to blend in seamlessly with existing neighborhoods. As a result, developers and builders are using manufactured housing in their subdivisions in increasing numbers.

Greater focus on energy efficiency within the manufactured housing industry has resulted in a significant jump in the numbers of manufacturers building EnergyStar-labeled manufactured homes. These homes, with enhanced levels of insulation, as well as more efficient heating and cooling equipment, provide homeowners with substantial savings on their energy costs.

An emphasis on innovation and "out of the box" thinking - including two-story and single-family attached homes - is propelling the manufactured housing industry forward in many new areas. With continued advances in technology and public acceptance, manufactured housing will remain a major provider of quality, affordable housing in the 21st century.

Today's buyer of both new and existing manufactured homes may choose from a wide array of financing options. Some financial institutions offer an entire menu of lending programs. The house can be financed as personal property, on leased land, in a manufactured home community or on a privately owned site. Buyers who desire to acquire land in conjunction with the home can finance the land and home together. Properly financed, the purchase of a manufactured home will lead to equity building for the homeowner.

Most buyers arrange financing for manufactured homes through the retailer from whom they buy their home. These retailers maintain business relationships with a number of lending institutions - large national lenders as well as local institutions - and can assist in the preparation and submission of a credit application. Customers also may shop independently for financing with a lender of their choice.

Manufactured homes can be financed as personal property. Even when the home and land are financed together, the home is often secured as personal property and the land as real property. A growing number of buyers are opting to put their homes on land they are purchasing or already own. Traditional manufactured home personal-property lenders have created land-and-home financing programs designed to accommodate this trend.