FAQ Topics
Other Questions?
Questions are the root of all answers. We can answer any question you have about buying and owning a manufactured home.
General Information
Because of a controlled environment and efficient assembly line process, mobile homes are able to be constructed quickly and at a relatively low cost. The first stage involves the builder ordering all necessary materials—usually in bulk.
Next, the steel frame is constructed, while will then support the flooring. The floor joists are installed, and then the floor is sheeted with plywood and screwed down. Sometimes, the floors are also glued to avoid squeaks.
The walls are then installed. Often, construction teams will build the walls in a separate area, and then attach the walls to the newly installed floor system. Once the walls are attached, the construction team will complete the wiring, plumbing, and ducting.
Then, the roof is attached to the new mobile home. The roof framework is first installed, then the plywood sheathing, tar paper, and shingles. Typically, construction teams consist of around twenty stations, where trained professionals focus on one specific task.
After the roof is installed, the sheetrock is added—followed by the kitchen cabinets and fixtures. Next, the windows and siding are installed.
After all the requested options, such as specific flooring and appliances, are installed, a walk-through is conducted to verify all expectations were met.
Often, modular homes are viewed as being the same as, or extremely similar to, mobile homes; however, this myth doesn’t hold much accuracy. Modular homes are a magnet for misconceptions due to the fact that a great deal of the construction occurs in a factory.
The various sections (or modules) of a modular home are constructed in an enclosed environment, for the purpose of eliminating weather delays and mold/mildew concerns. The modules are then transported by truck to the home site. Once the modules are connected and construction is complete, the modular home is as permanent as a traditional, stick-built home.
Additionally, mobile homes are built to HUD code, while modular homes are built to an IRC standard—the same code used for stick-built construction. In a modular home, the parts are all standard, meaning if something breaks, you can find its replacement at Home Depot or Lowes. With a mobile home, replacement parts may be less convenient to locate.
Palm Harbor builds homes of the highest quality construction materials, so they’re strong, durable, and energy efficient. If you’re interested in green construction, Palm Harbor is the company for you, because the green options offered in a Palm Harbor home don’t just reduce your carbon footprint, they can also help you save money each month on utilities bills.
You might not realize it, but factory-built homes can be quite large! Need five bedrooms and three baths? You can have that, in a modular or manufactured home that’s over 3,000 square feet in area. Of course, not everyone needs a large home, and that’s why the homes come in a variety of sizes and floor plans.
If you don’t want to live in a cookie-cutter house, you’re in luck. Palm Harbor homes have many customization options. Talk to a representative about all you can do to make your home uniquely yours.
This may be the best part! A manufactured and manufactured home takes mere weeks to construct in the factory, meaning that you have the opportunity to move into your new home in a fraction of the time of traditional construction.
Leasing vs. Buying
As you reach your retirement years, typically your income is reduced from your peak earning period, and you must seriously consider methods of using your assets to your best advantage.
Whether your money is from a nest egg saved over the years, or profit from wise investments or the sale of your long-time home, is it in your best interest to tie up a substantial portion of it in the purchase of land?
Consider your options. One is to commit a large amount to the purchase of land – an arrangement whose primary beneficiary is the developer. The other is to purchase a less labor-intensive home on leased land and keep your funds available for discretionary or emergency purposes.
Some of our competitors still push land purchase, claiming land ownership frees you from additional financial obligations. However, this is not the complete story. Land ownership is an expensive way to live due to high property taxes and maintenance fees. In addition, it ties up your funds – money you can utilize only by selling the land or taking out an additional mortgage (and paying substantial interest to use money that was already yours.)
When you’re considering a purchased vs. leased developed lot, look at the entire picture – financial, lifestyle and the business relationship. Be sure you get clear, concise answers to important questions. Are all utilities installed? Are there sewer and water impact fees? What landscaping and plantings are included? Are there parking areas and are they paved? Is there a monthly maintenance/association fee? Is the association run by nosey neighbors or professionals? Are there additional amenities and recreational facilities, and who maintains and pays for them?
Also consider who pays for maintenance, lawn mowing, trash pickup, street lights, tree and shrub trimming, and rubbish removal etc… Are there effective community standards, pet and noise restrictions and neighborhood patrols? And will there be professional management on site to help you in the future?
Property ownership is important to some people. Others enjoy the lifestyle advantages offered by a land lease community with protective standards. Evaluate both options. In the end, we hope you regard our Florida Communities as a worthy alternative.
The bottom line is leasing a homesite will save you money, gives you more security, and you have use of your money any time you need it. One final thought… The developer of a leased lot community has the responsibility to fund the community’s repairs and maintenance forever. In an owned lot community, the developer will transfer the operational and maintenance responsibilities to the lot owners once the community is built out.
Quality of Manufactured Homes
Construction Standards - The Best Built Homes in America
The truth about manufactured home performance in hurricanes
Modern manufactured homes are not the flimsy constructions of popular myth. They are, in fact, engineered and built to be stronger than the most stringent building codes require.
The bad news is: florida was hit four times in a single year by major hurricanes.
The good news is: the 2004 hurricane season proved beyond any doubt that manufactured homes built and maintained to 1999 standards are fully the equal of any homes in America when it comes to handling major storms.
Watch the quality of construction of the modern manufactured home. Starting from the floor up these improvements provide up to a 100% increase in strength against uplift. Automation in the home’s construction insures maximum strength…better energy efficiency…all topped with solid roof sheeting.
Many Americans have been victimized by an outdated conception of manufactured homes—one which has been perpetuated in the news media, and reinforced by the reporting of disasters such as Florida’s six-week-long siege of hurricanes in 2004. During this period, a number of erroneous “facts” were spread either by rumor or reporting. In many cases, the news media, rather than searching out the truth, simply passed on the same kind of rumors one hears waiting in line at supermarkets.
For instance, CNN meteorologist Chad Meyers, reporting during the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, told a nationwide audience that “National Guard guys this morning said there are stacks of bodies in that mobile home park in Punta Gorda.” Such rumors were rife in the aftermath of Charley. One Punta Gorda resident was quoted by the media as saying “Six hundred people are missing from trailer parks and the bodies are being stored in freezer trucks!”
But passing along rumors is not responsible reporting. IN FACT, according to state officials, in all of Florida, 16 people died as a result of this deadly storm. Only two of these fatalities were related to manufactured homes, and those deaths occured when the residents of a decades-old mobile home ignored an evacuation order.
It was not just the news media which attacked the manufactured home industry in the wake of Charley. Commentators such as fiction writer Carl Hiassen also put forward much misinformation. Writing in the Miami Herald on August 22, 2004, Hiassen said “There is no such thing as a safe [manufactured] home.”
IN FACT, manufactured homes held up well, even when compared to site-built homes. That this was to be the case should not really surprise anyone: since 1999, manufactured homes have been built and installed to standards tougher than any but the most recent codes for site-built structures. As required by the Florida Building Code, all manufactured homes sold in Florida’s coastal counties since 1994 are engineered to withstand sustained winds of 110 mph and 3-second gusts of 130 to 150 mph.
IN FACT, the State Bureau of Manufactured Home and RV Construction surveyed 11,800 manufactured homes among 77 communities in seven counties, including hard-hit Charlotte and DeSoto. Of the manufactured homes installed according to Rule 15-C—the most stringent tie-down regulation in the country—the Bureau could not find a single home that had been moved from its foundation. And RADCO, an independent engineering firm, revealed that 100% of manufactured homes produced and installed in accordance with the current Federal Standards successfully withstood the effects of Hurricane Charley.
And in the end, responsible reporting did win out: after touring the area, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was quoted by the media as saying, “the new construction standards for manufactured homes are working.” Such news organizations as Fox News, CNN, and the Associated Press were finally forced to admit that homes built to the new codes didn’t budge an inch in the 145 mph winds recorded at Punta Gorda.
Despite the public misperception and media misinformation, the FACT is that modern manufactured homes, intelligently engineered and well-built, are fully the equal to other building types when it comes to safety and security.