Information about Mobile Home

These homes are built in factories, rather than on site, and then taken to the place where they will be occupied. They are usually transported by tractor-trailers over public highways. They are less expensive per square foot than site-built homes, and are often associated with rural areas and high-density developments, sometimes referred to as trailer parks. In the UK and USA they are at times referred to as "communities".

The term factory built home specifically refers to a home built entirely in a protected environment under a federal code set by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These houses are usually placed in one location, often a rented lot, and left there permanently. However, they do retain the ability to be moved, as this is a requirement in many areas. Behind the cosmetic work fitted at installation to hide the base, there are strong trailer frames, axles, wheels and tow-hitches.

These homes are not large recreational vehicles. The latter are more properly called travel trailers, motor homes or RVs, and they are usually parked at facilities called trailer parks, trailer courts, or RV parks for short terms.

The two major sizes are single-wides and double-wides. Single-wides are sixteen feet or less in width and can be towed to their site as a single unit. Double-wides are twenty feet or more wide and are towed to their site in two separate units, which are then joined together. Triple-wides and even homes with four, five, or more units are also manufactured, although not as commonly.

In the U.S., these homes are regulated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), via the Federal National Mfd. Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. It is this national regulation that has allowed many manufacturers to distribute nationwide, since they are immune to the jurisdiction of local building authorities. By contrast, producers of modular homes must abide by state and local building codes. There are, however, windzones adopted by HUD that home builders must follow. For example, state-wide, Florida is at least windzone 2. South Florida is windzone 3, the strongest windzone. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, new standards were adopted for home construction. The codes for building within these windzones were significantly amended, which has greatly increased their durability. During the 2004 hurricanes in Florida, these standards were put to the test, with great success.

However, older models continue to face the exposed risk to high winds due to the attachments applied such as carports, porch and screen room additions. These areas are exposed to "Wind Capture" which apply extreme force to the underside of the integrated roof panel systems, ripping the fasteners through the roof pan causing a series of events which destroys the main roof system and the home.

History

This form of housing goes back to the early years of automobiles and motorized highway travel. It was derived from the travel trailer, a small unit with permanently attached wheels often used for camping. Larger units intended to be used as dwellings for several months or more in one location came to be known as house trailers.

The original focus of this form of housing was its mobility. Units were initially marketed primarily to people whose lifestyle required mobility. However, beginning in the 1950s, the homes began to be marketed primarily as an inexpensive form of housing designed to be set up and left in a location for long periods of time, or even permanently installed with a masonry foundation. Previously, units had been eight feet or less in width, but in 1956, the introduction of the 10-foot (3.048 metre) wide home was made. This helped solidify the line between these homes and house/travel trailers, since the smaller units could be moved simply with an automobile, but the larger, wider units required the services of a professional trucking company. In the 1960s and '70s, the homes became even longer and wider, making the mobility of the units more difficult. Today, when a factory built home is moved to a location, it is usually kept there permanently and the mobility of the units has considerably decreased.

Many people who could not afford a traditional site-built home or did not desire to commit to spending a large sum of money on housing began to see this factory built homes as a viable alternative for long-term housing needs. The units were often marketed as an alternative to the apartment rental. However, the tendency of the units of this era to rapidly depreciate in resale value made using them as collateral for loans far riskier than traditional home loans. Terms were usually limited to less than the thirty year term typical of the general home-loan market, and interest rates were considerably higher. In other words, home loans resembled motor vehicle loans far more than traditional home mortgages.

Types of homes in the United Kingdom

In the UK there are three main types of homes: touring caravans, static caravans, and motorhomes. A touring caravan is towed behind a car to its site and parked, often for only a brief period. Touring caravans are usually no larger than 10'x16' (3 x 5 m) and can have 1 or 2 axles (2 or 4 wheels respectively). Static caravans aren't generally towed, as they are too large to tow, sometimes up to 40'x13' (12 m x 4 m), and therefore are transported on the back of large flatbed lorries. A static caravan will normally stay on a single plot for many years, and have many of the modern conveniences one would normally find in a home.

Motorhomes are similar in size to touring caravans but with one main difference: they have engines and do not need to be towed. Motorhomes can have many modern conveniences such as showers and full-sized cookers. Motorhomes are for all intents and purposes full touring caravans that can be driven from site to site.

Legal complications

The rise of the factory built homes brought with it complications the legal system was not prepared to handle. Originally, factory built homes tended to be taxed as vehicles rather than real estate, which resulted in very low property tax rates for their inhabitants. This led local governments to reclassify them for taxation purposes.

However, even with this change, rapid depreciation often resulted in the home occupants paying far less in property taxes than had been anticipated and budgeted. The ability to move many factory built homes rapidly into a relatively small area resulted in strains to the infrastructure and governmental services of the affected areas, such as inadequate water pressure and sewage disposal, and highway congestion. This led jurisdictions to begin placing limitations on the size and density of developments.

As noted above, early homes, even those that were well-maintained, tended to depreciate in value over time, much like motor vehicles, rather than appreciate in value, as with site-built homes. The arrival of these homes in an area tended to be regarded with alarm, in part because of devaluation of the housing potentially spreading to preexisting structures.

This combination of factors has led most jurisdictions to place zoning regulations on the areas in which factory built homes are placed, and limitations on the number and density of homes permitted on any given site. Other restrictions, such as minimum size requirements, limitations on exterior colors and finishes, and foundation mandates have also been enacted. There are many jurisdictions that will not allow the placement of any additional factory built homes. Others have strongly limited or forbidden all single-wide models, which tend to depreciate in value more rapidly than modern double-wide models.

Apart from all the practical issues described above, there is also the constant discussion about legal Fixture and chattels - meaning that the legal status of a trailer is, or could be, affected by its incorporation to the land or not.

Mobile home parks

In the past parks have, often with legitimate reason, been thought of as substandard. With more modern home parks however, this is not the case. Most have regulations concerning the size and styles of homes permitted, and many are somewhat similar to more traditional subdivision developments. In some of the more satisfactory parks, all of the homes are owned by the individual occupants. Only the spaces or pads are rented, not the units themselves. Developments in which the buyer purchases both the home and the lot are almost indistinguishable from traditional subdivisions. In lower-end parks, some or all of the units are owned by the operators of the park and are rented to occupants. These developments are considered undesirable by property owners because they are known to depreciate the value of surrounding property.

Newer homes, particularly double-wides, tend to be built to much higher standards than their predecessors and meet the building codes applicable to most areas. This has led to a reduction in the rate of value depreciation of most used units. ^[1]

Additionally, modern homes tend to be built from materials similar to those used in site-built homes rather than inferior, lighter-weight materials. They are also more likely to physically resemble site-built homes. Often, the primary differentiation in appearance is that factory built homes tend to have less of a roof slope so that they can be readily transported underneath bridges and overpasses.

The number of double-wide units sold exceeds the number of single-wides, which is due in part to the aforementioned zoning restrictions. Another reason for higher sales is the spaciousness of double-wide units, which are now comparable to site-built homes. Single-wide units are still popular primarily in rural areas, where there are fewer restrictions. They are frequently used as temporary housing in areas affected by natural disasters, when restrictions are temporarily waived.

Modular homes

These homes are often confused with but are not identical to modular homes. Modular homes are transported on flatbed trucks rather than being towed, and lack axles and an automotive-type frame typical of mfd homes. However, some modular houses are towed behind a semi-truck on a frame similar to that of a trailer. The house is usually in two pieces and is hauled by two separate trucks. Each frame has five or more axles, depending on the size of the house. Once the house has reached its location, the axles and the tongue of the frame are then removed, and the house is set on a concrete foundation by a large crane.

Both styles are commonly referred to as factory built housing, although its technical use is restricted to a class of homes regulated by the Federal National Mfd. Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.

Most zoning restrictions on the homes have been found to be inapplicable or only applicable to modular homes. This occurs often after considerable litigation on the topic by affected jurisdictions and by plaintiffs failing to ascertain the difference. Most modern modular homes, once fully assembled, are indistinguishable from site-built homes. Their roofs are usually transported as separate units. As the legal differentiation between the two becomes more codified, the market for modular homes is likely to grow.

The traditional home industry would seem to have a bright future as well. As the demand for housing continues to grow, the price of housing continues to increase rapidly. The quality and features of these homes has led to greater acceptance by a growing segment of the marketplace. Additionally, insurers and lenders are now more likely to treat the higher-end factory built home as they would a traditional home.

Homes and tornadoes

Tornadoes do not actually strike factory built homes any more or less frequently than any other type of structure. However, while an F1 tornado might cause minor damage to a site-built home, it could do significant damage to a factory built home, especially an older model or one that is not properly secured. Many brands offer optional hurricane straps, which can be used to tie the home to anchors embedded in the ground. This gives the owner substantial protection against heavy winds.

Homes in Europe

The phrase, with or without the hyphen, is used in many European campgrounds to refer to fixed caravans, purpose-built cabins and even large tents, which are rented by the week or even year-round as cheap accommodation, similar to the US concept of a trailer park. Like many US loanwords, this term is not used widely in Britain.

Caravilla

In 2005, a neighborhood of about 500 homes was established in Nitzan. This was a temporary community set up north of Ashkelon, Israel, to house those evacuated from their homes in Gush Katif as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan.

These homes were named caravillas (Hebrew: קרווילה), which is a portmanteau of the words caravan, and villa. The building is composed of several prefabricated sections, that are joined on a foundation. This is akin to the Israeli concept of a villa, or Single-family home. The caravilla is more spacious than a regular factory built home, and was instrumental in pacifying objections to the Disengagement plan.

Trivia

• During a renovation of the Arkansas governor's mansion, then-Governor Mike Huckabee and his family lived in a triple-wide home on site, donated by the state factory built home builders association. Though the move was criticized by many who believed it played to stereotypes of rural Arkansas, Huckabee agreed to the idea because the industry was important to Arkansas both in terms of sales and employment.
• Single-wide homes, especially older models with weathered bare aluminum skins, are often humorously called "gray whales", which they vaguely resemble.
• The Urban Legend debunking site Snopes.com started a deliberately false urban legend stating that these were named after the city of Mobile, Alabama where they were first manufactured. This is debunked in the Additional Information link at the bottom of the page.

See also

• HUD USER
• Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse
• Manufactured housing
• Recreational vehicle
• Campsite
• Trailer Park
• Campervan

References

• Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards

External links

• Tingdene Homes - Leading manufacturer in the UK
• Regulating body in the UK
• National Manufactured Housing Institute
• National Mobile Home Listing Service USA
• Manufactured Homes National Resources
• Mobile Home Listing Service For Owners
• Directory of Manufactured Homes USA
• Types and sizes of Manufactured and Modular Homes
• Directory of Mobile Home Parks in the UK
• Manufactured Home Construction Tours