Looking to Buy? Here Are a Few Types of Mobile Homes for Your Consideration

Mobile homes are one type of prefabricated residence many people live in, but even within this one category of home, there are several primary variations. One of the greatest distinctions is the difference between a mobile home and a manufactured home.

Many people, including some who work in the industry, continue to call manufactured homes by their former name, mobile home. The truth is, not a single mobile home has been made in the U.S. in more than 40 years. That’s because the mobile home was becoming extremely popular in the late ’60s and early ’70s, which prompted the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to step in.

HUD coordinated a regulatory program that began implementation on June 15, 1976, for what would become manufactured housing. The distinction between what a mobile home is and today’s manufactured home is that single date and the ensuing HUD protocols the industry has followed since.

There remain plenty of mobile homes for sale, but the only HUD-code home being produced today is the manufactured home.

Mobile Home Sizes

When someone asks if you have a single-wide or a double-wide home, they’re asking about the size of your mobile or manufactured home. Often called a single-section home, a single wide is typically 18-feet wide and anywhere from 68-feet to 90-feet long. On a double-wide, the length stays the same but the width of the home is twice as spacious.

Essentially, a double-wide or any other multi-section home — is a series of single-section homes pressed together with a designed “marriage line” to create a greater sized central living area.

Manufactured housing professionals call each section of the home a “floor”. HUD regulates each floor independently. This means the person who owns a double-wide manufactured home actually owns two homes.

Community Series Homes

Community series homes are a point of emphasis in the industry. This is because many of the country’s more than 40,000 manufactured home communities can accommodate homes within certain size constraints.

Consumer demand for larger mobile homes and manufactured housing’s transition from its smaller trailer/camper roots to permanent living in communities specifically designed for that role has been sustained by the advent of community series homes and other similar floorplans.

In 2018, sales of new manufactured homes was a nearly even split between single-section and multi-section.

Energy-Efficient Mobile Homes

If you live in an extreme climate, where it gets either very cold or hot, you may want to think about getting a manufactured home with low-e windows and other energy-efficiency upgrades.

Low-e windows keep the hot air out in the summer and the warm air in during the winter. Energy-efficient mobile homes also come with EnergyStar rated appliances, increased insulation for the walls and ceilings, and sometimes a smart thermostat for optimized control of heating and cooling systems.

New Homes

There is a type of manufactured home that is so new it doesn’t have a name yet. With finance incentives from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, manufactured home builders and retailers have begun offering new homes with the characteristics of traditional site-built residential structures. This means homebuyers have more mid-market options for manufactured homes that fit in most neighborhoods where land is available. The lending programs MH Advantage, from Fannie Mae, and CHOICEHome, from Freddie Mac,  are for a traditional mortgage on a manufactured home with the land it sits on.

Upgraded or Modified Mobile Home

When you buy a custom mobile home you get to talk with the retailer or builder about how you’d like the home to be finished. Builders can accommodate a range of requests. It’s common to move a wall, or change the orientation of a kitchen island. In some cases the new homeowner requires modifications. A customer who uses a wheelchair can get modifications on counter heights and how appliances are mounted. Manufactured home sellers and builders make unique floorplan and design changes in homes every day. If there is a design change that’s important to you, your manufactured home professional should be able to accommodate you.

Start Searching for Your Mobile Home

MHVillage is the leading marketplace for mobile homes and manufactured homes. Browse the industry’s largest selection of listings and shop mobile homes for sale, manufactured home floor plans, or search for mobile home parks.