The movement invites a younger generation to live smaller, with sleek designs and contemporary features. In some cases, that’s an effort to simplify life or create a smaller carbon footprint.
However, there are many motivations that spark the interest of buyers.
Tiny House, Tiny Cost
The cost and custom options might be a primary factors for younger buyers and retirees.
New Frontier Tiny Home
The tiny house provides a contemporary alternative option that homeowners can locate on private land or in a community. Tiny homes also are used as second residence. The second residence, often termed an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, can be a “granny house” or “writer’s cabin” behind a primary residence, or at a separate “getaway” location.
And buyers are not alone in their fascination and appreciation for the tiny home. Manufacturers are jumping on the band wagon, too, with new models from companies like New Frontier.
While the younger generation creates a lot of buzz about these tiny homes, we see structures provided as an option to decrease the homeless population, as well.
High Design Tiny Home
That is, nonprofits nationwide build tiny homes to help people in need. Whether that means providing housing to homeless veterans or retirement-age homeowners who have been displaced, we are seeing tiny houses used in a variety of ways.
Tiny houses are a natural fit many buyers because they are affordable and take less time to build than most other options.
Yet another trend is with companies looking to create communities of tiny homes for their employees . This has become a viable option for seasonal labor, or temporary housing on long-term projects.
So, whether this new style of smaller, simpler living is just trend or not, we sure are excited to watch as our industry continues to expand and reinvent the meaning of factory built housing.
Mobile Home photos make your listing come alive. Photos can show the immaculate landscaping, rural views, inviting fireplace or upgraded kitchen. The number one question we are asked from a home buyer is “Can I see more photos of the home?”
When you are trying to sell or rent your home, not only is it important to have multiple home photos on your ad, another important detail is the quality of the photos. In this case, we are talking about composition, lighting, the subject of the photo and how those subjects represent your home and lifestyle.
Here are some actual home photos from MHVillage:
With our current smart phones and cameras, it’s easier than it used to be to take high-quality shots and then crop and adjust them before you upload. Plus, it is easy to take many of photos at one time and sort them later. Taking multiple photos will help ensure that you get that perfect shot!
Now let’s take a look at some MHVillage photos:
This bathroom photo is blurry, not incredibly attractive and also it is a vertical shot that doesn’t look particularly great online.
Because of the size of the room, bathrooms are terribly hard to photograph. In this case, this photo doesn’t show the home to its best potential.
Another problem we see is lighting. This living room is has been emptied and is ready for the next owners, but it’s hard to tell in this photo. In this case, turning on the lights, opening the blinds and using a flash would have helped a lot.
Now, let’s look at some great photos:
Both of the images below have great lighting and are shot from the corner of the room. This really gives the customer the opportunity to see the size and feel of the layout.
So, while you always want to have as many photos of the home as possible when advertising, it’s also really important that the images represent your home in the best possible light (literally!).
Exterior Home Photos:
Another problem we see on MHVillage are photos of the exterior of the home taken from too far away. This is a lovely home, but it’s hard to see in this photo. Try to take your exterior photos with a minimum of road – or sky. (On the other hand, if this photo had been accompanied by a closer shot, it would have been a great way to show of the mature trees and peaceful setting.)
Tips on Photographing Homes
It is worth taking a few extra minutes to get the right shot. Here are some tips:
Remove cars, toys, trash and other distractions from around the home.
Keep the light behind you. This can mean shooting the front of the home in the morning and the back in the afternoon. If you have interesting flood lights, consider taking a shot of the home at night, but always include a day shot.
Take interior shots with the widest angle setting on your camera.
Turn on all lights, open blinds and try using the flash indoors. If the shot is overexposed (washed out), adjust accordingly. Each home is going to be a little different but look for clear, well-lit photos.
Photos taken toward a window or door during the day will appear underexposed. (The room will appear dark and the window very bright.) Again, you might have to play with this a little to get it right.
Crop the image to feature the home clearly. If you want a distant shot featuring the landscaping or setting, fine, but be sure to include a second photo where the home occupies most of the image.
The number one photo people want is a CLEAR shot of the front of the home. Take a look at the list below for more direction.
Suggested home photos, in order of importance
The front of the home – a clear, close shot
The living room/great room/family room. Include the fireplace or interesting entrance way if you have one. Include a separate shot of the view from the room if you have something exceptional.
The kitchen
The back or sides of the home
Any feature you claim is remodeled or premium quality
Any outside features like decks or garages
The landscape or setting of the home
The master bedroom
The master bathroom
Second bedrooms, bathrooms or utility areas.
If you have any additional questions or would like some assistance with uploading your images to MHVillage, please feel free to contact us!
Clubhouse rendering for Plantation Oaks of Ormond Beach
New Manufactured Home Community Under Construction in Central East Florida
The effort it takes to build something new often is viewed as a troublesome necessity or a source of frustration. In the case of a new manufactured home community, like one being developed in Ormond Beach, Fla., approval to clear and level, start utilities and lay out a site plan certainly is cause for celebration.
The development of a new manufactured home community in Florida last occurred about 15 years ago. The challenges include a difficult economy, zoning hurdles, investment barriers and the negative perception of a new manufactured home community.
New Development Data
About 310 new manufactured home communities were built nationwide during the last 15 years. Compare that with with the 2,645 new communities during the prior 15 years, including 395 communities built during 1986-87 alone. It’s easy to understand why affordable housing advocates are concerned.
Ormond Beach Commissioner Dwight Selby serves Zone 1 where the new community is located. Additionally, he serves as treasurer for the Florida Manufactured Housing Association and co-owns the nearby Shady Oaks manufactured home community.
“I think it’s important to stay focused on providing housing for all kinds of income, not just the rich and uber rich,” Selby said. “We have a huge gap in affordability. Most builders aren’t putting up anything below $250,000 – $300,000, and the developers at Plantation Oaks are coming in at half that. It’s a way more affordable number for a lot of people.”
The New Manufactured Home Community
Developers Parker Mynchenberg and Ronnie Bledsoe have prevailed in their efforts to bring about Plantation Oaks of Ormond Beach.
Community Plan
“We’re selling the lifestyle, the amenities, the gated entry,” Mynchenberg said of the 55+ community.
Plantation Oaks is near the intersection of I-95 and U.S. 1, north of the municipality. The property is unincorporated land set for annexation into the city when phase one is complete. Phase one of the development calls for 427 lots. The final project will include 1,577 home sites.
“We were just held up for a bit and got back at it,” Bledsoe said. “We’re in a great location to do this. Ormond Beach is among the nicer communities in the area. It’s a great place to live.”
Two- and 3-bedroom homes in the new manufactured home community will range from 1,200 to 2,400 square feet. Prices are between $120,000 and $200,000. The community will also operate as a mobile home dealer for homes from two makers, Homes of Merit and Palm Harbor. Homeowners can rent the land their home sits on for about $700 per month.
“The rents will vary a little,” Bledsoe said. “Depending on whether you have a waterfront lot, a premium lot or a lot that borders a preservation area.”
Finally, each home will have a front porch, and a two-stall garage rather than carports.
“Zoning is difficult,” he said. “The second reason why this type of development is rare is because of the infrastructure cost up front. When people move in, you get paid back over time with the lot rent… it’s hard to find funding.
“Once they’re leased up, they’re sought after by investors,” Bledose said. “Not so much when they’re being developed.”
As a result, Commissioner Selby said bridging that gap should be a priority locally, and nationally.
“It’s a total mystery to me how a product class can be so attractive, yet there are no people chasing new deals,” Selby said. “I know it relates to financing and delayed returns, but all that being said, somehow we have to figure this out.
“There needs to be a mechanism whereby new communities can be built,” he said.
Selby points to the wave of Baby Boomers who will retire to Florida and other warm weather places. If there are homes for those arrivals to live in, Florida’s economy can reap the benefits.
“Boomers add a lot and require very little,” Selby said. “We should prepare ourselves before they advance to an age where more community services will be required.”
Clubhouse rendering
The Community Perks
“We’re doing a 10,360 square-foot clubhouse with café and large kitchen, as well as community rooms to play cards, exercise and meet friends,” Mynchenberg said. “Out back are covered and screened porches that overlook an Olympic size zero entry pool. It’s ADA accessible, and very good for seniors.”
Mynchenberg is a civil engineer, landscape architect and pool designer. Bledsoe has significant experience as an underground utilities contractor. The two have teamed in development efforts several times, including on Plantation Oaks of Flagler between 1998 and 2004. They sold that community and purchased the Ormond Beach property, waited out the recession and in 2012 worked on re-zoning for manufactured housing.
In addition, Plantation Oaks of Ormond Beach will boast dog runs and dog parks. Additionally, it will provide tennis and pickle ball courts, shuffleboard, walking and bike trails, boat and RV storage, nearby shopping and entertainment.
The median home price near the coast is significantly higher than the cost at Plantation Oaks. However, Bledsoe and Mynchenberg have declined to advertise the community as affordable housing.
“I think if you asked the customer about the high point, it’s not affordability, it’s lifestyle,” Bledsoe said. “We’re proud of this community. We’ve had a huge response. When we put up the billboard alone, I can’t say how many emails we received.”
Installers have set the first models and set the first wave of residents gain access in Fall 2018.
What if I need more information? How do I contact a mobile home park?
We understand that there are times when you will need to contact a mobile home park. To clarify, MHVillage.com does not own, operate, or manage any of the communities advertised on our site. Rather, we are the #1 website for communities to advertise their homes, services and features.
MHVillage.com only has the information that communities provide on their listings. However, many communities list an email and/or a phone number for you to get in touch with them.
To Contact a Mobile Home Community by Email:
When you are viewing a community on MHVillage, there will be a Email Community button on the upper right hand side of the page, if we have an email for them.
Just click this “Email Community” button to directly message a representative from a community.
Contact a Mobile Home Community by Phone
Searching for a community phone number? Scroll down to the red heading that reads “Contact Information.” There you will see a button that says “View Phone #”. Click this to reveal the contact information.
There are also a couple of other buttons at the bottom that might help:
Ask Question, which will email the community.
Request a Brochure, which will either
We encourage members on our site to respond within 48 hours, but keep in mind that some businesses may respond more quickly than others.
If there is insufficient or missing contact information, you may need to search in your local directory or Yellow Pages.
Is your mobile home for sale? We’ve compiled these “Lucky 7” easy tips to help you stage your home.
MHVillage aims to help you impress home shoppers and save you money. These are simple things you can do to help make your home more marketable.
Seven Easy Tips to Help Stage Your Home for Sale
1. Impress the Drive-By
If you have your manufactured home for sale, you may notice folks who slowly drive with an eye on your community. It’s a common weekend activity for those in the market for a new home.
When your manufactured home is for sale, make sure you impress those drive-bys in the 30-45 seconds you have their attention! Your lawn should be in good shape and landscaping is tidy. Move trash and recycle containers out of view. Make sure sidewalks and stairs are swept. Stand in the road outside your home and look at it with a buyer’s eye. What can you do differently to stage your home, to make it appear more inviting?
Tip: Make sure people who drive by have your phone number. A well placed, clearly written “For Sale” sign can really help. The MHVillage Seller’s Kit (Free with your listing) includes a big window sign for your home.
2. Clean Up Outdoor Structures
Don’t forget to shine up your outdoor areas. These areas can be easily forgotten, but when buyers come to your home they will be seeing them for the first time.Now is a great time to clean up the shed and make sure tools are neatly put away. Look at the carport, especially up near the roof. This is an area that attracts dirt – and bird’s nests. Have deck or patio? Make sure they are clean and look welcoming. In warmer climates, spruce them up with flower pots, in colder areas, make sure the walks and structures are free from snow and ice.
We have been talking with our home buyers on MHV and their number one request is: “More home photos please!”
Statistically, we have found that listings with more than 30 home photos receive 25% more clicks to view than similar homes with fewer home photos
In other words, there really is no such thing as too many good home photos! The important word being “good”. While your bathroom might have really lovely tile, and you may have recently replaced the shower curtain, there are only so many good angles you can capture of this space.
However, the exterior of the home, the layout of the living spaces, the community the home is in, these are all areas that have a variety of different angles which would be very beneficial to your buyer. You would be surprised how quickly you can surpass that 30 photos mark!
Here are some listings on MHVillage that have many photos – and also have a sale pending.
Pro tip: Try having your first photo be of the exterior of the home since if the buyer was coming to see it, that would be their first impression in person too.
The best first photo is the exterior of the home. If possible remove clutter and cars, and try to fill the shot with as much of the home as you can – you want a minimum of sky and road.
The goal is to give the customer the experience of walking through the home when they are scrolling through the pictures. Remember, home buyers might be moving from a different state. So it is important that they get to experience the home in this medium as close to in person as possible.
Hopefully these few tips will help you be able to present your home to the perfect buyer – because after all, you only need one buyer to close the deal!
National Nonprofit Partners to Expand Affordable Housing Efforts in Texas
Nonprofit organization Texas Community Builders is demonstrating the potential of delivering efficient affordable housing in Texas manufactured homes communities. Next Step Homes and Clayton Homes are working together toward this focus on factory-built housing.
Texas Community Builders, under Business and Community Lenders (BCL) of Texas, will provide a model home in La Grange, Texas to host visitors. The goals is to show what is possible in regard to home ownership for middle-earning professionals. The program targets teachers, first responders and service providers, including families and individuals, often held out of home ownership.
“We are proud to work with our partners to offer a model for affordable, energy-efficient housing that will be replicable in communities across Texas,” Texas Community Builders CEO Rosa Ríos Valdez said.
City officials, economic developers and members of the public attended an open house to explore the future of sustainable housing. An open house for home buyers on July 8 was a success. A second showing later that month with developers, real estate professionals and public officials also was productive.
The price for a 3-bedroom, 2-bath homes starts at $149,000, including the land. Homes that are customizable and a choices of layouts are built on a permanent foundation to ENERGY STAR® standards. Homes will be available for purchase or order as early as August 2017.
“This is a great opportunity to show the benefits of factory-built home,” Stacey Epperson, president and founder of Next Step, said. “Working with Texas Community Builders, we hope to provide sustainable homeownership opportunities for more hard-working Texas families.”
The second installment on community planning in a two-part contribution to MHVillage by Equity Lifestyle Properties.
Stumping the Professionals
With so many advanced mathematical formulas and neat patterns for manufactured home communities, you’d think professional planners in other housing sectors could easily replicate a neighborhood design and get the same results.
They get close, Allan D. Wallis writes in his book “Wheel Estate”, but haven’t figured out how to create the strong neighborhood bonds and sense of community of a well-managed and thriving manufactured home community.
Planner Robert Bair, Jr., one of the authors of “Mobile Home Parks and Comprehensive Community Planning”, stated that community planning for mobile home parks might represent the last genuine communities in America.
Close-knit neighborliness and camaraderie rarely exists in gated communities and suburbs the way it does in factory-built community planning. Simply put, residents in gated communities rarely talk to neighbors. A third of homeowners say they haven’t met their closest neighbor, and 20 percent don’t know their neighbor’s name.
Professionals for decades in community planning have attempted to get the same results witnessed in manufactured home communities. The modern gated communities, with 4,000 square foot site-built homes, have mimicked the layout, offered the amenities, even used similar lot designs. Still, they’ve yet to figure out how to foster the social interaction seen in manufactured home communities.
Of course, community planners can only do so much.
The friendliness and neighborhood cohesiveness that forms so naturally within manufactured home communities says a lot about the people living in factory-built housing.
Popular Community Planning Designs
Those who work in community planning use formulas and algorithms to determine the layout of a manufactured home community. Lot size and home placement is especially important to create a thriving community. Experts have found a few home layouts that work well for manufactured home communities and most of us will recognize them.
Herringbone
A community laid out in a herringbone design uses diagonal lots to create a cohesive community that maximizes land use. One of the most popular manufactured home community layouts in the U.S. is the herringbone, but it does not fetch the top spot.
Perpendicular
The most common community design is the perpendicular layout. Homes are side by side. This allows for a front and back yard and allows one end of the home to face the road. Similarly, the staggered perpendicular layout provides homes that are placed on opposite sides of the lots.
Zero-lot Line
Herringbone and Perpendicular layouts are used more often than zero-lot line community planning. However, this design places the home’s backdoor on the very edge of the lot to create a larger front yard, and only a walkway in the back. This design is great for communities that have awesome views such as a pond or beach.
Parallel
A parallel layout places the home’s front facing the road. This placement allows for large lots but requires the most acreage.
Muramoto Cluster
The Muramoto cluster design is unique. George Muramoto was a popular architect and consultant for manufactured home communities in the 1950s. He created a park design that places four homes within a cluster that share a single driveway. Every home is placed with intention, even if to the casual observer it may look scattered and unplanned. The pattern only reveals itself from above.
ELS writer Crystal Adkins has authored more than 500 articles about manufactured housing and is featured on BobVila.com and USA Today.
Part I of a two-part contribution by myMHcommunity.com on the history of manufactured home communities.
A Few Items About the History of Manufactured Home Communities
Community planners analyze data and use an array of knowledge and experience to design every detail of a neighborhood. They use intentional design to encourage healthy neighbor interaction while providing the residents privacy, security and safety. Everything is considered.
Village Green in Vero Beach, Fla.
Even the curves in the roads are placed intentionally to slow auto traffic.
Planning communities is a centuries old concept. There is evidence of urban planning dating back to the third millennium B.C. Through the years, planners have established several community designs they feel work best. That’s why we see similar community layouts across the nation; designs proven to create a safe neighborhood with good sociability.
In most cases, planners get the same results when they design similar communities. However, there’s one thing that has been stumping expert community planners for decades. How to get their gated site-built communities and suburbs to develop the camaraderie and sense of community that seem to occur so naturally within manufactured home communities.
The History of Manufactured Home Communities
While there are successful manufactured home communities that have thrived without the help of professional planning, the largest and most desirable communities are typically planned down to the smallest detail.
One of the first permanent manufactured home communities in the U.S., Trailer Estates, was designed with the help of a professional community planner. The community was developed in 1955 in Bradenton, Fla. and included 1,451 lots on 160 acres.
The owner of Trailer Estates, a lawyer turned land developer, understood that factory-built homes would become a popular permanent housing choice for millions of families nationwide. He wanted to create the ideal permanent neighborhood that worked well for a variety of families, so he reached out to a professional community planner.
The community they created had all the necessities you could want. It had a post office, commissary, recreational areas, laundry facilities and even its own marina and beach. Residents had square dancing on Tuesdays, crafts on Thursdays and ballroom dancing on Saturdays.
The community was so well-planned that it was recognized as a model community and the same design and amenities offered are replicated in several communities across the nation to this day.
ELS writer Crystal Adkins has authored more than 500 articles about manufactured housing. She has been featured on BobVila.com and USA Today.
A recent home buyer shared this note on our Facebook page about pet-friendly mobile home parks:
“Thank you all who gave me such wonderful information regarding your communities and homes for sale. We are reading and looking at all info seriously. We are retiring after the first of the year and southern Arizona is our desired area to live the rest of our lives. So thank y’all so much for sharing. So far, ALL of the communities seem great, but not one that shared will take our beloved old dog, Petey. He’s a 10 year old mix mutt who adopted us when he was a 6 month old puppy thrown out a car window on our front yard. He’s in good health and his weight for past three years has a low of 22 pounds and a high of 25.5 pounds. Currently, Petey weighs 24 pounds (he is neutered). He is friendly and lazy.”
Most communities have some restrictions on pets. However, if one of your family members has four paws, there is a way to make it easier to find a place that will welcome them. MHVillage has Advanced Search tools that let you look specifically for pet-friendly communities.
There are two easy tools for finding pet-friendly mobile home parks:
1) Go to the mobile home parks search page and use the checkboxes to narrow down the search for exactly what you looking for. Want a family friendly community that allows pets and has a pool? You can search for that!
2) You can also narrow down your search after you have seen what is available. For example, there are 104 manufactured home communities in Mesa, Ariz. At the top of that list is a Narrow Your Search tool that will let you select only pet-friendly home communities. That brings the count of communities down to 74.
Now, there are a couple of caveats to keep in mind. Occasionally policies and information change. In addition, just because a mobile home park accepts some pets, doesn’t mean they accept all pets. So, be sure to verify all information by calling the communities directly.
Heads up, Southeast Michigan! The Novi Home Show will host six stunning manufactured homes for public display at the Michigan Manufactured Housing Association (MMHA)...
This weekend, October 7th through the 9th, 2022, is your opportunity to tour six model homes as part of the Manufactured Home Showcase.
The Showcase,...
The best first photo is the exterior of the home. If possible remove clutter and cars, and try to fill the shot with as much of the home as you can – you want a minimum of sky and road.
