Can You Move a Mobile Home Into Your Neighborhood?

The concept of manufactured homes has boomed in popularity over the last several years. It’s easy to see why: they’re incredibly affordable and offer the same home ownership benefits as a site-built home.

Many people often wonder if a manufactured home can be moved into a neighborhood of site-built homes. While it is possible to move a mobile home from one site to another, the answer can be a bit more complex than that.

So, we’ll go into more detail about where you can, or can’t, move a mobile home.

How Mobile Homes Are Moved

First, we should talk about how the process of moving a mobile home works.

If your mobile home has two or more sections, it will first need to be separated so that each section can be transported separately. A multi-section mobile home cannot be moved in one piece for safety and construction reasons.

Your mobile home will have its own chassis and be moved from its old site to its new one. From there, your home will be installed the same way it was installed at the old site.

Sounds like a straightforward process, right? Well, the reality is that there’s a lot more to consider.

Can You Move a Mobile Home Into a Neighborhood?

The answer depends on a lot of different factors. Sometimes, however, the answer will be no.

One reason why it’s usually not possible to move a mobile home into a neighborhood of site-built homes is because of local ordinances or deed restrictions. Your city or township likely has requirements for what kinds of homes can be built or sited on residential land. Plus, the neighborhood might have deed restrictions with specific requirements for what kind and style of home can be built in that subdivision.

Also, it’s incredibly difficult in 2022 to find open plots of land in residential neighborhoods. If a neighborhood was designed and built with blocks of site-built homes, they’re likely going to stay that way.

Of course, there may be some exceptions. If you have private land in a neighborhood near you, you may be able to move a mobile home there. This would depend on local zoning laws in your area. Check with your City Hall or the website for your city or township to find what those zoning laws or deed restrictions may be.

Can You Move a Mobile Home Onto ANY Private Land?

Absolutely. In fact, it’s very common for mobile homes to be sited on land that’s privately owned.

There is, of course, a process you must follow when moving a mobile home to private land. For one, you’ll need a permit to have your manufactured home moved from one site to another.

This also means that you CANNOT, under any circumstances, move your mobile home by yourself. This is because moving a mobile home is an incredibly complex process that can cause damage to your home, your property, and to yourself if not done properly.

You also have to make sure that the land you’re moving your home to has been properly sited and evaluated. To put a home on private land, you will need a foundation, hookups for sewer and water, plus electric and gas service. Your land will also need a driveway.

What About My Modular Home?

No. You cannot move a modular home to a new location, unlike manufactured homes.

This is because when a modular home is assembled into its final form on its home site, it’s intended to stay there permanently.

It’s true that a modular home is similar to a manufactured home in that they’re shipped to their home site. However, with a modular home, the sections that form to become the full home should not be separated again.

Where Else Can I Move a Mobile Home?

Many homeowners choose to move their mobile home into a manufactured home community.

If you’re able to find an empty lot in a community near you, you could have your new manufactured home moved there. This is a great way to buy a mobile home that’s currently outside your community.

This could be your best option if you’re looking to live in a mobile home park with great amenities and reasonable lot rent. Check in your area to see if any parks have open lots.

If you’re looking to move a mobile home in the near future, check out MHVillage’s Movers page. Here, you can find a directory of recommended movers across nearly every state in the country. They can help you determine how to best go about moving your manufactured home safely, efficiently, and affordably.

The Ins and Outs of Buying a Mobile Home in Texas

Texas: the Lone Star State. It carries a reputation for many things: the Alamo, the great BBQ eats to be found, and for being the largest of the 48 mainland states.

However, Texas is also known for being a large (and still growing) market for mobile homes. Often, we’ll receive inquiries about how to find mobile homes in Texas, or how to navigate the process of finding a mobile home in a park.

So, here, we’ll cover the ins and outs of buying a manufactured home in Texas, along with some other things to know along the way to help you get into your dream home.

Texas as a Mobile Home Market

To look for Texas mobile homes near you, you can visit MHVillage to get the process started. Simply head over to mhvillage.com/homes/tx to view available homes in your market.

If you’re looking to live in a Texas mobile home park, you’re in a great state for that, too. The Lone Star State is home to thousands of parks that list their information on MHVillage.

So, if you’re curious about when your favorite community will have mobile homes for sale, or want to know which parks near you have your favorite amenity, then you’re in a good place to start looking for the answers you need.

Finding the Right Mobile Home For You

Since there are so many manufactured homes to choose from in Texas, it’s important to find a mobile home that best meets your needs. This is similar to how you would shop for site-built homes. As you’re looking for your new digs, keep the following considerations in mind:

Private Land or Community Living?

This is one of the biggest factors to keep in mind when shopping for manufactured homes. You’ll have the choice between buying a home in a manufactured home community, or on your own private land.

Many homeowners prefer to go the community route. In mobile home parks, you may have access to a number of amenities that range from walking trails to clubhouses to pools and saunas. And, you may have some of your utilities covered under your “lot rent” – such as water, trash pickup, or even high-speed internet.

You can read more about the benefits of living in a manufactured home community.

The other primary option is living in your manufactured home on private land. This also has many benefits for the homeowner. For one, you can have your Texas mobile home moved to a lot that’s as big as you like, provided it’s gone through the right site preparation. Many homeowners also prefer the privacy that comes with a mobile home on private land.

If you’re interested in reading up on what it takes to own a mobile home on private land, check out this blog post from the MHVillager.

Home Size

How many people will live with you? Do you want extra space in your kitchen for entertaining? Would you like an extra room to use as a home office or a flex room?

These questions are just a few that you’ll want to think about as you consider what size of home you should buy. Single-wide manufactured homes can offer enough space for a family and offer the most value. Or, if you want something bigger, you can also consider a multi-section home that offers even more space and options.

Cost

Of course, you have to ensure you have a budget laid out for your mobile home purchase. You want to ensure you have enough saved up to cover the down payment for your new home, as well as for closing costs and any renovations you may want to make once you move in. It’s also important to remember that the cost of mobile homes on average are usually far less than that of site-built homes.

The Offer, Inspection, and Closing

Once you’ve found the home of your dreams, you’ll likely want to tour it, either virtually or in-person, and decide whether you’ll make an offer on the home. When you decide to offer, you’ll contact the owner to begin the sale process. Keep in mind that the sticker price rarely matches the final selling price on the home, depending on what you decide to offer or what the seller’s counter-offer may be.

When your offer has been accepted, there are just a few more things to take care of before you’re ready to move in. First is the mobile home inspection. Even if the seller has ordered an inspection prior to listing the home, you’ll want to have one done yourself to make sure you fully understand the condition of your new Texas mobile home.

Before the home is officially yours, you’ll also have to sign the closing paperwork. What exactly you sign will vary from state to state when it comes to mobile homes, but you can generally expect to sign a transfer of ownership agreement, along with a bill of sale.

Texas-Specific Considerations

In many states, a “title” is the document that certifies you as the owner of a mobile home. In the state of Texas, this document is referred to as a “Statement of Ownership and Location” – or SOL. This document functions similar to a title, but is more online-friendly. In fact, you may not even need it for the closing paperwork.

Something else that Texas has is an online network of registered mobile homes in the state. If you’re interested in buying a mobile home and want to learn more about a home you’re looking at, you can search it using this database and see if it has any active liens, or to verify its age or ownership status.

Ready to look for mobile homes in the Lone Star State? If you are, then head over to MHVillage today to get started!

What Manufacturers Sell Mobile Homes in Your State?

We’ve talked before about mobile home manufacturers. They play a vital role in building and shipping today’s manufactured homes to home sites and communities across the country.

In fact, they’re such an important part of manufactured housing that some homebuyers go directly to the manufacturers to order new mobile homes. They also order customized manufactured homes that offer additional features.

And, some communities rely on the manufacturers for their new home shipments, too. But, not every home builder offers their homes for sale in every state in the U.S.

So, the MHVillager has assembled this handy guide so that you can see which manufacturers sell mobile homes in your state. These manufacturers sell their mobile homes through sales centers that are located in various states across the country.

This list is made up of some of the top manufacturers in manufactured housing today and where their sales centers are located based on publicly available information.

Keep in mind that many of these manufacturers offer new manufactured homes directly through MHVillage. If you visit our Manufactured and Mobile Home Dealers page, you can find the closest dealers near you that offer manufactured homes from home builders.

Adventure Homes

Dream it. Design it. Build it. Love it. That’s the motto that Adventure Homes swears by.

Headquartered in Northeastern Indiana, Adventure Homes ships and sells manufactured homes throughout the Midwest and parts of the South.

So, if you’re in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin, or Wyoming, Adventure Homes is at your disposal.

Cappaert Manufactured Housing

Cappaert Manufactured Housing is another manufacturer with sales centers throughout the South. This makes them another great example of a regional manufacturer for factory-built homes.

While they’re based in and operate out of Mississippi, you can also find Cappaert-affiliated sales centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

Cavco Industries

This is a name you’ll hear thrown around a lot when it comes to manufactured housing. Not only does Cavco Industries operate sales centers in various states, but they also operate various other manufacturer brands across the country.

We’ll get into some of those in just a minute. But, if you’re looking for a Cavco-specific sales center, then you’ll find them in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Chariot Eagle

Chariot Eagle is the first of many Cavco brands that you’ll see on this list. They’re based out of Ocala, FL and are another regional operator similar to many others here. The majority of their sales operations are based in Florida, but they serve other states as well.

Specifically, if you’re in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Tennessee, you’ll have a Chariot Eagle sales center at your disposal.

Clayton Homes

It’d be easier to list the states where Clayton Homes doesn’t operate. This is because Clayton Homes is one of the biggest manufacturer in the United States when it comes to manufactured homes.

In fact, unless you live in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Rhode Island, you have a Clayton sales center in your state in the mainland U.S.

Commodore Homes

Commodore Homes is another manufacturer with wide reach across the country. Like Cavco, they operate many brands under the Commodore name.

You can find Commodore Homes sales centers in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Destiny Home Builders

Destiny Home Builders has built and sold manufactured homes within the southern United States since 1978.

In fact, if you live in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina, you can find a Destiny sales center near you if you want to go with a regional provider.

Fairmont Homes

Fairmont Homes is another manufacturer that operates primarily in the Midwest. While they’re one of a few manufacturers that also operate in Canada, their primary operations are in the United States.

You can visit a Fairmont Homes sales center if you live in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or West Virginia.

Fleetwood Homes

Fleetwood Homes has been in operation for over 55 years, and is another Cavco brand. Like many of the other manufacturers on this list, each Fleetwood plant builds homes for locations in its geographical region. So, a Fleetwood plant in Georgia would build for their sales centers in Georgia. You can browse Fleetwood manufactured homes for sale near you if you live in California, Georgia, Idaho, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Friendship Homes

If you live in Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, or Wisconsin, then Friendship Homes sales centers are another option at your disposal. Some fun facts: Friendship Homes is based out of Minnesota, sells manufactured homes in Canada, and has been a Cavco brand since 2015.

Jacobsen Homes

Jacobsen Homes is another brand that’s been around for over 60 years (since 1959, in fact). Based in the Tampa Bay area, they’re rather unique in that they only sell manufactured homes in the state of Florida.

It’s easy to see why: Florida is by far the hottest market for manufactured homes in 2022. So, if you live in the Sunshine State and want to buy a mobile home of your own, Jacobsen Homes is a local option to consider.

Legacy Housing

Legacy Housing is another manufacturer of factory-built homes that can be considered one of the biggest. Operating across the Southeast and Southwest, they’re another name that you may hear frequently.

If you’re looking for a Legacy Housing sales center, look in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas.

Palm Harbor Homes

Palm Harbor Homes has manufactured home sales centers all over the country. If you’re in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, or Washington, you can look to Palm Harbor Homes for a sales center near you.

Scotbilt Homes, Inc.

Another well-known manufactured home builder in the South (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Carolinas to be exact), Scotbilt Homes is a relatively newer manufacturer. They were founded in 2004, and in just a short time have become a major manufacturer known by many. Recently, they became a member of the Skyline Champion family. Speaking of which…

Skyline Champion

No list of manufacturers would be complete without including Skyline Champion. A highly-recognizable brand that comprises Skyline Homes and Champion Home Builders, they’re yet another builder with a high reputation.

For homeowners-to-be in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas, a Skyline Champion sales center is not that far away.

Sunshine Homes

Rounding out our list is Sunshine Homes, which has operated since 1971 in the South and Midwest. If you’re looking for a new factory-built home in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Texas, Sunshine Homes is an option for you.

Like we said, this isn’t an exhaustive list of every single manufactured home builder out there. Rather, this is a list of some of the most common ones you’ll find, and which states they operate in. Manufacturers are always growing into new markets, so this list may change along with market conditions. So, if you don’t see your state serviced by your favorite manufacturer, keep an eye out for updates.

Don’t forget: you can also browse MHVillage for new and pre-owned manufactured and mobile homes near you.

What Are Other Names For Manufactured Homes?

Mobile homes are one of the most popular forms of affordable housing, and their influence is only growing. With 22 million Americans (and counting) living in mobile homes, it’s hard to deny that they’re accessible, affordable, and incredibly high-quality.

Because of how popular mobile homes have become, they’ve come to be known under many different names. Even though there are many different names for mobile homes, some of them carry slightly different meanings. Some of them are even used to incorrectly describe the modern manufactured homes that are commonplace today.

So, in this post, we’ll catalog some of the main terms you’ll hear that are used to describe today’s manufactured homes. And, we’ll talk about whether the terms are accurate, and their historical origins if they’re available.

Manufactured Homes

Manufactured homes is the official term for factory-built homes built under the “HUD Code” that was enacted in 1976. This code dictates how manufactured homes are constructed from a safety standpoint.

Under this code, all manufactured homes built before the HUD Code was enacted are referred to as mobile homes. The exact date that marks the eras of mobile homes and manufactured homes is June 15, 1976.

But, what are some of the quality differences that make modern manufactured homes so appealing for today’s homebuyers? Well, there are many.

For one, the factory-built process with which manufactured homes are made has evolved over the past several decades. Now, manufactured homes are made incredibly efficiently before being shipped to the home site.

Another important distinction is that modern manufactured homes are more often than not set on a permanent foundation, much like site-built homes. While some can be moved from place to place, they’re not as “mobile” as pre-HUD code mobile homes.

Mobile Homes

Like we mentioned earlier, mobile homes technically refer to factory-built homes built before the HUD Code was enacted in 1976. However, when talking about manufactured housing, the term mobile home is still incredibly popular and used widely, both by consumers and within the industry.

This is why you’ll often see the term mixed in with manufactured homes, even though they refer to two factory-built home types that are technically different from each other.

Modular Homes

Modular homes are a similar, yet distinct type of home from mobile homes and manufactured homes.

A manufactured home’s safety codes are based on the federal HUD code that we discussed earlier. With a modular home, they’re instead subject to state building codes. For example, in the state of Florida a modular home follows coding requirements from the Florida Building Code that affect how the home is built.

Because a modular home is not built to HUD Code, they’ll often take on different shapes and sizes compared to manufactured homes. This also affects how modular homes are shipped. Because they’re built and shipped in modules, keeping true to their namesake, they can be built with varying architecture or even a second story.

While it’s easy to mix up manufactured homes with modular homes, it’s important to understand that they’re vastly different in their production and style.

Park Model Homes

We’ve written before about park model homes, but it’s worth refreshing what makes them different from manufactured homes, and how the terms that refer to them are very distinct.

Park model homes, or park model RVs, are typically much smaller than manufactured homes. In fact, in most states a park model home cannot exceed 400 square feet with exceptions in a few states like Florida.

These are often more mobile than a manufactured home, unlike manufactured homes which typically stay in place once they’re sited. Because of this, they usually require registration, tags, and insurance, similar to that of a vehicle.

This is where the biggest difference between the two homes comes in: park model homes often are not used as permanent accommodations, unlike manufactured homes. Cavco Industries, a prominent home manufacturer that builds park model homes, says they are “designed to provide temporary accommodation for recreation, camping or seasonal use.”

So, while you may hear the term “park model home” thrown around in conversations relating to manufactured housing, they’re rather different from each other.

Trailer Homes

While many people still refer to mobile homes as “trailer homes,” this term is incorrect.

This term has been used to refer to mobile homes and manufactured homes for decades. In fact, some manufactured home communities are even referred to as trailer parks from time to time.

The term comes from the fact that moving mobile homes was far more common in the mid- to late-20th century than it is today. However, because modern manufactured homes are often found on permanent foundations, it’s inaccurate to refer to them as trailer homes. It’s also inaccurate to refer to manufactured home communities and mobile home parks as trailer parks.

Referring to manufactured homes as trailer homes has become less common as it’s fallen out of favor, since modern manufactured homes bear very little resemblance to actual hitched trailers.

Snap-together homes

In some regions of the United States, manufactured homes and mobile homes are referred to as snap-together homes.

This is especially common for multi-section manufactured homes, as the term refers to how the sections are joined together on a marriage line. The term originated in the mid-1900s.

These days, snap-together homes are occasionally used to refer to “tiny homes,” which are very different from manufactured and mobile homes.

Motor Home

This is a term that conflates manufactured homes with RVs and other large recreational and leisure vehicles. If anything, the term more closely relates to park model homes, which we discussed earlier, rather than manufactured homes.

You may occasionally still see some mobile homes referred to as motor homes. However, the term isn’t entirely correct unless the home is, in fact, mobile – similar to an RV or a park model home.

At the end of the day, the names that manufactured homes go by are varied and stem from different backgrounds and origins. As manufactured housing has evolved, so too have their names. However, not all names are the same, and some of manufactured housing’s names are either misconceptions at best or inaccurate at worst.

You can take a look at the high-quality manufactured home lifestyle for yourself by visiting MHVillage, the nation’s leading platform for buying, selling, and renting manufactured homes.

Manufactured Home Kitchen Cabinets: The Do’s and Don’ts

It’s inevitable: with rising manufactured home sales over the past few years, mobile home remodels are also climbing. In fact, we’ve seen an increase in remodels over the past few years, especially as indoor projects have spiked since 2020.

One of the most popular mobile home remodel projects involve manufactured home kitchen cabinets. They’re a popular feature to upgrade that can radically transform your kitchen to make it more modern and high-end.

If you’ve been wondering how to go about a manufactured home kitchen cabinet installation, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll go over the basics of manufactured home kitchen cabinets, as well as answer some burning questions you’ll have before you get started.

The Basics of Manufactured Home Kitchen Cabinets

When you buy a manufactured home, the kitchen will have at least a few cabinets throughout the kitchen. This holds true whether you buy your manufactured home new or pre-owned.

Many people, while living in their manufactured home, choose to remodel their kitchen cabinets. This can be for a variety of reasons. The homeowner might want cabinets that reflect modern design trends, such as cabinets made of oak or polycarbonate (depending on what your tastes are). Or maybe the cabinets are showing their age and are chipping or cracked in places. Or maybe a homeowner wants to increase the resale value of their home before they sell.

Because the cabinets take up a sizable portion of any kitchen, it’s important to consider them heavily when going through a kitchen remodel. This is why many hardware stores and websites have sections and pages dedicated to kitchen cabinetry.

Can You DIY a Manufactured Home Kitchen Cabinet Installation?

Yes, if you know what you’re doing.

Many manufactured home remodel projects are quite simple and can easily be done without professional help. Other major projects, such as moving your manufactured home, cannot be done under any circumstances without professional help.

A cabinet installation may fall in between those two types of projects. If you have the proper know-how and have done your research on how to safely install cabinets in your kitchen, then you can certainly do it on your own.

However, cabinet installation comes with safety risks, and that includes cabinets in manufactured homes. If you’re mounting cabinets on your kitchen wall, at the very least you should have several people assisting, if not having a professional contractor help you out.

What Types of Manufactured Home Kitchen Cabinets Are Best?

The best type of manufactured home cabinets will depend entirely on the size and layout of your kitchen.

Regardless of your kitchen’s size and layout, the best arrangement of cabinets should offer plenty of storage space for everything you could need in your kitchen. This includes cookware, silverware, dishes for dining and serving, and other containers and tools you’ll need as you cook and entertain in your manufactured home.

What If I Can’t Fully Replace My Kitchen Cabinets?

Just because you can’t fully replace your manufactured home cabinets doesn’t mean you can’t give them love. If you’re remodeling your manufactured home kitchen on a budget, there are still a few things you can do with your cabinets to make them shine.

For one, giving your cabinets a fresh coat of paint can go a long way. Many homeowners especially like to take their cabinets from a natural finish to an all-white color. This adds a modern flair to many manufactured home kitchens and has been an incredibly popular move for years now. Or, you can consider a light green, blue, or gray if it matches your kitchen.

Keep in mind that painting your manufactured home cabinets isn’t usually the same process as, say, painting a room in your house. You may need specialized equipment, such as an airbrush, that can properly bind the paint to your cabinets, without getting paint on other areas of your kitchen.

If you don’t want to fully upgrade your cabinets just yet, you can still upgrade your cabinet’s hardware. This ranges from the knobs and door handles to the hinges that help your cabinet doors open buttery-smooth. Newer cabinet hardware on your cabinets can be a subtle, yet effective way to increase their longevity.

What Should I NOT Do With My Manufactured Home Kitchen Cabinets?

If you’re getting ready to start a manufactured home kitchen cabinet project, there are a few things you should never do for the safety of you and your home.

First, you should never begin a kitchen cabinet project without having a detailed plan of how your project will get done. If you start tearing out old cabinets or installing new ones willy-nilly, you may do some serious damage to your kitchen. This can include damaging the walls of your kitchen, not to mention damaging other items in your kitchen – or even yourself.

To that end, you absolutely should not destroy your old cabinets as you tear them down. For one, this can lead to personal injury or damage to your kitchen if you’re not careful. Two, you may want to keep the old cabinets on-hand.

Perhaps a neighbor will want to buy them off of you. Or, you could always recycle or repurpose them. Either of these options are preferable to throwing away scrapped cabinets.

Where Can I Buy Supplies for Manufactured Home Kitchen Cabinets?

We’re glad you asked. One of the best places you can buy everything you need for a manufactured home kitchen cabinet project is our Parts and Supplies page. This is your one-stop shop for cabinet needs, along with anything else you might need for a manufactured home kitchen remodel.

Now, if you’re wondering where to buy new cabinets, many local hardware stores offer a number of options for you.

And, if you’re customizing your own manufactured home, you can even pick out your own cabinets yourself. Many homebuyers especially like to go this route, since it opens the door for high-end cabinets you might not be able to get elsewhere.

The Importance of Marriage Lines in Mobile Homes

If you’ve kept up with the MHVillager in recent months, or have already done research into manufactured homes, then you might know that some mobile homes come in multiple sections. These are referred to as double-wide, triple-wide, quadruple-wide, or multi-section homes, depending on the number of sections it has.

If you live in a multi-section mobile home, or are considering moving into one, then you should be aware of one very important aspect of how these home sections are joined together. That is, you should understand the marriage line.

What Is A Marriage Line?

In a mobile home that has two or more sections, the marriage line is the area where the separate sections are connected to create one multi-section manufactured home. If you have a mobile home with three or more sections, you’ll have multiple marriage lines that join each section.

The term comes from the fact that each section is married, or joined together in a seam that’s sealed to keep the outside air out.

You may occasionally see a marriage line referred to as a marriage joint, marriage boundary, mating line, or mating joint. Regardless of what you call it, it’s helpful to know where it’s located in your home.

Most likely, you’ll have a wall immediately adjacent to the marriage line. This is referred to as a marriage wall. The marriage wall is actually two walls put together to create a thicker, interior wall.

You’ll have a marriage wall for each marriage line. So, if your triple-wide manufactured home has two marriage lines, you’ll have two marriage walls. The marriage wall is a structural load bearing wall – meaning you shouldn’t do any work on it by yourself.

If you’re buying a pre-owned mobile home with two or more sections, you may want to have the marriage line inspected closely. A proper mobile home inspection will place a lot of focus on making sure your marriage line is properly sealed.

If you don’t immediately know where the marriage line is in your mobile home, it might be hidden. It may be under a layer of caulk, foam, or other insulating material. This means that you may need to take out any of this material before performing maintenance on or near your marriage line (more on whether you should do that below).

Why Are Marriage Lines Important?

Even if you never need to have maintenance performed on your mobile home marriage line, it’s still very important to know what they are, how they’re handled, and their durability limits.

Like we mentioned earlier, your marriage line plays a vital role in making sure no outside air gets into your mobile home.

Mobile homes in 2022 are incredibly energy efficient, and the marriage line is a big part of this. The marriage line is effectively an airtight seal that keeps your cold air during the summertime from escaping the home. In other words, without an airtight marriage line seal, temperature control in your home becomes impossible.

It’s not just about temperature control, however. Marriage joints are also incredibly important for maintaining air quality inside your home, too.

You wouldn’t want outside dust, pollen, or other substances getting into your home through a faulty marriage joint. This is why your mobile home marriage joints are incredibly important for maintaining air barrier effectiveness.

Your marriage line also helps to keep your mobile home level. If your new multi-section manufactured home is placed on private land, it may have been leveled prior to your home being sited.

If your home’s sections aren’t level, you may see the seal break around your marriage line.

Can A Marriage Line Be Damaged?

Marriage line seals are built with high quality and endurance in mind. Multi-section mobile homes can go for decades with very little or no damage to the marriage line.

However, in some instances, there are factors that can lead to various types of marriage line damage.

For example, perhaps the land around your home has shifted, resulting in cracking or chipping in the walls where the line sits.

Or perhaps the seal has come loose, letting in a draft and reducing indoor air quality.

In these cases, you should look to have your marriage line repaired or treated to prevent further damage or air leakage.

An unleveled home may also result in damage to your marriage joints. This can show in the form of cracked or broken insulation, or even cracks in your walls.

If you start to see cracks in your walls from a faulty marriage line, contact a professional immediately.

Can A Marriage Line Be Repaired?

Yes – but there’s a catch.

If you’re performing minor maintenance, such as re-sealing a small visible crack in your marriage line’s insulation, you may be able to perform the work yourself.

This can involve taking a can of spray-foam insulation or another appropriate sealant and filling in the gaps.

In most other circumstances, however, you’ll want to hire a professional to handle your major marriage line maintenance in your mobile home.

This is because of the stakes involved when performing large maintenance projects on or near where your home’s sections are joined.

If you try to handle a major marriage line project yourself, you risk doing serious damage to your mobile home. This especially goes for any work involving your marriage wall, as those interior walls are load-bearing.

Your marriage line may become separated and you may even damage the foundation of your home if you’re not careful.

Thankfully, many mobile home contractors can properly fix any major damage to your marriage line. This may involve some work re-setting the home so that it’s level, as well as re-insulating the marriage line to ensure a proper seal.

However, it’s important to remember that marriage line damage might not be all that common compared to normal yearly maintenance you might do for your home, depending on where you live and how level your land is.

That said, it’s still important to visually inspect your marriage line from time to time to catch minor problems before they become major issues down the road.

If you’re looking to buy a double-wide manufactured home for yourself, you’re in luck – we can help with that too.

With MHVillage, the leading platform for buying, selling, and renting manufactured homes, you can find manufactured homes near you that have the latest amenities in leading communities.

In fact, a google search for “double-wide mobile homes near me” will often show MHVillage as the top result, further proving our industry-leading reputation.

If you’re ready to start on your double-wide mobile home journey, then get started with MHVillage today.

Manufactured Housing Is The Solution To Affordable Housing Question

These days, a lot of fear has circulated around the affordability of housing – or lack thereof. Some of this is for good reason: in 2022, site-built home prices have increased by 20% compared to the year prior, according to CNBC. And that’s before you take into account the rising price and unavailability of rental housing across the nation. While there has been a slowdown in how high these site-built home prices have gotten, it hasn’t stopped completely.

All of this leads to the question of how best to provide affordable housing in 2022. We’re here to provide the answer: manufactured housing, or factory-built housing.

In fact, this answer is so profound that President Biden has recently outlined a plan to develop new financing options for manufactured housing. The drive to make this form of affordable housing even more accessible makes it perhaps the best solution to affordably own a home in 2022.

So, it’s worth taking a deeper dive into what manufactured homes are, what their features are, and how they’re making affordable homes incredibly easy to find.

What Are Manufactured Homes?

Manufactured homes are homes built in a factory before being shipped to the home site. Commonly known as mobile homes, they’re often far less costly than homes that are built where they stand – also called “site-built homes.”

Though they’re often sold and titled differently than site-built homes, manufactured homes are an incredibly accessible means of homeownership. This is the result of production efficiencies from building in a controlled environment, which keeps the build quality high while streamlining construction.

One key distinction to make with manufactured homes comes from the year 1976. This was the year the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) enacted building codes that regulate how manufactured homes are built to this very day. In fact, manufactured homes are the only type of housing built to a federal building code.

Homes built before June 1976, when the federal building code was enacted, are often referred to as mobile homes rather than manufactured homes. However, the two terms can be used interchangeably when talking about modern manufactured housing.

What Do Manufactured Homes Offer?

Contrary to popular belief, manufactured homes and mobile homes offer incredibly high-quality lifestyles for just about any kind of homeowner.

It’s not hard to find a manufactured home or mobile home with the latest luxury fixtures. For example, smart appliances and countertops made of premium materials have increased in popularity in manufactured homes.

Manufactured homes also offer extremely high safety standards. Like we mentioned earlier, all manufactured homes built since June 1976 meet strict quality control standards. This also includes protections against extreme weather and high winds.

Manufactured homes are also incredibly popular for their amenities. If you live in a mobile home park. In a park or community setting, you can be a part of a tight-knit neighborhood where you can take advantage of walking trails, pet-friendly facilities, athletic courts like shuffleboard, tennis, and pickleball, and so much more.

Many communities even have clubhouses where you can get together for a fun game or social outing!

All of this is offered at an affordable price that can be much more attractive than a site-built home. After all, being able to own your own home in 2022, one that’s right next to your favorite athletic facility or walking trail, is a dream that can’t be beat. Manufactured housing makes that dream possible.

What Makes Mobile Homes So Affordable?

There are a few key factors that make manufactured homes in 2022 such an affordable and attractive option.

The biggest one is their factory-built nature. In this aspect, the construction process is quite different. Unlike site-built homes, which are built on their permanent home site, mobile homes are assembled in a factory and then shipped to the home site.

While this might not seem like a major difference, the reality is that this has a MASSIVE impact on their cost. Because they’re built in a factory, they can be made much more efficiently when it comes to sourcing building materials, labor, and the lack of weather delays. And, factory-built housing means a team of builders can put homes together one after the other far faster than they can a site-built home.

This is the perfect antidote to homeownership fears in 2022. Because many are worried about the rising cost of apartment rents and site-built home prices, manufactured homes offer a solution for both problems. And, you can find a mobile home in a community with pretty great amenities, too. Bet your apartment doesn’t have a pickleball court, does it?

All of this is to say that a manufactured home is perfect if you’re looking for lower costs. You don’t have to settle for an apartment with $2,000 due per month in rent, or agonize over a mortgage that seems out of reach.

The State of Manufactured Homes in 2022

Mobile homes are one of the most affordable sources of housing in America in 2022. During a time of increasing stress and anxiety surrounding housing costs and inflation, manufactured homes are here to help relieve that stress.

One of the best parts is that it couldn’t be easier to find an affordable manufactured home that’s perfect for you. With MHVillage, you can browse mobile homes for sale or rent in your area based on a number of filters. So, if you want to look for a mobile home with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and is in an all-ages mobile home park, you can look for exactly that.

MHVillage sees over 25 million unique visitors annually, and processed over 80,000 manufactured home sales in 2021 alone. When you buy your dream home with MHVillage, you know you’re using the most visited, most relied upon website in all of manufactured housing.

Are you ready to start your affordable home search today? If you are, then head over to MHVillage to get started.

Buying a Mobile Home? Here’s How Manufactured Home State Associations Can Help You.

Manufactured housing has come a long way over the past several decades. Now, millions of homeowners have discovered the high-quality lifestyle that’s in store when they live in a manufactured home. However, that wasn’t always the case.

The mobile home lifestyle has seen a boom in popularity in part because of state associations within the factory-built housing industry. Their work to bring awareness to the affordability and quality of manufactured homes has played a role in why they’re so popular and accessible today.

But, if you’re just getting started in learning what the mobile home life is all about, you might not know about state associations, or how they benefit you.

We’re here to fix that. Here are some of the basics about mobile home state associations:

What is a Manufactured Home State Association?

A manufactured home state association is an organization within a specific state that promotes the benefits of mobile homes. They do this through community outreach, advocacy with local, state, and even federal governments, and collaboration with industry partners. State associations are dedicated to public education through these methods to encourage more people to become manufactured home owners.

These state associations are often run by professionals who work in various aspects of the industry. This can include manufacturers, community owners and managers, sales centers, and more. And, they’re made up of members who work across the entire factory-built housing industry, too.

How Can They Benefit Me As The Home Buyer?

Just because you don’t work in the manufactured home industry doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from them. If you’re looking to buy a mobile home in the near future, it’s worth paying attention to your state’s association.

They can offer you, the homebuyer, a number of benefits, such as:

Resources on mobile home education. Many state associations offer blogs and other articles about the benefits of manufactured housing. For example, if you’re just getting started with learning about the mobile home lifestyle in Florida, then the Florida Manufactured Home Association (FMHA) has a great page full of articles to check out.
Association-endorsed mobile home listings. If you’re looking to buy a mobile home, you can look for homes that are for sale directly from state association members. These listings are often found on the state association’s website, or directly on MHVillage for states like Florida, Michigan, and Iowa.
Association-endorsed communities. Mobile homes sold by members aren’t the only thing you can find with state associations. Some also are affiliated with manufactured home communities, working with them directly to promote the benefits of mobile homes. Similar to how you browse for homes sold by members, you can also look for communities to live in that are Association-affiliated.
Build your dream custom home. Some manufactured housing associations will even help you build your custom home by working with builders involved with the Association. You can visit your State Association’s website to see what options you have for customized floor plans.
Find Sales Centers near you. At a sales center, you can browse mobile home models for sale and buy one for yourself to move to private land. You can also get help finding a sales center near you to get the process started.

Does My State Have An Association?

Your state probably has a manufactured housing association that can help you with some of the things we just covered.

First, take some time to visit MHVillage’s State Associations page. This is a list of every major state association in the country. If your state has one, it’ll probably be on this list, complete with a link to their page on MHVillage which will have more information.

From here, you can see homes that are sold by association members on MHVillage, contact information for the state association, mobile home parks affiliated with that association, and a link to their website.

You can view statistics about your state association on MHVillage, too. For example, you can see a breakdown of the average mobile home price in your state, how many homes for sale are on MHVillage through your state association, and more. You can even see manufactured home communities that are affiliated with that state association, with links to their pages on MHVillage.

How Can I Interact With My State Association?

We recommend starting with their websites. Most state associations will have a page dedicated for home buyers like yourself to learn more and start the process of buying a home. Some associations, like FMHA, will have several different resources for homebuyers, such as buying a Florida mobile home, building a custom modular home, and tips on finding communities.

So, are you ready to start looking for a home with your state association and dive into the mobile home lifestyle? If you are, start your journey here at MHVillage and find your state’s association.

Mobile Homes With Four or Five Bedrooms – Do They Exist?

Manufactured homes and mobile homes are incredibly popular for a variety of reasons. For one, they’re insanely affordable. The average selling price of a new manufactured home in 2021 – $92,911, according to Datacomp sales data – is a fraction of the rising cost of site-built homes in 2021 and 2022.

Even with mobile homes being so affordable, there’s another reason why they’re so popular. Millions of families have turned to manufactured housing because they offer the same level of quality as site-built homes.

If you’re looking for homes over 1,500 square feet with tons of space for you and your family, then manufactured homes can offer just that. Imagine bedrooms for your children, a spare flex room to keep their toys, or an open concept kitchen, dining room, or even a master bath.

One question that we receive a lot at the MHVillager is whether you can buy four bedroom mobile homes, or even one with five bedrooms. The answer may be more in-depth than you think.

Here, we’ll go over how mobile home sizing works, and how you might be able to find a mobile home with four bedrooms or more.

Mobile Home Sizing Basics

Before we talk about mobile home bedrooms, it’s important to reinforce how mobile home sizing works.

Mobile homes start off as “single-wide” or “single-section” homes. This means that they’re built in a single section in the factory, and then shipped to the home site. Most single-wide mobile homes are between 480 square feet and 1,440 square feet, though you can find some that are larger. The average single-wide manufactured home comes in at around 900 square feet or more.

Most often, you’ll find that a single-wide mobile home has two or three bedrooms. However, there’s a way to find mobile homes with even more bedrooms for you and your family.

Multi-Section Mobile Homes

Larger mobile homes are built in multiple sections. These are why you’ll hear these homes referred to as “multi-section” homes.

The most common type of multi-section mobile home is referred to as a double-wide. As you can guess based on its name, a double-wide manufactured home has two sections. So, they’ll also be called “double-section mobile homes” from time to time.

The way multi-section mobile homes are named only gets easier. If a mobile home has three sections, then it’s called a triple-wide mobile home, or triple-section. For mobile homes with four sections, those are referred to as quadruple wide mobile homes as well as quadruple section. Many homeowners and industry pros simply refer to them as multi-section homes once you have two or more sections.

All of this is to say that the more sections your mobile home has, the more likely you’ll be able to find a model that has four or more bedrooms. This, of course, includes the master bedroom, as well as a few other spare bedrooms for the family. Let’s go into more detail about how to find a mobile home with all of the bedrooms you’ll need.

Can These Homes Have Four or Five Bedrooms?

The short answer is yes. In some markets, you can find mobile homes with four or even five bedrooms.

To go more in-depth about mobile homes with four or more bedrooms, the number of homes you find that fit this criteria may depend on your market.

Take Florida, for example, you may have an easier time finding a mobile home with four or five bedrooms compared to other markets. This is because Florida is one of the largest markets in the United States for manufactured housing, so inventory is often in abundant supply.

How Can I Find A Four Bedroom Mobile Home?

If you’re looking for a mobile home with four bedrooms, MHVillage has you covered.

On MHVillage, you can filter your mobile home search based on the number of bedrooms. When you’re on the mobile home search page, simply click on the “Bedrooms” dropdown menu. From there, you can select “4 Bedrooms” to ONLY show mobile homes with that amount of bedrooms in your market. You’ll be able to browse listings that have photos of the master bedroom as well as each spare bedroom in the home.

Keep in mind that some markets may have more mobile homes with 4 bedrooms than others. So, you may want to expand your search radius to find as many options as possible. You can do this by selecting from the “Search Radius” dropdown menu next to the Bedrooms menu.

How Can I Find A Five Bedroom Mobile Home?

You can use the same process we just outlined to find five-bedroom mobile homes. However, these homes may be more uncommon in your market than mobile homes with four bedrooms.

How Can I Find Other Mobile Homes?

If you’re looking for a mobile home but aren’t as concerned about the number of bedrooms, then MHVillage is your one-stop shop.

MHVillage is the nation’s leading platform for buying, selling, and renting manufactured homes, with over 80,000 homes sold last year. If you’re looking for a way to affordably own a home while becoming a part of a high-quality mobile home lifestyle, get started today with MHVillage to find your new home.

What to Know About Mobile Home Floor Plans

Factory-built manufactured homes have become more advanced and more luxurious than ever before.

It’s a big part of why over 22 million people across the country have flocked to manufactured housing for its high quality and lower cost.

When it comes to customizing your mobile home, you have many options when it comes to your mobile home’s floor plan.

But what exactly is a floor plan, and why is it important for you, the mobile home buyer?

Here, we’ll go over not only why mobile home floor plans are important, but how you can customize them as you’re getting ready to build and buy your dream home.

What is a Mobile Home Floor Plan?

Essentially, manufactured home floor plans are a flat, two-dimensional layout of your new mobile home.

Similar to a floor plan for a site-built home, this will show you what rooms are in your home, where they’re located, and how big they are. Some manufacturers even offer three-dimensional renderings of their floor plans that you can virtually walk through.

When it comes to your new home, a manufactured home floor plan is commonly used to show the homebuyer what your home’s layout will look like after it’s built.

They’re a great way to decide on which features you’d like in your home before it’s built.

Floor plans come with their own “language” that’s important to understand when reading a floor plan. For example, if one side of a floor plan reads “16’ 4”” near one side then that means the side is 16 feet, four inches long.

And, you’ll see that doors on a floor plan swing in the direction that they open in. You can read more here about how to understand these diagrams with ease.

Why Are Manufactured Home Floor Plans Important?

Manufactured home floor plans are a great way to see for yourself how your manufactured home will look before it’s even built. For many homeowners and families, they’re an easy way to gauge:

The size of your new mobile home, whether it’s a single wide, double wide, or triple wide (or even larger!)
The number of bedrooms and bathrooms at a glance
The walkable flow of your mobile home or modular home
Which rooms are in which parts of the home
How many windows and doors your mobile home or modular home has

They’re also great if you’re looking for modular homes for sale near you. Many mobile home builders (which we’ll get into in a little bit) offer modular home floor plans that have customizable options, which offer you even more options for your home.

This makes shopping for a new home that much more fun! If you’re interested in modular home floor plans, you can look to manufacturers for those, too.

Who Offers Manufactured Home Floor Plans For Me To Browse?

If you’re looking for floor plans near you, you can visit MHVillage to browse floor plans by state. By visiting MHVillage, you can look for builders that offer floor plans for mobile homes in your state and find one that best meets your needs.

This is especially great if you know you want to buy a mobile home in a specific market, or want to find an open concept home from a specific manufacturer.

By searching for manufactured home floor plans for your mobile home on MHVillage, you can also fine-tune your search based on the size of the home, as well as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

You can even look exclusively for floor plans with virtual tours, too, if you’re looking for something free of contact!

Can I Customize My Mobile Home Using A Floor Plan?

Absolutely! Many home builders offer customized manufactured home floor plans that give you even more options for your manufactured home.

Say you want a double-wide mobile home with a home office instead of a third bedroom. Many manufacturers will offer floor plans with those kinds of customizations available. Many also offer open concept options.

Or, if you want an extra bathroom or a different closet configuration, some builders offer those too.

You can even customize your kitchen with various countertop materials to give it an even higher-quality feel.

It’s best to check with each manufacturer to see which kinds of customized floor plans they offer.

Also, it’s important to make sure that a manufacturer you like operates in your state. Not all manufacturers operate in every state, so check beforehand on their website.

How Can I Buy a Home Based on a Floor Plan?

If you’re interested in buying a mobile home and starting with a floor plan, you have a few options.

Firstly, you can go directly to MHVillage and browse for floor plans in your state. This is a great option if you want to look for floor plans in a community, or look for floor plans with specific features.

Secondly, you can also go to the manufacturers to shop for floor plans. Like we mentioned earlier, these manufacturers often offer floorplans for new mobile homes and modular homes that home buyers can choose from.

Here are just a few of the top mobile home manufacturers’ names you’ll see thrown around that offer manufactured and modular home floorplans:

Hopefully we’ve been able to answer your floor plan questions. If you’re ready to shop for mobile homes near you, then head to MHVillage today!

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