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.
