The Realization of the Uniquely American Dream of Home Ownership for all Demographics
A study by Foremost Insurance Company indicated that the average manufactured homeowner is 49.9 years old. However, today’s high quality affordable manufactured homes appeal to a wide range of demographic groups. The following three groups and their motivations for choosing modern manufactured housing are summarized below.
“Baby Boomers” – (aka Generation X – born between 1946-1964). This generation makes up a substantial portion of the world’s population. It represents 21.9% of the U.S. population. These are senior citizens who desire to downscale the size of their homes. A large percentage of these retirees purchase manufactured homes for placement in senior communities that are designed to satisfy a safe comfortable lifestyle with the social activities that encourage interaction with others of the same interests and age.
“Empty Nesters” – Empty Nestors are those who also want to downscale the size of home, but often for other reasons. These are couples in the 45 to 60 age group whose children have grown into adults and have left their family home to create their own families – leaving mom and dad living in a larger home they need or want. Empty nesters are usually still working and want to eliminate the upkeep expenses of a home, energy costs, property taxes and are looking forward to being in a financial position to retire comfortably when the time arrives.
“Entry Level” or “First-Time Buyers”- The Foremost study also found that 59% of manufactured home households have no children, and the average size of manufactured home households is 2.7 persons. This counters the belief of some planning and zoning commissions that manufactured home owners have more children and therefore will add to local school overcrowding. However, over the last few years some states have passed legislation making it illegal to discriminate against manufactured homes.
The bottom line is that the “affordability factor” of manufactured homes gives many families the chance to join the ranks of homeowners for the first time and therefore, increase the overall home ownership rate in the community. That translates into more tax revenue and economic vitality for local governments,
Families have been the “heart and soul” of factory-built manufactured/mobile homes for over 50 years. Today’s new manufactured homes are a great option,especially when considering the savings in energy costs, fire safety, and the ability of a home to match a family’s wants and needs. All that and the fact that a new custom built manufactured home is “everything a home should be” and meets all the criteria of homeownership, including quality of construction and appearance, and will have a cost of about 50% less than a comparable home built on site. A manufactured home or a modular home attached to real property is eligible in most situations for mortgage financing equal to a traditional site-built home.
In conclusion, it can be said that manufactured homes have something for everyone and is truly the realization of the uniquely American Dream of Home ownership for all demographics.
