Today’s Manufactured Home is not Your Grandpa’s ‘Mobile Home’
More than 21 million people in the USA live in approximately 8.2 million factory-built homes. It is estimated that more than one-half of these total occupants actually live in “mobile homes.” Remarkable, considering there have been zero new “mobile homes” built since passage of major federal legislation in 1976 (the HUD Code), creating today’s manufactured homes.
Manufactured homes have long been maligned, defamed and discounted as a fiscally responsible source of affordable housing, thanks to archaic stereotypes of mobile homes and “trailer parks”.
The facts are undeniable – mobile homes were, and to some extent, a blessing for thousands of families in achieving the unique affordable American dream of homeownership. It is also undeniable that the stigma associated with mobile homes of 50 + years ago has had a negative impact on manufactured homes of today.
Often potential purchasers of manufactured homes will voice concerns that the manufactured homes of today are not any different from the mobile homes of the past. In fact, shoppers of manufactured homes will most often call today’s manufactured housing- “mobile homes.”
The following are some definitions commonly used in the mobile home era spanning the years prior to 1976 HUD Code implementation.
Mobile home: “trailer” or “trailer house” – “wobbly box”
Single wide: “slick side” or “expando” (expando was a single wide with a slide out room to expand the living room area and/or a double expando with also a slide out room from the rear bedroom.
Double wide: The two section mobile home was initiated in the 1960’s. Often referred to as a “two banger.”
Triple wide: The three section home was not prominent until the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.
Today’s manufactured homes are not your grandpa’s mobile homes .. They are factory assembled, energy efficient and come with features and amenities equal to new site built homes, such as covered porches and garages.
Manufactured homes look much the same as stick-built homes, but carry a much smaller price tag. In fact, a new manufactured home will have a cost up to one-half the price of a site-built.
