Top 5 Advantages of Living in a Manufactured Home Land-Lease Community

Perhaps you have contemplated the purchase of a new modern manufactured home and are not sure if you should locate the home in a manufactured home community (also known as a “mobile home” park).

Before presenting the reasons why people choose to live and stay in a manufactured home community, we will offer up some statistics and information that might guide your decision to purchase a new manufactured home and place that home in a community – whether it is called a “mobile home” park or a “manufactured home” community – going forward our “manufactured home” references  will be interchangeable with “mobile homes.”

Editor’s note: There have been zero new “mobile homes” built in the U.S since enactment of the HUD Code in 1976.

Manufactured homes by the numbers:

• 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes.

• 15% of the housing stock in rural areas , 8% of the housing stock in metropolitan areas.

• 112 U.S. counties-predominately in southern and western states-where one-third of all homes are manufactured homes.

• 25%-30% historically, the percent of manufactured homes that have been placed in manufactured home land-lease communities.

• 35,000 to 40,000 approximate number of manufactured home land-lease communities in the continental U.S.

• 4.2 million homes are located in manufactured home land-lease communities.

The stereotypical belief that only poor people live in a manufactured home community is not necessarily based upon facts. There are a multitude of reasons why so many Americans choose to live and remain residents of these communities, including affordability, pride of home ownership, privacy, community, lower maintenance cost, lower taxes and utility costs. Following are 5 of those reasons.

#1. AFFORDABILITY – Entry level home buyers appreciate the ability to purchase a home that is at least equal and often superior in every respect as a comparable custom site-built home at a cost up to 50% less, not including land. Payments on a manufactured home plus park space rent will be considerably less than that of a home mortgage payment. If financed, the initial investment (down payment) will be one-half less. Site preparation, such as grading, utility connections including water, electric, gas, sewer or septic is usually provided  by manufactured home management.

#2. PRIVACY – Oftentimes, those who live in manufactured home communities prioritize privacy, as opposed to an apartment or condo complex where privacy is not an option. The manufactured home on a plot of land does not share walls, ceilings or floors with any other residential structures.

#3. COMMUNITY – Typically manufactured home communities are either family parks or age-restricted parks, with a sense of community similar to a small village, often with a community club house or recreation center, a childrens playground, laundry facilities, etc; neighbors protective of other neighbors contributing to a safe environment to live and raise a family and/or sense of security for aging resident.

#4. LOWER UTILITY MAINTENANCE COSTS AND TAX SAVINGS – Affordable utility costs are a significant reason that attracts people to manufactured home communities. Typically, a newer manufactured home will be more energy efficient than a pre-owned site built home, Repairs for manufactured homes are usually easier to access than other types of housing.

#5. PRIDE OF HOMEOWNERSHIP – Home ownership is integral to the American Dream. Owning a home gives people a sense of initiative, self-esteem and pride. Today’s manufactured home is “everything a home should be,” whether sited within a manufactured home/mobile home park/community or upon private property.

“There is something permanent, and something profound ,in owning a home” – Kenny Quinn