Reinventing the Mobile Home in a Changing Market
Article Tools
Share This +
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Vanessa and Jim Graziano walked appreciatively around the small Loudoun County house decorated in tasteful beige and ocher furnishings. Wine bottles sat enticingly on the granite-like countertops. A spacious wooden porch framed the front door.
But it was the more mundane details that grabbed their interest.
"Oh, honey. Look," Vanessa Graziano, 41, said as she tipped open a window. "Actual real windows where I can put up some screens."
Jim Graziano, 50, ran his palm along the freshly painted walls. "Sheetrock. How about that."
Their marvel stemmed from the fact that the small three-bedroom house also had wheels. It was a mobile home - built in a factory in Lancaster, Pa., hitched to the back of a truck and assembled in a matter of days on a narrow sliver of land in Leesburg's historic district.
Although it is surrounded by the white single- and double-wide caravans that have become an icon of low-cost living, this new version "is no tin trailer," Vanessa Graziano said. It might blend in on a cul-de-sac of ranches and Cape Cods. It boasts cathedral ceilings and crown molding. And at $80,000, it is a steal in a community where the average condominium sold for about $273,000 in April.
Across the region, mobile home communities have closed down as the owners of the land beneath them have sold to developers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 2,000 mobile homes disappeared from Washington area neighborhoods between 2000 and 2006. Their plight has worsened as local governments have banned new mobile home parks and limited the growth of existing ones.
But some in the industry see an opportunity to stop that trend as the lull in the real estate market drags on and demand for affordable housing rises. Hometown America, a large manufactured-housing company, recently installed 50 new-style homes and renovated a playground at its Fernwood community in Capitol Heights. The company has undertaken similar efforts at its properties in Alexandria and Winchester. Improvements are also underway at communities in Chantilly and Manassas.
INTERNET ENHANCED
Related Stories
- Aug. 24, 2008 -- Loudoun Home Sales
- May 15, 2008 -- Luxury Foreclosures
- April 10, 2008 -- Loudoun Home Prices Hit 4-Year Low
- March 30, 2008 -- Loudoun Home Price Declines Steepest in Region
Related Coverage
Advertisement
"Frankly, we're trying to compete with the market," said Melissa Pickham, property manager at Forest Park, a community of about 150 mobile homes in Manassas that also is bringing in some new-style houses. "We're trying to update the communities a little and keep them attractive, both for the people who are here and who might come here."
In part, park owners are trying to capitalize on the shortage of affordable housing in the region and the growing market for small, energy-efficient homes.
But they are also taking advantage of technological advancements that have made factory-built homes sturdier and more attractive, even hip. In July, a show opened at the New York Museum of Modern Art that displays five sleekly modern, eco-friendly prefabricated homes. Called "Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling," it includes a 196-square-foot "instant house" that was designed for use in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.
Still, it is difficult for some of the communities to shake long-held stereotypes.
"The hardest thing is going to be changing that negative feeling you get when you say you live in a mobile home park," said Carol Konkel, property manager for Leesburg Mobile Park. "But I think the time has come."
Another challenge, many in the industry say, is convincing perspective buyers that the property won't be sold out from under them.
Indeed, developers over the years have expressed interest in buying the Leesburg park, which sits in a desirable community within walking distance from shops and restaurants. Although no plan to redevelop the land exists now, town leaders as part of their long-range planning have envisioned single family homes and townhouses where the park sits.
"As a community, we want to identify what the best uses are of a property," said Leesburg Town Council member Kevin Wright. "A mobile home park is not a long-term answer there."
But changing the use of the land will be up to the owner, he said. And for now, the owner has signaled that he has no intention of closing. In fact, he is seeking to improve the property by bringing in nearly a dozen new-style, energy-efficient homes, all of them outfitted with front porches to give the community a close-knit feel.
The houses are neither luxurious nor hip, but they are a promising alternative for the Grazianos, who live in a tiny apartment with Jim's teenage son and cannot afford a traditional house in costly Loudoun. Including mortgage payments and the monthly $600 lot rent, they estimate the tan house would cost far less than the $1,270 a month they are paying for their apartment.
"We like to joke that it's not the size of the home but the love you fill it with," Vanessa Graziano said. "But at some point, it starts to feel like everything is just coming in on you."
Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
Tagged: home, home sales, Leesburg, real estate
Deal of the Day
$25 Off House Cleaning From Maid To Please!
Maid To Please is offering LoudounExtra.com readers $25 off their first house cleaning, or $10 their third house cleaning.
• View all deals from Maid To Please | All deals
Latest Deal
• $25 Off House Cleaning From Maid To Please! posted: 4/28/09
|
Search Deals and Business Directory |
Your Thoughts...
Are you happy that the school year is over?
Comments:
Note: LoudounExtra.com does not necessarily agree with comments posted below — responsibility lies with the relevant reader alone. Peruse our reader agreement and privacy policy
no matter how you dress it, a mobile home is a mobile home.
Posted by rvanmeter (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
alternative cheaper housing is a good idea since housing for people who cannot buy the high priced $300,000 and up homes. some of the mobile homes i've been in are really nice.
Posted by dysons (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 8:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
After doing a lot of research, I recently had a brand new manufactured home built and moved to a lovely wooded lot in an older park. The park is very well run with lovely landscaping and lots of trees. While many of the homes are older (and some could use a coat or two of paint), many are newer and quite nice and most owners take pride in keeping their yards and homes clean and neat. As I'm nearing retirement I chose to buy a home that was affordable to me (key word-affordable). It's a comfort to know that if something happens in my life that I can no longer work, at least I'll have a roof over my head and a nice place to live!
Posted by judy.engel (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What the reporter forgot to mention is mobile homes are personal property, not real property. They will never appreciate in value like a traditional home. They depreciate in value like a car.
That's not necessarily bad if that's what you want. But it probably should have been noted in this article.
Posted by waterfrontproperty (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I recently sold my "mobile home" for 10K more than I originally purchased it 10 years ago. Yes it is personal property but that does not mean the price will go down.
Posted by TerDelCas (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 10:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
With the distruction of the middle class there comes a change in the choice of cave style. Those who are left buy manufactured housing. The rich by palaces, and the poor can afford nothing
Posted by tampadude (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 10:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"They will never appreciate in value like a traditional home. They depreciate in value like a car."
Sort of like my condo in Leesburg that went from $250k to $190k? I wish my realtor told me I wasn't buying "real" property at the time.
Posted by swu69 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here in the Pacific NW we have a good many of these communities and they seem to be a hit with young families and retirees. All are well designed, clean and close to amenities. The houses I have seen are well built with low maintenance and maximum convenience built in. As things progress and the product evolves, we probably will see greater acceptance by the market. With seventy-six millions of boomers focusing on retirement and downsizing this could usher in a sea change in housing, causing the suburban McMansion to join the SUV in going the way of T-Rex.
Posted by slim2 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I own a manufactured home and have found it a great bargain. It has definitely appreciated in value over the 17 years I've owned it. It is solid and well made.
Posted by ronfurg (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Mobile homes are really manufactured modularized housing with wheels that are used once..to deliver it to the site, where they are taken off.
Maine specializes in manufactured houses, and designers are suddenly being attracted to this market; especially as the cost of conventional LEED complaint housing soars, while mortgage money becomes tighter and more expensive.
Local fairs feature modular housing and the designs are surprisingly like larger homes...two story mansionettes are common; as are luxury bathrooms with jacuzzi's and kitchens.
The potential buyer will usually be given the option of designing their own home; a flexibility almost unaffordable with a tract development, condo, or architect.
Working with this industry; moderate income buyers can obtain custom homes at a fraction of conventional built housin...and be spared the sales pitch on why a retired couple needs a 3 bedroom house with a full dining room!
Posted by fjheller (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"As a community, we want to identify what the best uses are of a property," said Leesburg Town Council member Kevin Wright. "A mobile home park is not a long-term answer there."
Yes. Let's push out the people who can't afford "real" homes out of Leesburg. Pathetic.
Posted by mazman128 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The term "mobile home" should technically be used to refer to a factory-built house produced prior to 1976. The proper term is "manufactured home". I think that the important difference in the two types of housing (stick-built vs manufactured) isn't quality but rather the land lease issue mentioned in the article. The article's author, however, seems to blur the two concepts of how the homes are fabricated and how the land that the home sits on is owned, thereby perpetuating the stereotype that manufactured homes are a less desirable choice.
Warren Buffet obviously thinks there's a future in manufactured housing -- Berkshire Hathaway acquired the largest US producer of manufactured homes in 2003.
Posted by jleete (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Considering the middle class is being destroyed by the republicans, mobiles are the only "affordable" housing left.
Remind me never to do business with anyone in Leesburg, VA,
Posted by pbradt (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 11:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
pbradt - sounds like a - I am self editting here - bitter fool.
My family - probably barely middle class by YOU definition - 1200 tiny ranch 1 bath - my mom was one of 3 kids (2g,1b) in 2 b,1ba half of a duplex. republican policies have helped raise us up. And democrap policies have KILLED my hometown - totally controlled by dems - in OH.
I work across from a manufactured home development near Dulles. If I felt safer - and they didn't force them to be all jammed together I'd be living there. The homes themselves are quite lovely.
In fact there was a trend a while back that most houses would be at least partly "pre-fab".
Posted by cakask (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 11:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A possible solution to the land-lease issue is for the owners of the manufactured homes to buy and condominiumize the land on which their houses sit. If, say, there are 100 homes in the park each homeowner would own one percent of the common area and in that way a manufactured home becomes real, not personal property. Buyers should always be aware however that a manufactured home without a place to put it is valueless.
Posted by bajajazz (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Manufactured or mobile homes vary in size, with widths up to 20 feet wide now, and 1800 square feet in size. They are often built better than many older homes. Manufactured or modular homes can be built in pieces, also, and then moved onto a basement or a foundation. The possibilities are now endless and seamless. But they are cheaper because they are produced indoors in a factory, where weather and lot servicing do not slow the construction, and where materials are always at hand, and mass production methods increase the efficiency of labor. Only one trip is made to the final destination with the finished product, instead of countless trips with materials and labor. It makes sense. If they are good quality, they will hold their value like any other home. And many are placed on individually owned lots.
Posted by johnz1 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
buy some land, put the mobile home on a foundation and you have REAL PROPERTY and you pay taxes and value goes up just as it would if you paid 300+ for it. in a few years you can add to it and have a nice investment that didn't cost an arm and leg
Posted by 1dewest (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 12:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
As a 35 year "veteran trailer trash" dweller the notion that mobile homes depreciate is elitist bunk. A friend just priced one a year older then my 1967 model at $60,000. I paid $4700.00 for mine in 1972. You do the math.
Posted by wasichu-bear (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 1:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Leesburg Town Council sound like a bunch of elitist snobs. "As a community, we want to identify what the best uses are of a property," said Leesburg Town Council member Kevin Wright. "A mobile home park is not a long-term answer there." Indeed! Kevin Wright needs to get out of his country club more often and see how the REAL America lives. It would not surprise me to find out that the Town Council is a bastion of solid, Republican "values". What is even more irksome is the role the so-called developer has played in all this. Developers are economic leeches. Once they've bought the land and "developed" it, they walk away--pockets fat with profit, not caring in the least whether such "development" actually has any benefit in the long-run. All the developer cares about is who they can bribe or bully next to get more land that they can "develop".
Posted by jamal49 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 1:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Instead of a mobile home park, the town council wants everyone to live in cookie-cutter Generica. When you're only one or two people, your "options" are condo or t/h. Houses are generally 3-4 bdrms and WAY too large. Even my t/h is 400 sq ft too big for just me. But it's what is offered here. Where there is no forward or outside the box thinking. Stepford-burg.
Posted by ms1234 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The quality of mobile homes is awful. I should know; my business is repairing them.
The pitch of the roof is too low to safely have composition roofing, and there is virtually no overhang. Put these together and you have a recipe for major water damage. The sheetrock is 3/8" instead of the usual 1/2". Think that 1/8" doesn't make a difference? It takes amazingly little force to punch a hole in a 3/8" wall. The plastic bathtubs (most of them are plastic, not fiberglass)are guaranteed to break because instead of drilling a hole for the drain lines, the entire channel between the floor joists is cut out. And it only takes a tiny bit of bounce while you're standing near the drain to crack the tub. The "cabinets" consist of a face frame, usually particleboard, stapled together, with a particleboard door, 1/2" particleboard shelves, and a few strips of wood screwed to the back wall. The fittings on the butyl plumbing have a nasty tendency to split. The hinges are for bifold doors and cannot take more than the most delicate use. The door stop is frequently a piece of quarter round plastic, stapled to the door jamb--which, incidentally, is just a strip of 1/8 paneling. And let's not forget plastic sinks, plastic faucets, bottom grade carpeting--the list goes on.
A thirty year old house generally has a fair amount of value. A thirty year old mobile home is rarely worth much more than the land it sits on.
Posted by l_billington (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 1:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kevin Wright, like most town councilors, works for the realtors and property owners who dread competition from more economical living arrangements. Fortunately, they can count on voters like cakask to vote Republican, agitating the fear of "turrist" attacks on trailer folks, not notice falling wages, and dominate zoning policies forever.
Posted by jkoch2 (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 1:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Interesting, I grew up in Audobon Mobile Home park in Alex VA in the 70's. It was and still is a well run community. There are two definitions that I have researched and they are Mobile home and Modular home, both refer to manufactured homes (which all homes are manufactured). The difference is that a modular home is built to a higher building code then a mobile home. Also if the Modular home is placed on a permenent foundation it can be considered as Real Estate, this depends on your location and county regulations. The Mobile home can not be installed on a permenent foundation and will be considered as personal property, again local regulations apply.
Bottom line they are all very affordable and do not deserve the reputation that they have carried for many years.
Posted by Gruzog (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
value is determined by how well the home has been maintianed and by the quality of the community where it is sited, whether land-lease or fee-simple. I read, sadly, so many ill-informed opinions above by folks who have perhaps never been in a factory or systems built home (HUD code or modular). The "repairman" is working on (older?)homes built with basic, affordable materials. Today's manufactured homes offer the same options/features as the custom site-builders do???!!!I suggest that a visit on-line, in person to a reputable model home center/retailer, and to a well planned and developed community will enlighten many sceptics... Manufactured housing is truly America's best option for non-government-subsidized affordable housing!
Posted by mobimac (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My cousin had a gorgeous 2 bedroom mobile home in Fayetteville, NC. On the inside it was wide and spacious, and there were very few other units in that section, so he had a lot of yard and outdoor area. With the unbelievable prices of houses in metropolitan areas, I think buying a mobile home is a good idea.
Posted by celwash (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
just a comment on the town council - they, like every other government around here, don't want mobile homes because a $300K single family home pays more in property taxes. If they could equal those taxes on these mobile homes, there would be NO problem and no complaints...
Posted by jjtwo (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 2:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I live in a moble home park where every one owns there own lot. There are over iioo lots divide into three groups Each group has there own recreation area. We own our own streets and each owner owns a portion of the common area. The rear of my home is adjacent to a regulation 18 hole golf course. I pay property tax's just like everybody else. Its the perfect solution for retirement; 100 acre backyard and somebody else pays for the upkeep, Larry Gumtz Murrieta Ca,
Posted by larrygumtz (anonymous) on August 26, 2008 at 6:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There may be a catch. What did the land cost? Is it made with particle board, that gives off formaldehyde when it deteriorates?
One test is: Will it finance for 20 or 30 years? If not, the lenders or the FHA may know something we don't know.
Posted by genedoug (anonymous) on August 27, 2008 at 8:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
jjtwo....you're asking people who thought economic classes in college were an ephemeron to actually do math, and quite frankly, it's a stretch for them.
Al they're concerned with is their own uninformed opinions...the rest of us be damned.
Thank you for bringing a reasonable, and factual reasoning process where there was none.
Posted by honchonumberone (anonymous) on August 29, 2008 at 7:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
One alternative that is not mentioned in the article is a modular home. They are built to meet the local building codes (unlike manufactured homes), the same as a site built house but usually at a significant cost savings. I had a modular home built about 1.5 years ago and have detailed the process at www.modularhomechoice.com
Posted by timmon24586 (anonymous) on September 1, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I've been looking at mobile homes: 3 Bedrooms, 2 baths, laundry room. den,10X32 deck, patio, shed, Energy Star efficient, Cathedral ceilings, kitchen island,stove, refrigerator, central air, 30 Gallon hot water heater, Insulation:Floor-R27, Ceiling-R38, Floors and Walls-R19, dining room and morning room,24X62-1488 Sq. Ft., Free set up, Montgomery County near Quakertown in Pennsylvania. $76,500 (includes sales tax). Custom features optional(fireplace, bow windows in bedrooms,etc.). There are more expensive models which include a large family room plus living room and cosmetic goodies. There is also a seperate adult community and larger lots avilable. Does this still sound like Trailer Trash?
Posted by TheTraveler (anonymous) on September 4, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You know, I love the idea of living "small". obviously, like someone else said, government wants their cake and eat it too! They'd rather have richie rich move in so that the taxes can cover their rich little arses! No country clubs for "Joe the Plumber" eh? Of course not! He's too busy taking care of you rich snobby republicans! Trickle down effect, my butt...trickle down some of your darned wealth and share some of that land with us "not so fortunate" sons of bitches!
Posted by mbtilley (anonymous) on October 26, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To the idiot who commented that a mobile home is just a moblie home...your point?
My point is this...if you're a poor starving bastard in this world...who gives a crap if you're living in a mobile home?
You must be a rich republican...hmmmmm...
Posted by mbtilley (anonymous) on October 26, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Dont have an account? Sign up!
Post a comment