Real estate professionals typically point to financial savings as a driving reason why manufactured homes rank among first-time buyers’ preferred choice. The hard data certainly supports such conclusions.
Recent manufactured home data indicates that a 1,000-square-foot single-wide home costs in the $60,000 range, compared to upwards of $150,000 for a new site-built structure. A larger 2,000-square-foot double-wide home typically runs about $110,000, compared to $300,000 for comparable onsite construction. Mobile home insurance is also comparably more affordable than other types of traditional housing. While the financial savings are obvious, the numbers do not tell the whole story as to why people are smitten with mobile homes. It may surprise those who have not gone through the purchase process, but design and customization are why people love mobile homes.
What Makes Mobile Homes A Great Option
The sometimes overlooked component is that manufactured home buyers can design and customize their brand new living space to suit their needs. Consider you are a first-time buyer who has saved up a down payment and are trying to find your Dream Home while staying under budget. That can be difficult given that many financial experts advocate for putting no more than 28 percent of your income toward the monthly mortgage payment.
The existing real estate inventory may be plentiful, but with each possibility, buyers face compromises. Choices often include living with an undersized bathroom, no center island in the kitchen, or replacing the appliances at your own expense after you buy the home. What people love about the manufactured home process is they have the exact opposite experience. Buyers work with a customer care representative to design the living space and customize the home room by room.
Why People Love The Manufactured Home Interior Design Experience
It’s not unusual for working families who have repeatedly searched existing real estate options, watched 360-degree videos of the interiors, and driven by properties to try the mobile home industry as an alternative. The experience tends to be night and day.
Potential buyers are offered flexible interior and exterior design options that are simply not on the table when buying an existing property. And the expense of designing a new site-built model can easily exceed the $150 per square foot cost average. These are manufactured home design possibilities that everyday people have at their fingertips.
- Custom Bathrooms: Mobile home buyers often select the master bathroom experience. Design options include walk-in showers, oversized bathtubs, expansive vanity space, and large closets, among others. Master bathroom design options deliver one unwavering benefit — luxury.
- Custom Living Rooms: Given that families and friends tend to gather in the living room, open floor plans are wildly popular among buyers. Popular options also include sliding glass doors, floor-to-ceiling windows, vaulted ceilings, and custom light fixtures, among others. Manufactured home buyers enjoy integrating spacious living rooms into their designs.
- Custom Kitchens: In many homes, the kitchen enjoys the most foot-traffic of any room. That’s why growing families embrace design options such as breakfast counters, center islands, recess lighting, spacious cabinets, and enhanced counter space. Open floor plans with eat-in kitchen designs are popular options.
Mobile home buyers also have the wonderful advantage of securing a customized exterior design that expresses their personal taste. People love mobile homes because the design and customization possibilities check all their Dream Home boxes.
Personalized Manufactured Home Exterior Design Customization
Exterior manufactured home customization is more than just “curb appeal,” as they say in real estate. In many ways, a unique exterior expresses the idea that “this is who we are,” and mobile homes offer plenty of opportunities to create a “wow” factor. These are customization options that everyday people love about mobile homes.
- Attached Garages: Models such as the Palm Harbor Timber Ridge Elite are virtually indistinguishable from site-built structures with the addition of full garages.
- Expansive Porches: Customizing a manufactured home with a variety of porches is part of the process. Buyers can customize with full arching overheads roofs that turn the space into a veranda. Classic railing and partially covered options are available for those who like to sunbathe.
- Exterior Styles: Today’s manufactured home builds on classic and exterior styles. Popular options include the modern Loft style, coastal cottages, Southwestern, and the manufactured Tiny Home continues to trend, among many others.
The exterior customization experience also includes selecting the type of siding, skirting, and color people want for their new Dream Home on delivery.
There’s little doubt that paying far less for a quality manufactured home remains a driving motivation. But the ability to design and customize a new home precisely the way families want them is why people love mobile homes.