Deciding to become a homeowner can be difficult and even very stressful. We have a lot of things to consider first. We needed to be sure first that we have the financial means to buy a home and cover its maintenance expenses. We need the right partner to share a home and the responsibilities with.
We also needed to be sure that we are mentally and emotionally ready to become homeowners. It can be difficult to leave the life we know in cities and trade it for a quiet life in the suburbs. But, truth be told, making the decision is the easy part. The real challenge is actually finding the perfect home.
We needed to identify what’s best for us. Do we want to go house-hunting? Are we ready to scour neighborhoods in search of what’s going to fit our growing family? Or perhaps we might prefer working with contractors to have our house built. This would ensure that we’ll have the perfect home we want. But it’s not any less easy. In fact, this might even be more stressful than house-hunting.
But there’s one option that we might not think of right away. And that is manufactured homes. To put it simply, they’re houses built in factories and shipped to our land. But how do they really work? And why are they good options for other people?
Who Lives in Manufactured Homes?
This may come as a surprise for us who aren’t really familiar with manufactured homes. But, in the United States, there are 22 million people who live in manufactured homes. Ten percent of them are newlyweds who are just starting to build their families.
But the biggest age demographic in the residents of manufactured homes are people between the ages of 18 and 29. These young adults make up 23 percent of manufactured home residents. The next big demographic are the baby boomers, who are between the ages of 50 to 59.
It’s also interesting to note that 15 percent of the residents cannot work due to a physical or mental disability. Lastly, around $28,400 is the average household income of people living in manufactured homes. People who make more than $100,000 per year only many less than five percent of the residents.
Why Do People Prefer to Live in Manufactured Homes?
Affordability is the biggest reason why some people prefer to live in manufactured homes. As touched upon earlier, it’s because the average household income of manufactured home residents is less than $30,000.
According to the Manufactured Housing Institute, 71 percent of them state affordability as the main reason they prefer to live in manufactured homes. If we plan to get a house built, it would cost us around $114 per square foot. But if we purchase a manufactured home, it would cost us about half of that. People would only need to pay around $55 per square foot. But just because manufactured homes are cheaper doesn’t mean they don’t make up good homes.
Ninety percent of manufactured home residents are satisfied with their homes. And 62 percent of them have been living in their manufactured homes for more than ten years. Thus, it’s clear that this type of housing can withstand in the long run. And, manufactured home residents love their homes so much; 38 percent of them state that they don’t even have plans to sell their homes.
From Factories to Us
Across the United States, there are 129 factories for manufactured homes. In 2019, 94,615 houses were built. Most of them are in Texas, with 22 plants in just one state. These factories invest in the best machinery to create safe, beautiful, and sturdy homes, from plastic molding solutions to small details such as paint colors.
After they’re built and purchased, the houses will be shipped to us. The companies that sold the houses would take care of the setup and whatnot. All we’ll need to do are sit tight and wait for them to be ready.
There are even some manufactured home retailers that offer more than just the houses themselves. Some package deals also come with insurance, financing, etc. Because the biggest market is people from low-income households, the companies really are catering to their needs.
Manufactured homes tend to have a similar look. If you have one, it won’t be surprising if you find another home with the same make and model in a different city or state. But, given its affordability and convenience, then uniqueness won’t be a problem for us. So when the time comes when we decide to become homeowners, we shouldn’t hesitate about considering a manufactured home.