Special offer

Bellingham Manufactured Home Inspections -- King of the House

By
Home Inspector with King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. Home Inspector Lic #207

Often, when people are purchasing manufactured homes, they are under the impression that the cost of the home inspection should be cheap. After all, the home is usually selling for less than 1/3 of the cost of a stick-built home. However, if you look at it from the inspector's standpoint, even though these units usually do not have an attic, there is still a lot to look at. And, honestly, often the quality of manufacturing is not up to par and the condition of the crawl space is such that it more than makes up for, in work required, lack of an attic.

At a manufactured home there are many specifics the inspector has to look for. Is there Polybutylene water supply tubing (problematic to say the least); is the electric panel properly wired (often they are not); are there roof or window leaks or problems with siding? Are heavy outside structures, decks and awnings, really free-standing, as they should be. Rodents are a common pest at manufactured homes, at least here in Bellingham and Whatcom County.

The older the manufactured home, the number of problems multiply significantly. Here is a photo of a rusted-out galvanized supply pipe at an old manufactured home.

The bottom line is that, even though a manufactured home costs less, it is impractical for a home inspector to offer a substantial discount. I can tell you, having done many such inspections, that inspecting an 800 sq ft manufactured home may be a bigger hassle, and take longer to write-up, than inspecting a 2500 sq ft stick-built house.

People buying these homes need to realize that they are saving money on the purchase price, not on the cost of obtaining a professional home inspection.  Especially so with a manufactured structure, the job requires hard work and knowledge of specialized information, so the inspector needs to be properly compensated for his or her expertise and time. Manufactured homes might be cheap, but the cost of inspecting them probably will not be commensurate with the low price of the home. And do not assume, for one moment, that "quality control" at the factory assures you of much of anything. I have seen some newer manufactured homes with major factory blunders, such as holes in the roof that allow water to run down into the walls.

Posted by

Steven L. Smith

If you enjoy nostalgia and music of yesteryear, click on Elvis' gold record to visit This Day In History. To explore The Stories Behind The Music blog posts click on the electric guitar. 

 

        

 

 

 

 

Comments (6)

Sussie Sutton
David Tracy Real Estate - Houston, TX
David Tracy Real Estate for Buyers & Sellers

I never even thought of the crawl space. I know some DYI's like to fix the paneling out side and replace it. The first thing they do is remove the metal emblem that NEEDS TO STAY ON THE MOBIL HOME!

Good post.

Dec 04, 2011 03:18 PM
Charles Buell
Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA
Seattle Home Inspector

Steve, you are so right about these so called houses being more trouble to inspect and report on that real houses:)

Dec 04, 2011 05:07 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

You are right about all that Mason!  Especially the rodents underneath.  How did that rust happen on the outside of that pipe - galvanic reaction?

I bet your smaller size makes going underneath those things a lot easier than it was for your Granddad!

Dec 04, 2011 10:17 PM
James Quarello
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC - Wallingford, CT
Connecticut Home Inspector

I do not inspect many of these rolling homes and I am glad for that. As you point out they are bear to inspect. 

Dec 05, 2011 07:15 AM
Eric Middleton
Closer Look Property Inspections Inc. - Uniondale, NY
Professional Property Inspector

All I could say to this post is Amen!

Dec 23, 2011 01:39 PM
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Eric,

Thanks for the comment, we agree on that for sure.

Dec 23, 2011 02:03 PM