Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2018 10:13:16 -0400
From: Mark Stinson
Subject: mobile homes
Sherri I have a few simple questions . Have you ever worked in a mobile home plant ? Are you a licensed contractor who has repaired older mobile homes ? Have you tried to move any of your mobile homes ?
Your 47 year old mobile home can be in perfect livable condition but you cant relocate it here in this county . We had a 1969 Ritz Craft 12 by 50 and that was considered a big home at that time when I grew up . When my daddy passed away in 1995 it was still nice and usable but since my parents had bought a house we decided to sell it . The first thing I learned was it was not up to code anymore because it had aluminum wire in it . Many older mobile homes had aluminum wire instead of copper . The problem with aluminum is over time it corrodes much faster than copper and it doesn’t conduct electricity as well so it heats up causing a fire hazard . Secondly the older mobile homes aren’t up to the newer wind load and insulating codes . Even thought the homes are called mobile they don’t move well after being set up for 20 years on a foundation . They are not road worthy . You can live in a mobile home your entire life if you upkeep it and don’t move it . I never said you cant . It cost anywhere from 35% to 75% more to heat and cool than a conventional home so that’s is another good reason to get out of one if you plan to have any money to live on later in life . I said that if you plan on moving it after its 20 years old you cant if you expect to live in it . The man who bought our 69 Ritz Craft put it on blocks and made it a farm storage shop . He couldn’t use it as a home nor could he hook up a toilet . Its still being used as storage to this day . Now with that said , true modular manufactured homes that do not sit on steel frames once put on site are permanent and are built as good as a stick built homes and sometimes better as they are built inside under controlled conditions . This has never been true of single wide traditional trailers even though they are built inside on an assembly line
I have spent a considerable amount of time looking up regulations on older mobile homes and I’m still to the understanding your screwed if your home is 20 plus years old and you have to move it . According to a study from UNC Law there is over 557,000 mobile homes in NC’s 4000 trailer parks ..There are 40,000 abandoned mobile homes in NC due to the inability to relocate them for either code violations, age or lack of rent able space to put them and they expect that number to double by 2020 . Since county’s have ZONED it has made it even more problematic to move older mobile homes or start up a new mobile home park . By the way have you noticed you don’t see mobile home dealers selling single wide mobile homes in Chatham or many other places anymore with high end real estate near by . There is a good reason for that . Low income housing is frowned upon by real estate developers. No one wants to live next to a mobile home park so adjacent property values drop big time . Modular homes are the thing now as they have the same general appearance as a traditional home . My point is if its on a rented lot you really don’t have any of the rights of a traditional property owner it and NC law basically states that fact . You are responsible for its upkeep where if you rented it your not. Try to move it and you will see really quick its a temporary housing fix period .
My last thought on this is never say a mobile home is built as good as a stick built home or condo . I know this to be true from the manufacturing end .The mobile home industry has always been super competitive to sell the nicest looking home the cheapest and as many as you can build . I have been in a mobile home plant and walked through as they built these homes and I can tell you definitively there is no logical comparison between a mobile home and a conventional stick built home or condo . Codes over construction aren’t even close . Now since you mentioned Florida I need to inform you no mobile home from NC even a new one will ever be set up in Florida . The mobile homes you see in Gulf states are built to high wind load specifications to survive hurricanes and are twice as expensive as the ones built here in NC . The homes in these states are often twice as expensive to build as their building codes require considerable structure enhancements to survive hurricanes .
My point is , never buy a used mobile home on a rented lot ,, period..
Goodnite Mark