Finding an affordable home in the Puget Sound region can be extremely challenging. We have charted on this blog many reasons for the dwelling dilemma and some possible long-term solutions, yet there is still a significant shortfall of homes for buyers to call their own.
It’s not as if people aren’t trying to get their foot in the door. They write “love letters” to sellers, include escalation clauses to make a bid more competitive and hire certified real estate negotiators to ensure they make the highest and best offer. What’s a buyer to do?
A viable solution may be living in a manufactured home. Across our region – Snohomish, King, Pierce and Kitsap counties – there are many of these homes and priced far lower than most other residential options for purchase.
In reviewing Northwest MLS listings for 2020, there were at least 919 resales of manufactured homes in the four-county area at a median size of 1344 sq. ft. and sales price of $90,000 (or, in this example, only $67/sq. ft.!). Puyallup, in Pierce County, led the way with 106 resales, followed by Marysville (85) and Everett (80) in Snohomish County.
Adjusting for land costs, based on my reading, the per-square-foot cost of a home is less than half of standard, site-built housing. Recent innovations in manufactured home-building technology – including integrated floor and chassis systems – make them almost indistinguishable from traditional homes.
Washington is among few states that, since 2005, attempts to put manufactured homes on a level playing field with traditional “stick-built,” single-family homes. Following a decades-long grassroots campaign, the Legislature adopted a consumer-friendly law prohibiting discrimination against manufactured housing – a year after Olympia ordered local governments to regulate these structures as it would any other residential housing.
The laws spurred local regulatory reform as well as sparked several manufactured-home communities that thrive in our area to this day. (This is not to be confused with mobile-home parks that sometimes include housing on wheels and leased land.)
Noji Gardens, a 75-unit manufactured-home community is one of the best 
examples of developing modern, affordable housing in Seattle. The Rainier Valley development received accolades for its 2-story, multi-bedroom duplexes (pictured) 20 years ago when the homes sold for as little as $160,000.
In Maple Valley, a 55+ gated community sprung from the ground last decade. A full 171 manufactured homes and community room now complete the 26.5-acre area. Prices for the approximate 1300-1800 sq. ft. homes started then in the low $200,000s and are now reselling for about double – still quite a value in this region. A similar 55+ community, Harvest Gate in Puyallup, features 187 manufactured homes, along with a clubhouse, gym, game room and common-area kitchen.
This is not to suggest that all manufactured homes are exclusive condo communities or lean toward senior living. There are thousands of stand-alone manufactured homes on mostly rural lots as well as infill homes along an existing street of stick-built suburban residences.
Buyers need to know that manufactured housing is a construction method, not necessarily a housing type.
Just as site-built homes are constructed according to a specific building code to ensure proper design and safety, today’s manufactured homes are made in accordance with the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards. Commonly known as the HUD Code, these are a set of federal standards that regulate manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality.
One could argue that these factory-constructed homes are a consistent product and, if well maintained, built to last. The controlled construction environment and assembly-line techniques remove many of the problems encountered during traditional home construction, such as weather, theft, vandalism, damage to building products and materials.
On-site additions – garages, decks and porches, for example – add to the attractiveness of the homes and must be built to local building codes.
Interior features include vaulted ceilings, working fireplaces and state-of-the-art kitchens and baths, giving the homebuyer all the features found in site-built homes. Enhanced energy efficiency in manufactured homes, achieved with upgraded levels of insulation and more efficient heating and cooling systems, provide another source of savings for homeowners.
The U.S. Census tells us that Washington state received 1284 new manufactured homes (mostly from factories in Oregon and Idaho) in the most recent 12 months counted, or about 1.4% of the national total. The Census reports the average price tag of all single and doublewide homes made in the last year was $103,700 in the West, much higher than the U.S. average of $84,200.
Buyer beware: There are restrictions on where to site a factory-made home. That’s why it’s a lot easier to buy an existing manufactured structure than to purchase and place a new unit.
Today’s buyer of both new and existing manufactured homes may choose from several different payment options. The home can be financed as personal property, on leased land, in a manufactured home community or on a privately owned site.
Buyers who desire to acquire “dirt” in conjunction with the home can finance the land and home together. Properly financed, the purchase of a manufactured home should lead to equity building for the owner. Even when the home and land are financed together, the home is often secured as personal property and the land as real property.
Homebuyers may also finance their home and land together as real property using conventional mortgage financing obtained through a traditional mortgage lender. Fannie Mae, through its MH Advantage Program, and Freddie Mac, from its Home Possible program, encourage this with their guidelines for accepting real estate mortgage loans for 20- and 30-year terms secured by manufactured homes.
The government also guarantees homes under the Veterans Administration’s Home Loan Guarantee program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Programs. Qualified homebuyers may also obtain loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, only after failing to meet other lenders’ qualifications, and the financing is typically more expensive.
Today’s manufactured homes can deliver outstanding quality and performance at prices that are generally 50% less per square foot (or more) than conventional site-built homes. These savings allow more Puget Sound buyers to acquire their own home, even in the face of an ever-widening housing affordability gap.
With many businesses evolving their work-from-home policies, having a good internet connecting opens new opportunities to buy affordably miles from urban areas. You only have to know where to look and have the right real estate pro to help you along the way.