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8 MANUFACTURED HOMES

8-0 DEFINITION

A Manufactured Home is a structure that is transportable in one

or more sections. In traveling mode, the home is eight feet or

more in width and forty feet or more in length. A Manufactured

Home is designed and constructed to the Federal Manufactured

Construction and Safety Standards and is so labeled. When

erected on site, the home is:

· at least 400 square feet

· built and remains on a permanent chassis

· designed to be used as a dwelling with a permanent

foundation built to FHA criteria

The structure must be designed for occupancy as a principal

residence by a single family.

8-1 PROPERTY STANDARDS FOR TITLE II MORTGAGE INSURANCE

The appraiser should be aware of the primary standards in this

Handbook to prepare an appraisal for underwriting purposes.

These are the key standards:

o The site must be served by permanent water and sewer

facilities approved by the local municipal authority, if

available at the site.

o An all-weather roadway must serve the site.

o The entire property must be taxed as real estate.

o The towing hitch or running gear must have been removed.

The towing hitch or running gear must also have been removed

for properties greater than one year.

o No part of the finished grade level under the home is below

the 100-year flood level.

o Structural integrity must have been maintained during

transportation and sufficient anchoring, support and

stability must be evident.

All manufactured homes must have an affixed HUD seals(s) located

on the outside of the home. If the home is a multi-wide unit, each

unit must have a seal. These seals will be numbered sequentially.

If the tags are missing from the property, the appraiser must recommend

rejection of the property and notify the lender.

In some states, a manufactured home may not be resold without a

seal and homes without a HUD seal must be rejected. In states

where resale without a HUD seal is permissible, a manufacture\'s

certification must be obtained verifying the date of the sale.

The certification label/seal shall be located at the tall-light

end of each transportable section of the manufactured home

approximately one foot up from the floor and one foot in from the

road side, or as near that location on a permanent part of the

exterior of the manufactured home unit as practicable. The

roadside is the right side of the manufactured home when one

views the manufactured home from the tow bar end of the

manufactured home. (24 CFR 3280.11 (d))

o The home must be erected on a permanent foundation in

compliance with the Permanent Foundation Guide for

Manufactured Housing. All proposed or newly constructed

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manufactured homes must meet the standards set forth in the

Permanent Foundation Guide. A licensed professional engineer\'s

seal and signature (certification) is required to indicate

compliance with the Foundation Guide. The lender should

furnish the appraiser with a design engineer\'s inspection of

the foundation prior to the appraisal.

o Existing manufactured homes in place over one year are to be

inspected by the appraiser for evidence of permanent

concrete footings with tie-downs anchored to the footings.

o The appraiser must inspect the crawl space for the

following: poured in place concrete footings placed below

the frost line supporting the manufactured home carriage

frame, tie-downs anchored to the footings, protection from

the elements and enclosed with material imperious to rot and

infestation and perimeter foundation-type construction with

footings extended below the frost line. The appraiser must

require an engineering inspection if there is evidence of

structural defects or other problems relating to the

foundation or set-up of the home.

o The manufactured home must not have been constructed before

June 15, 1976. The unit must have been built to the

manufactured housing construction safety standards as

evidenced by having a small, red metallic label attached to

it. Any unit without this label is unacceptable. If it has

been removed, it cannot be reattached to make it acceptable

for FHA insurance.

o New, never occupied homes that are transported directly from

the manufacturer or directly from the dealership to the site

are eligible for insurance. For an existing manufactured

home, evidence must be provided to verify that the home was

assembled in accordance with the above paragraphs and has

not been moved from its initial installation site.

o Additions or structural modifications may put the home at

risk if changes were not performed in accordance with the

HUD Manufactured Home Construction Safety and Standards. If

the appraiser observes changes to the original home, an

inspection by the State Administrative agency, which

inspects manufactured homes for compliance, must be

required. If there is no agency willing or able to inspect

existing homes for compliance to the Manufactured Home

Construction and Safety Standards, the manufactured home is

unacceptable and should be rejected.

8-2 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION

Measurement is based on the overall length, including living

areas and other projections that are at least seven feet in

height. Length and width should not include bay windows, roof

overhangs, drawbars, couplings or hitches. Each manufactured

home must have a data plate with the name of the manufacturer and

the construction date.

8-3 APPRAISER QUALIFICATIONS FOR MANUFACTURED HOMES CLASSIFIED

AS PERSONAL PROPERTY

For all appraisals of manufactured homes classified as personal

property, lenders must engage independent fee appraisers who have

successfully completed a specialized course in manufactured home

valuation based on the N.A.D.A. appraisal system. These

independent fee appraisers must be knowledgeable in the business

of manufactured home retail sales. Appraisal services may be

obtained from an appraisal company if their appraisers meet these

qualifications.

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8-4 MANUFACTURED HOME LOT APPRAISALS

A manufactured home lot appraisal may be requested to estimate

land value in determining the maximum loan proceeds allowable for

a manufactured home lot loan or a combination loan (home and

lot). A lot appraisal may also be requested to establish value

for claim purposes on a foreclosed lot or manufactured home-and-

lot combination.

When appraising manufactured housing, appraisers should use

normal single-family residential appraisal techniques (see

Chapter 4 of this Handbook). Give special consideration to other

manufactured homes as comparables in appraising manufactured

homes. This will provide a comparable value indication from

which to make justifiable conclusions. Therefore, make all

efforts to obtain such comparables even though their distance

from the subject may be greater than normally desirable.

If there are no manufactured housing sales within a reasonable

distance from the subject property, use conventionally built

homes. Make the appropriate and justifiable adjustments for

size, site, construction materials, quality, etc. As a point of

reference, sales data for manufactured homes can usually be found

in local transaction records.

A. MANUFACTURED HOME LOT SITES

A manufactured home lot may consist of:

o an interest in a manufactured home condominium project

(including an undivided interest in the common areas)

OR

o a share in a cooperative association that owns and operates

a manufactured home park

The lot may be located within Native American Trust Lands if the

borrower owns or leases the lot.

B. HOW TO PERFORM A MANUFACTURED HOME LOT APPRAISAL

In addition to the single-family residential appraisal techniques

(see Chapter 4 of this Handbook), the appraiser must take the

following steps when performing manufactured home lot appraisals:

o The appraiser must obtain Form HUD-92802, Application and

Request for Manufactured Home Lot and/or Site Preparation

and the FHA case number from the mortgagee.

o The appraiser must receive a copy of the design engineer\'s

inspection of the foundation from the mortgagee.

o The appraiser must estimate the value of the lot by

comparison with other lots offering similar amenities.

o When the appraisal is complete, the appraiser must send the

original and one copy of the appraisal report, a photograph

of the lot and one photograph of each comparable to the

lender for review.

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o The appraiser must receive a copy of the design

engineer\'s inspection of the foundation from the

mortgagee.

o The appraiser must estimate the value of the lot by

comparison with other lots offering similar amenities.

o When the appraisal is complete, the appraiser must send

the original and one copy of the appraisal report, a

photograph of the lot and one photograph of each

comparable to the lender for review.

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