What You Need To Know About Mobile Homes Built Before 1976: Pre-HUD Homes

One of your first mobile home deals could be a home built before 1976. Many people think that there’s absolutely no value in a mobile home that’s built before 1976. But honestly, these have been some of our best deals because people just don’t know the value of them and they’re willing to give them away almost for free.

And so, we wanted to give you guys a heads up on a few things that you’re going to want to know about Pre-HUD homes before you’ve purchased them.

Trait #1 HUD standards

HUD is short for Housing and Urban Development. This is an entity put in place by the federal government.

Now, homes built after 1976 are called manufactured homes. These homes are built in a factory where they have certain regulations and tests that they have to adhere to before leaving the factory. And simply put, homes built before 1976 didn’t have any of these requirements because there were no standards put in place by HUD.

So a lot of the Pre-HUD homes are just not as safe as some of the factory built homes nowadays. One of the main things HUD testing and standards check for is lead paint, which makes the home really dangerous for people to live in. That’s why a lot of states require that the mobile homes are brought up to HUD standards before they are moved around or moved out of place. This process can be really expensive.

So we don’t recommend moving any Pre-HUD homes. We don’t recommend that strategy. But there’s still a lot of ways you can make money with these Pre-HUD 1976 mobile homes, as long as they’re safe,

Trait #2 Safety

With the HUD standards we want to make sure that these homes don’t have any asbestos or lead paint, because it’s really dangerous for families to live in. But you also want to check the understructure of the home.

A lot of times with these older mobile homes the sub-floor of it was actually built with particle board, which is not the best for water. It does not maintain well in the long-term. Sometimes they start falling apart and you have to replace that sub-floor with something a little bit more sturdy that’s going to last longer.

It’s the same thing with the roofs. A lot of the Pre-HUD homes were built with metal or foam roofs. And over time you just see that they start to sag and accumulate a lot of damage in them over the years.

But we’ve also seen that Pre-HUD homes can be safe and secure and be great deals for buyers. As long as they’ve been maintained properly year-in and year-out.

Trait #3 Heating, Cooling & Insulation

A lot of Pre-HUD homes were built with metal siding. What that means is in hot climates a lot of these homes are harder to keep cool, and then in cold climates these homes are harder to keep warm. This is because they weren’t built with proper insulation like a lot of the homes that are built today. A lot of them don’t even have AC units. They usually have swamp coolers or wall units.

And so you want to check the furnace, especially where it’s in a cold climate. Because a lot of times, if that hasn’t been serviced for awhile, it’s going to be really hard to heat up the metal siding, and that’s what buyers care about.

So you want to make sure that you check these different costs because that’s what your buyers are going to care about. They want to be comfortable in their new home, and that could be an extra expense for you.

Trait #4 Less Desirability

Unfortunately, these older mobile homes are not as desirable as those brand-new fancy ones. So you just have to understand that this could take a little bit longer to sell, and that’s why you have to price it right.

Because there is an affordable housing crisis. People need an affordable, safe place to stay. And that’s what this home can provide for them. So there is a demand for them. It just may take you a little bit longer.

Here in our market in Phoenix we find that Pre-HUD homes are in a lot of the older communities. There’s not a lot of amenities that the park offers to the buyer so they just tend to stay on the market a little while longer. But in some other markets out there these homes sell fast. It’s all about making sure that you feel secure that you’re buying a decent investment property, and that your buyer feels good that they’re buying a safe and sound home.

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