Manufactured Homes in the Big City

Would you know if you were living next-door to a manufactured home?

Probably not – since today’s models compare favorably with any type of home on size, design, quality, safety and beauty.

While manufactured homes are typically found in rural areas or in specially designated communities, these days you can also spot them in neighborhoods throughout big cities like Los Angeles and San Diego.

These are often classified as “lot in fills” by developers. Thanks to California’s favorable zoning laws that allow manufactured homes to be built just about anywhere, land owners are free to develop a vacant piece of property by placing a manufactured or modular home there. Doing so provides significant savings over on-site construction costs, and when the home is finished it will sell for a comparable price as the stick-built homes that line the rest of the block.

This not only represents a great opportunity for investors who don’t have to complete with the nation’s top home builders – it’s also a way to beautify neighborhoods by developing land that might otherwise become a vacant lot or dilapidated structure.

In Los Angeles, several small homebuilders have obtained manufactured housing retailer licenses to purchase homes directly from manufacturers. These are then placed on available land in such upscale locales as the Agoura and Calabasas areas of the West Valley, and are appointed with such features as granite counter tops and luxurious stone veneers.

And down in Orange County, a manufactured home on a slightly narrow lot was upgraded with a detached garage containing a secondary dwelling unit overhead. The home sold for more than $900,000 – and that was more than ten years ago.

So the next time you’re driving through a scenic neighborhood, take a closer look – you just might be checking out some beautiful examples of the types of homes now being built in factories by the country’s top manufacturers.

Do you have a piece of land that you’re ready to develop? Let’s talk about what a manufactured home can do

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