This is an area of real estate that is relatively new to me and I'm struggling to get all the details in place to know if this is something for us.
Unfortunately, in our area any relatively new neighborhoods require stick built homes to be 1800 square feet of heated living space or larger. My wife and I simply don't need that. Because this area was predominantly rural, and poorer, 20+ years ago, many of the alternatives here end up being manufactured housing of some kind.
For the sake of this topic, let's stick to double wides, since I know single wides are not considered real property unless they've been built on a true foundation and most banks will not lend for a single wide.
We've been calling around to lenders about a double wide we're going to look at today and we're learning that basically all your typical lenders won't lend for a double wide more than 25 years old. In addition to that age cut off, when they do an appraisal the inspector will determine the "usable life" left of the manufactured home and the bank will not lend for a term greater than that determination.
I'm not quite sure I understand why the "useful life remaining" is a thing. It seems like all the newer double wides I've looked at pictures of use mostly the same materials as a stick built house. Vinyl siding, 2x4 framing, asphalt shingles, standard double pane windows. The only real exception I find is the sheetrock material that is used. It's typically thinner and not mudded. Instead a finishing strip is applied over the seams where each sheet meets.
I suppose my big concern here is am I potentially buying a depreciating asset rather than an appreciating one? If I buy a 20 year old double wide that looks almost indistinguishable from a regular house, with the exception of it's shape, and then own it for 20 years am I going to find it almost impossible for the next buyer to get a loan because of the home's age? With proper upkeep I don't understand why a 40 year old double wide would be any different than a 40 year old house.
Does anyone have experience in this area and can clue me in on the reasoning behind some of this stuff?