The appraisal inspection of a manufactured home, again, will not be that different than the appraisal inspection of a site built home. You’ll contact the homeowner and/or listing agent to schedule the appointment for inspection. If the home is in a manufactured home community, you may also want to schedule an appointment with the community manager to obtain information about recent sales in the neighborhood and about site rent including terms.
In addition to the items that you are used to collecting about a site built home, you will also want to confirm the HUD Certificate on the tail-end of the home and snap a photo (there will be one for each transportable unit). Make sure you can see the HUD Certificate number embossed on the metal plate.
Once inside the home, you will want to locate the HUD Data Plate. While this sounds like it would be a metal plate, it is actually a piece of paper. The Data Plate will have information about the date of manufacture, manufacturer name, model name, size, serial numbers, Wind Zone, Snow Load Zone, Thermal Zone and more!
A few key items of note:
- Do the manufacture, model, and date of manufacture match the Data Plate?
- Did you inspect underneath the home (e.g. what type of foundation is the home on? Are the axles and wheels under the home or are they missing? Are these included in the sale?)
- Did you locate the HUD Data Plate and Compliance Certificate(s)? If so, be sure you note the location in the comments section of your appraisal.
- Did you note the number of vacancies in the community?
- What is the typical time of market for the homes in the community?
- Is the community age restricted?
- Are there any utilities or sewer costs included in the site rent?
- Is the entirety of the home manufactured or does the home include some site built? If there are site built areas of the home, ensure that the proper permits and inspections have been done. There are instances where this type of addition could void the HUD certification and may make financing a challenge.