# Value of Modular Home?



## Pat-wcWI (Oct 28, 2012)

We have a nice modular home set on 15 wooded acres......three bedroom, two bath. It has a 24" overhang and 5 1/2 pitched roof, cedar siding, 30 year shingles, attached insulated 2 car garage, deck and a large patio (all cedar) It has an unfinished full basement.

There is a 40 x 63 pole shed with 27 feet of concrete floor. Set up for a couple of horses, the shed has a large Preifert box stall, two tie stalls and an insulated heated tack room. There are two Port-a-Hut shelters for horses in the yard. Horses also have access to a couple of acres of pasture in the summer months.

We owned a dairy farm and kept the 15 acres on one corner and built the shed w/o financing it. The house is financed. When we refinanced a couple of years ago for a lower rate, we found out the appraised value of the house. 

We have heard that it is hard to get financing for modular homes after they are 10 years old, so we are hoping to sell it at 8 years old.

Can someone tell me if the assessed value of the whole property is close to the appraised value?


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## karenp (Jun 7, 2013)

Our bank didn't look at any differently than a site build home. The only difference would have been if it had been a double wide mobile home.


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## John_Canada (Aug 17, 2013)

I've seen MPAC value a house $50K more than it should be and $50K less than it should be. Very hard to tell. Is it the insurance that is hard to get after 10 years?


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## wharton (Oct 9, 2011)

First you need to clearly define your concept of a "modular" home. Are you talking of a home built to stick built standards in a factory, or do you mean a double wide trailer? If it has a steel frame attached, it isn't a modular, it's a trailer. Second, you need to identify the part of the country you are asking about. Here in the northeast, a real modular is no different than a stick built home when it comes to value, appraisals, or loans. There are members here, however, that will verify that this is not the case in other regions.


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## Grumpy old man (Aug 6, 2013)

You would have to locate the property , values differ within a mile a house in New jersey could be 2 million while a house in kentucky could be 10,000.00 for the same property


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## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

there is a major difference of a modular vs a manufactured home.

Make sure you are not interchanging the two.


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## SteveD(TX) (May 14, 2002)

The value of the home alone assuming it will be moved is entirely different than the value of the home connected to utilities and set up on a semi-permanent basis. And it depends entirely on what similar homes in your local market are bringing. There is no rule of thumb here and to suggest a certain value or percent of original value or cost would be pure speculation by anyone on this forum.


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## DryHeat (Nov 11, 2010)

Another point I think is relevant is that "assessed" and "appraised" are value numbers arrived at for very different reasons. "Assessed" is tied in with how your local tax base government has decided to process the value estimates interacting with its stated tax rates. Perhaps it would be clearer to everyone if the local officials tried to have their *assessments* as near as possible to *appraisals* or market value, or whatever, but in my experience that's often not at all the case, with the tax office just raising rates a tad year over year if there's not been a recent complete value resetting recently. If a lot of properties *have* been re-assessed, say to generally higher estimates, they'll then nudge the tax rates downwards so your net annual bill stays nearly the same.


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

A modular home is considered pretty much the same as a site built both for resale and financing. A manufactured (mobile) home is different as it's on a steel beam frame with wheels and can be moved relatively easily. The latter depreciate in time, the former do not.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

> Can someone tell me if the assessed value of the whole property is close to the appraised value?


No! The only way you're going to find out an assessed value is to get an assessment.

Or ... you can consult with a realtor, and have them do a comparative market analysis (CMA). They will measure the structure, take note of its features (number of bedrooms and bathrooms, etc.) and compare it to recent sales in the area. Most realtors will do this for free in hopes of getting your listing. You should probably get CMAs from more than one realtor, then average their suggested prices.

You also can do your own CMA by looking up recent sales in your area. Zillow will show you properties that have been sold, although I've heard its numbers often aren't accurate. You may have to go to your county to get the correct information. Drive by the properties and see how they compare to your place.

You also can look at Realtor.com to see what comparable properties are listed for. Keep in mind that these are _asking _prices, not actual sale prices -- however, they'll give you an idea as to the competition your house will have when it hits the market. 

Sometimes you can find a sweet spot in the market where your property clearly is the nicest one in its price range. I've gotten lucky that way and managed to find a buyer in less than 2 weeks. Good luck!


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## KCFLY (Sep 19, 2013)

We are currently in the middle of trying to buy a modular home.

Our lender and insurance companies have both told us they treat it just the same as a stick built home. This home is about 25 years old.

As far as value, its value is no different than any other homes in the area that are of traditional stick built construction.

We in Missouri.


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## Pat-wcWI (Oct 28, 2012)

Thank you all for your replies.

Yes, this is a _modular home, _built to stick built standards with a basement.

I guess the only way of knowing the whole value of the house, land and other buildings is to get it all appraised together.


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