Mobile Homes vs.  Manufactured Homes vs. Modular Homes

Mobile, Manufactured & Modular Home Flood Insurance

Mobile, Manufactured and Modular home flood insurance is oftentimes required by mortgage companies as a prerequisite for a loan. Whether it’s required or not flood insurance ensures you have financial protection should your home be damaged or destroyed by a flood event.

Mobile  Homes

 The term Mobile Home is often used interchangeably with the term Manufactured Home but in fact they mean quite different things. “Mobile Home” refers to homes built PRIOR to 1976 when the HUD code governing building standards for factory-built homes was instituted, greatly improving quality standards.

Manufactured Homes

Homes built AFTER 1976 should technically no longer be referred to as Mobile Homes but instead are Manufactured Homes.  However, it’s important to note that while this is a difference most insurance companies still consider Mobile and Manufactured Homes the same for rating purposes.

Manufactured Homes are built entirely in a factory under the federal building code administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These homes are constructed to meet the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standard Act of June 15, 1976. The federal standards regulate manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality.

Manufactured homes generally come in single or two-section units and their dimensions range from 8 feet or more wide and 40 feet or more long. Manufactured homes can be placed on a basement and include multiwides and expandable manufactured homes. Excluded are travel trailers, motor homes, and modular housing.

Modular Homes

A Modular home is manufactured in a production facility and are built in two or more sections in a controlled factory setting that are then transported and assembled on location. The assemble process typically uses a traditional concrete foundation (permanent). Unlike a mobile home, a modular home cannot be moved once built. These homes are treated just like a traditional home you’d buy in a neighborhood. They offer outstanding features, a huge assortment of pre-designed homes, and their price per square foot are sometimes lower than the traditional stick built home.

Modular homes are homes assembled at the building site. Modular homes are built to either local or state building codes as opposed to manufactured homes (sometimes still erroneously referred to as mobile homes) which are also built in a factory but are governed by a federal building code.