It’s long been said that mobile homes and manufactured homes in Tucson don’t hold their value. The standard line for a long time has been that mobile/manufactured homes not only don’t appreciate but that they depreciate over time, much same as your new car does. It turns out, though, that this is mostly wrong. Of course, it depends on many factors, but some recent statistics show that mobile homes do in fact appreciate. So let’s see if Tucson manufactured homes hold value and whether they actually appreciate in value.
Calculating the Value of Manufactured Homes
The first thing to keep in mind is that the value of a Tucson, AZ, mobile home is not determined by the book value (like the Blue Book value for a car), but by the actual market value – that is, what buyers are willing to pay for it. Book value was once an accurate means of calculating a mobile home’s worth, but that’s no longer the case. It can no longer be relied on to determine a home’s local market value because there are so many things that vary from local market to local market.
A better valuation tool for manufactured homes is one that is market-based. Something like a comparative market analysis, which is the standard valuation tool for traditional homes, must be used for manufactured homes. This method will factor in variables like the following:
- Inspection results
- Similar recent sales transactions
- A comparison of recent sales of similar mobile homes in the area with the home under consideration
- Experts’ opinions of this market analysis
Basically, you can’t just look at a book or check a website to see what your mobile home is worth on the market. You have to use this market-based approach that factors in several market variables and market trends. These variables include such things as age and condition of the Tucson mobile home and even current mortgage and foreclosure rates.
Variables That Affect Appreciation of Manufactured Homes
As with determining value, there are a host of variables that play a role in appreciation. And that’s why you simply can’t make a blanket statement like, “Tucson manufactured homes don’t appreciate.”
Data comp Appraisal Systems analyzed 88,000 sales and came up with some fairly specific reasons to explain why some homes appreciate and others lose value. One of the main ones was location.
They found, for example, that the “home’s location can affect the value by over 24%. In other words, manufactured homes that are sited on their own property are more likely to increase in value than those in a park.”
Additional factors and variables that go into determining whether a particular mobile home will appreciate include the following:
- “The housing market, in which the home is located, will have a significant impact on the future value of the home.
- The community, in which the home is located, has a similarly significant impact on the home’s future value.
- The initial price paid for the home.
- The age of the home.
- The inflation rate.
- The availability and cost of community sites, which reflects the supply and demand influences on the home’s value.
- The extent of an organized resale network, where an organized network will usually result in homes selling for a higher price than in markets without such an organized network.”
Basically, what it boils down to is this. If a mobile home is properly sited and maintained, it will appreciate at a comparable to those of other homes in the immediate area or neighborhood.
Proof That Tucson Manufactured Homes Hold Value
Is there tangible proof that mobile homes can hold value and even appreciate? You bet there is.
Another Data comp Appraisal Systems study involved 185 manufactured homes in Michigan. The study compared average sale price to average resale price several years after initial purchase and found the following:
- “97 of those homes increased in value by an average of $2,985.
- The remaining 88 decreased in value by an average of $2,822.”
The upshot here is that more homes appreciated than depreciated and with a wider gap.
In addition, other recent studies, in particular a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) report, have also found that “manufactured homes do retain value in a very similar fashion to site-built homes.” For manufacture homeowners, “the FHFA report merely goes toward verifying what has been known for years – that mobile homes can and do increase in value.”
But how, exactly did the researchers arrive at this conclusion “that manufactured homes increase in value,” you ask?
They first looked at “home loan data form Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae” and “produced a pair of new indices” for comparison purposes. The first index was a purchase-only index that took into account “initial purchase values.” The second was an “all-transactions index” that took “into account manufactured home appraisal values.”
A comparison of one index against the other yielded this conclusion: “Like any other home, a manufactured or mobile home will retain and gain value with proper maintenance and upkeep. That same maintenance and upkeep will ensure you get the most out of your manufactured home.”
So Is Now the Time to Sell?
So if yours is one of the many Tucson manufactured homes that have increased in value, is now the time to sell? It may very well be, considering the current economic upheaval we’re going through.
What makes many sellers hesitate is that they don’t want to have to go through all the hassle of hiring an agent, listing, marketing, showing, and then waiting and waiting – especially when they want or need to sell a Tucson mobile home fast. But there is a better, easier, and often more profitable way . . .
Another viable option is to sell to an experienced, trusted mobile home buyer in Tucson – one that guarantees a fair offer, allows you to choose the closing date, and pays the costs involved in selling. You can easily realize a profit from your manufactured home’s increased value. To discover more about how to sell your manufactured home for cash, call 520-413-1314.