I'm looking to move the in-laws on to an acre of land behind my place. I own the acre. I've never dealt with mobile homes/manufactured homes before. What are some pros/cons or do's/don'ts? It would most likely be a brand new home. Recommendations for manufacturers or places to buy from in the Mobile area?

My in laws build a good mobile home, check out Kabco online...not sure where all their dealers are located

Where to start....

First, I don't know anything about buying one.
Second, but I have had the pleasure of investigating many manufactured homes (hundreds all over 3 states) with issues.....from really nice and new to complete trash and ancient models, and everything in between. .

From my experience the site prep (grade, soils, footings vs. ABS plastic pads, piers and tie downs) is the #1 issue with most homes I end up looking at. It's like a traditional house...all starts with soils and foundation because a problem there will radiate through the structure. Manuf. homes are no different. Start there and make sure it is done right. If I were you I'd pass on the plastic footing pads and insist on concrete footings. I'd pass on dry stacked piers too. Make sure the grade directs water away from the home so water doesn't sit at the pier footings and is properly crowned in the center of the home so water doesn't flow across.

The next things is to hope you have a crew and a dealer that is worth something....the set up, marriage line connections and roof tie in (if double wide), exterior trim work & siding connections, interior trim work....sloppy work and "I don't care" shows up quick. Make sure they take their time and do it right the first time.

Then the next thing is plumbing. I can't count the number of leaks I find in drain pipes and water lines in manufactured homes. Again, skilled labor that give a dang really helps cut down on these issues.

Just my take.

Not sure about here we did that years ago in Ms for the wife’s parents so they could claim homestead and cut the taxes we surveyed out a 1/4 acre that was land locked with us as sole heir no money was owed on the home (lawyer drew up all the paper work). Don’t have a clue here for home recommendation.

Good info! Thanks!

Clayton Homes make good quality homes.

They don't build a good one........ They build the best. But Keith will scold you for saying mobile home, it's manufactured home. Ask me how I know. Those Bennet's are fine people.

dont buy brand new you can find one and two year old repossessed manufactured homes and 2 or 3 year old show room models for one half to one third of the cost of new and most of them are in just as good condition just takes some looking around. if you buy a new manufactured home you might as well burn 3/4 of what you end up paying for it because it depreciates like a new car as soon as you put it on your property.

I just bought a 32x76 used That was three years old and saved about 50,000 off the price of a new one but it cost me about 14,000 to get it moved and set up. If you buy used getting a pad built correctly and a good mover is important. Make sure The mover places a moisture barrier on the pad to keep mold out. if you buy new the seller handles everything and that’s the way I’ll go if I ever do it again. It was hard finding a mover and it took about 6 weeks to get everything setup And I already had septic and power on my land. A dealer can do it in about 2 weeks or less.
While doing my research before buying I found out a lot of people have trouble with the dealers doing the warranty work. A friend bought one from Clayton Homes and he said it took a year to get his done so I would definitely make sure they’ll get it done in a timely manner.

U do know u dont need plastic under a mobile home rite? The moisture barrier is already under the insulation

To me, the biggest downside is that they go down in value.

From my unscientific observation driving in several states around here, I see Claytons the most often.
I do know that Warren Buffet owns Clayton.

I wouldn’t put a home on the pad without the plastic. It’s an extra moisture barrier and most movers I talked to included it their price. It may even be a state requirement.

You are increasing the odds of a Tornado hitting your place by putting a trailer house on your land.

It's a trailer he hates most 😁

If you house has wheels it's a trailer. Put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig... wearing lipstick.

Before we built we had a deer valley and it was nice and gave us a good many of yrs.

if it has a steel frame, axles and a tongue... its a trailer. Just because they have to cut the tongue off, and the axles cut out from under it, its still a trailer.

The ones nowdays are made a lot better than the tin can me and my buddies rented when we got out of high school.

Be very aware of the central A/C unit and the condensation that can accumulate from the duct work. Our next door neighbor and DoA's best friend has a double wide that is underpinned and ended up with mold up into the flooring from water collecting in the plastic that runs under it. He ended up putting a different type of unit in the house and getting a big fan to put under there to dry it all out after he cut a hole in the plastic for the water to drain.

If the underfloor space is enclosed (skirting panels or CMU, etc), then a vapor barrier of 6 mil poly or equivalent is required in Alabama, per Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission. Additionally if enclosed proper ventilation is required.

Upgrade to a heat pump. Trailers come with an a/c unit and electric heating element heat. Power bill will be $300 in the winter.