MODULAR: meets UBC (Uniform Building Code) guidelines. Basically, it is a stick built home that was prefabricated elsewhere – placed on a trailer and brought to the site. It is then removed from the trailer, and placed on the foundation. It can be compared to stick built homes on an appraisal and the same appraisal form is utilized for a modular home as for a stick built home. It will have all wood support beams, so if you crawl under it, the ONLY metal you would see would be possibly the center “I” beam. The rest of everything underneath the home should be wood. Remember “wood is good”. A unit of this type NEVER had a title, will not have to be purged, and never had wheels, axel, or a hitch.
MANUFACTURED HOME: meets HUD (Housing and Urban Development) guidelines. This is a “trailer house”. It is built on a metal trailer or Chassis. It was brought to the site and the wheels, hitch, and axel were removed, and it was placed right on the foundation – so the trailer becomes the subflooring. It will have ALL METAL underneath the unit. The hitch, wheels, and axel may or may not have been removed. There would be red metal HUD tags (about 3 inches by 5 inches) on each half of the unit at the time it was delivered, which may or may not still be present later at the time the property is resold. This unit has a VIN number just like a car, so that title must be “purged” so the house is then taxed as real estate along with the lot. There are also sometimes stickers present under the sink or by the furnace or hot water heater that would indicate that the unit is a manufactured home. The appraisal MUST be on a “manufactured home appraisal report” and all comparibles should be manufactured homes.
