I have no idea how to really tell if the property is manufactured. Do the city/county records have info on this? How can you tell for sure?

I'm doing a deal now that deals with this. If the house has a red tag on the outside somewhere then it usually is a manufactured. Also if you can look underneath it and if it still has the steel frame then it probably is a manufactured.
Thus requiring a structural engineer to certify the foundation. If it is manufactured you probably will have to get a letter or proof from your local county/city that the structure has been purged to the land. A REAL modular home doesn't have the steel frame underneath, is attached to a real foundation and can be classifed, insured and lended upon as a site built home. It also will be classified as a UBC built home. The lender I'm working with informed me that only FHA will lend on manufactured homes right now. Maybe he's right or wrong I'm not sure. I learned all this within the last week as I hadn't sold a manufactured home for several years. Luckily the one I'm selling is a modular. The lending rules have changed on manufactured. Thus making them harder to sell.

Pre 1976 - Mobile

HUD code - Manufactured

BOCA code - Modular

I have been in Manufactured homes, and you had to question
yourself, that good.

To my mind "manufactured" is a bad description though a widely used term for housing built in a factory; after all some homes are manufactured on site. We call them stick built!

Factory built homes are basically in 2 categories: 1) modular or 2) mobile. Mobile is again divided by age as to their compliance with HUD standards.

The essential difference is that a modular is built in sections in the factory and shipped on trailers to the site where they are assembled. The trailers then are returned to the factory for use on another shipment. A mobile uses a chassis that is an integral part of the structure and remains on site. Typically the towing tongue and suspension (wheels, axles, and springs) are removed as part of the installation.

Modulars are considered an improvement to the site and transfer with the land by deed. In New York older mobiles are transferred by bill of sale and newer ones by DMV title, either way the land under them transferring by deed.

You should look at the construction to tell the difference. I have found classification errors in the public records and therefore don't rely on them.

Many times if you open the cabinet under the kitchen sink, on the back of the cabinet will be the model name if it is a manufactured home.

If you look in the Master's closet, you'll find the serial numbers and date of manufacture!!!! (Most times, not fail-proof)

If there is a door (like a cabinet door) covering th electric panel you sometimes will find the label there. I have also seen them on the walls and/or panels around the furnace and water heater.

Here's a link to a Thread we used to discuss this same issue a couple months ago:

http://www.agentsonline.net/forums/ubbth...html#Post245601

the county records in my county always tell if it is. Generally if it has skirting around, and not a real foundation, it will be considered manufactured for financing, even if it was stick built off site, and never had the wheels on it...

I will sometimes see a stick built with skirting (typically on pier supports) but it would never be confused with a mobile (manufactuired) as it would not be DMV titled.