Let me preface this post by explaining where it came from.
My husband has a group of guy buddies he talks to online, and he was sharing with them that we finally got a house. We have a 2023 model manufactured home (which is like a high end mobile home and the word is often used interchangeably). And my husband was excited to tell the guys of the new purchase we made in 2024.
One of them goes “Oh nice man! Let us know when you get a real house!”
And it absolutely ticked my husband off and he was like “I thought this was our real home.”
Needless to say, while I thought the comment was unnecessary, I’m curious what yall here constitute as “real”? Does the build type matter? Mortgage? Zoning? Foundation? Etc.
We’re planning on getting some land and placing ours on a permanent foundation this year.
Personally? I couldn’t care less. Im thankful hubby and I have a place of our own, and we can call it ours.
I house, IMO would be a stand alone structure that has walls and a roof and id not permanently on wheels.
You husband’s friend seems kind of like a dick to make that statement.
Irregardless of the structure type the most important thing is that it is a home for you and your husband.
Nothing wrong with a manufactured home. I don’t mean to be insensitive, but since you asked I would consider it a real house if it was manufactured and then anchored to a foundation if you want to get technical.
Either way, your husband’s friend sounds like a jerk but he probably didn’t mean to be. The closer my friends are the more I accept their banter without consideration of a negative thought. Acquaintance friends that say crap like that don’t get the leeway.
TOTAL dick thing to say. A house is whatever you say it is. It’s your home, so you get to define it. Personally, I agree that no wheels would be the difference between “house” and “camper.” But if someone’s camper is their home and they call it a house, I’m happy to celebrate with them.
It bothers me when people specify “new to me” when they say they got a new car. You bought a car - how exciting, congratulations on your new car! Why would I care if it’s this year’s model or not? It’s just shitty to make people feel less-than rather than happy with milestones like this.
I would say the same thing about cabins, which (along with manufactured) are common where I am. Do you own it and live in it and it’s where you call home? Then it’s your house, even if you have to bring water in and have a composting toilet.
Don’t let ugly people throw their damage onto you.
You know, thinking more about it, I don’t even care of the place is rented. It’s a big milestone for some people to move from an apartment complex into a house with a yard. “My new house” works just fine for me. Congratulations!
Manufactured homes are awesome. Especially with the way the housing market is, it’s often a lot smarter to go with a mobile or modular. Even build quality wise, new homes are thrown up so quickly and framed with cheap lumber. I tell my wife all the time all I want is a double wide. I’ll build a garage and deck.
Oh man, when my brother did residential plumbing on new construction Id go with him on weekends. Some of these places were just bad. Walls not nailed down, foundations out of square, really bad drainage of storm water,like some really serious issues. And these were supposed to be “high end” or “executive something or other”.
The build quality on “poor houses” from 150 years ago are far superior to that of “wealthy houses” today. I owned a house built in 1900 and I loved it. Original slate roof, giant single cut support beams, cast iron radiators, craftsmanship throughout.
I can 100% say that I would much rather be living in a decent manufactured home right now than renting the place we are and being house poor.
Your husband’s friend definitely sounds like a prick without understanding the dynamics of their relationship. None of my friends would ever say that kind of thing.
While I totally agree the guy is a dick and the your new home is awesome, the banks don’t see it that way. That’s where this garbage comes from. A mobile home of any kind is not actually considered “real” estate.
I know it’s fucked up. In Texas there are very specific requirements to make it a “real” house/ “real” estate.
I absolutely disagree with this practice but this comes from rich people who don’t have better things to think about.
A house is a single family residence. The location of origin is irrelevant. Built in a factory vs. built on site. Where do you draw the line? The individual components of a site built home were manufactured in a warehouse (windows, siding, doors, roof, etc.) yet assembled onsite. A mobile home is just the same components assembled inside a warehouse.
We don’t consider children conceived through IVF, not human.
edit: if you do some googling, developers are getting crafty building commercial spaces and schools out of factory built structures. Not to mention use of shipping containers, CLT walls, etc.
From a building code standpoint, it’s of benefit to the occupants that it’s not considered a permanent structure, eg. house. As they are permitted at the state level and treated like cars that can easily be bought/sold with bill of sale. Changing that status to permanent structure, subjects it to local building codes and property titling. Insurance is also much easier too.
I have my own thoughts to comply with the definition of a “real” house.
The house can be manufactured or built directly on an area of property that you own or are buying.
It must be secured to the ground, so as to be not easily moved to another location
It must be a stand alone building
Surely it needs to be on a property that is zoned as residential.
You can have a mortgage, but you must understand that you don’t solely own a “real” house that has a mortgage. Granted that you can clearly say that you own a “real” house.
This day and age, I require a “real” house have access to all utilities necessary for my expectation of creature comfort.
If someone says they bought a house, I generally picture a brick structure on foundation or concrete beams.
Insurance does the same in nomenclature. Manufactured homes are their own entities. Largely given different levels of loss risk than a traditional house.
But in real life application of it’s a structure you live in, then it’s a house.
I think “manufactured homes” evokes an image of a beat up tin can and mullets and this is what people react to.
Occasionally we cover manufactured homes and the ensuing property, like you mention. Always owned property and a permanent residence.
I was surprised to learn early on that many of them are built to “site home” specifications. 16 on center framing, 2x4 material, same electrical and plumbing code et cetera. A lot of them also have custom wood cabinets, legitimate wood flooring, granite and marble et cetera. They’re really more like pier and beam homes than “trailers”, they were just built elsewhere and put in place.
Anyways, we have recently extended coverage on a manufactured home with property included at $1.3mm dollars total.
What’s ironic is that people in $500k homes and house poor would turn their nose up at the thing.
So I guess I wouldn’t worry about the nomenclature.