The three usual arrangements
- Land you already own. Most flexibility, most site work to sort out, and the arrangement most likely to qualify as real property.
- Land-home package. The dealer sells you both together. Simpler to finance as one deal, and the reason many dealers keep parcels on hand.
- A community. You buy the home and rent the lot it sits on. Lowest entry cost, an ongoing lot rent, and community rules about what you can put in.
What the land has to support
A parcel that looks fine can still be a problem. The things that decide it:
- Access. A transport truck has to physically get the home in. Tight turns, low branches and soft ground are all real obstacles.
- Utilities. Water, power, and either sewer or a septic system. If it is septic, perc testing comes before anything else.
- Zoning. Some parcels allow manufactured homes and some do not, and some allow them only above a certain size or with a permanent foundation.
- Flood zone. Affects both what is permitted and what insurance costs.
Do this before you fall in love with a floor plan
Get the site questions answered first. It is a bad week when a buyer has picked finishes on a multi-section home and then finds out the access road will not take the delivery, or that the county wants a permanent foundation that was not in the budget.
This guide is here because dealers kept getting asked these questions and nobody had a straight page to send people to. If you run a lot and want this handled automatically, that is what Cass does. If you are a buyer, just take the questions with you.
All six guides