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Factory-Built Housing Solution: Addressing Affordability & Sustainability
Next Step hosted an informative webinar on the transformative potential of factory-built housing in today’s housing market. This session covered the latest advancements in factory-built homes, dispelled common misconceptions, and emphasized their role in addressing housing shortages. Topics discussed include safety and durability standards, energy efficiency, financing options, project examples, and more. Whether you are a potential homeowner, an affordable housing professional, or simply interested in innovative housing solutions, this webinar will provide valuable insights into the benefits and opportunities of factory-built housing.VIEW WEBINAR PRESENTATION -
Housing + Community Development with Factory-Built Homes
In our webinar “Housing + Community Development with Factory-Built Homes,” Next Step and Habitat for Humanity La Crosse delve into the evolving landscape of factory-built homes and their potential to address current housing challenges. Topics discussed include:- Modern Design & Customization: Significant advancements in the design and customization of factory-built homes offer a variety of floor plans and high-quality finishes. This allows homeowners to personalize their living spaces to match their preferences and needs.
- Affordability & Investment Potential: These homes often have a lower price point than site-built houses, making homeownership more accessible. Additionally, they have shown potential for appreciation.
- Safety & Durability: Factory-built homes are constructed following stringent federal and regional standards, ensuring they can withstand various environmental challenges, including severe weather conditions.
- Energy Efficiency: Many factory-built homes are ENERGY STAR® certified, which indicates that they are designed to be more energy-efficient. This can lead to potential savings on utility bills for homeowners.
- Financing Options: Potential buyers can explore conventional mortgages, FHA-insured loans, and specialized financing from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. These options provide better terms than chattel loans, making the purchasing process more straightforward and accessible.
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Housing Advisor’s Guide to Factory-Built Housing Financing for AI/AN Families
Native homebuyers often face unique hurdles, such as navigating the complexities of Tribal land ownership. Our Housing Advisor's Guide is designed to help counselors guide these families through the purchase of their homes.
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How Municipalities Can Drive Growth of Attainable, Sustainable Homeownership Opportunities
Affordable housing remains a pressing need across the country, but municipalities have the power to help meet this need by adapting zoning regulations. Effective zoning policies can increase the availability of affordable housing options, like factory-built homes, which offer cost-effective, quality solutions. Unfortunately, many existing zoning rules are outdated, limiting options for diverse housing types. Revising these rules will help housing officials address barriers and create environments that foster affordable housing development. Next Step’s guide, Unlocking Manufactured Housing Solutions: How Municipalities Can Drive Growth of Attainable, Sustainable Homeownership Opportunities, provides recommendations for leveraging factory-built housing to address housing shortages. The toolkit empowers a range of housing stakeholders, including policymakers, local officials, advocates, and legislators, to unlock the potential of modern manufactured homes in their community.DOWNLOAD GUIDE -
Purchasing a Manufactured Home: A Comprehensive Timeline
Manufactured homes are durable, customizable, and, most importantly, budget-friendly. They are more affordable than site-built homes, can save owners up to 30% on monthly utility bills, and have the potential to appreciate, making them an excellent wealth-building opportunity. While these benefits are compelling, it’s essential to understand the unique process and timeline involved in purchasing a manufactured home. Taking the time for this crucial step puts the buyer in an ideal position as they enter the purchasing journey. To help with this, Next Step created the following step-by-step timeline for purchasing a manufactured home, covering topics from budgeting and customization to moving in. Click the button below to download the timeline infographic or read our more detailed timeline guide here.Download Resource -
Mortgage Loan Financing Options for Manufactured Homes
Thanks to today’s manufactured home, more affordable and efficient pathways to homeownership are available. These homes are constructed in controlled environments and transported to their final location, offering not only cost-effectiveness but also flexibility and sustainability. However, it’s not always been easy to gain access to these affordable homes, in part due to exclusive zoning and a complicated purchase process involving high-interest personal loans. Next Step saw this as an unnecessary hurdle and burden, especially for the homebuyers who could most benefit from the affordability of manufactured homes. This led us to design our Next Step Home with industry-leading features that qualify them for many of today’s popular mortgage products. This resource explains five ways homebuyers can finance the purchase of a new manufactured home using conventional mortgage loans.Read More -
Overcoming Barriers to Manufactured Housing: Promising Approaches from Five Case Studies
By: The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University Manufactured housing holds promise as an affordable form of housing that could expand homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income households at a time when house value growth is outpacing income gains in markets across the country. A 2023 report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies showed that manufactured homes offer a significant cost advantage over comparable site-built homes. In a second report published early this year, the Center identified five key barriers to greater adoption of this form of housing for affordable homeownership. This study, the third and final in this series, features case studies of five organizations from the for-profit, nonprofit and public sectors that are leading efforts to expand the use of manufactured housing in markets where these homes have not been widely used. Drawing on these examples, the study concludes with lessons for other organizations seeking to expand the use of manufactured housing.Read More -
Appraisal of Manufactured Homes Course
Who Should Enroll: Residential appraisers and reviewers who are currently working in the secondary market lending space: appraisals for loans that are ultimately purchased by Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, USDA, or Fannie Mae. This Appraisal Institute course, developed in collaboration with Freddie Mac, provides an in-depth look into preparing appraisals for traditional manufactured homes plus insight into CHOICEHomeSM—the new type of high-quality manufactured homes that are built to HUD code but developed with site-built features. You’ll learn how to meet the specific requirements of Freddie Mac, the FHA, VA, USDA and Fannie Mae using a new, ground-breaking tool—the Manufactured Home Quality Rating Worksheet – which is consistent with the Marshall & Swift®—CoreLogic Residential Cost Handbook and the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD).View Course -
Pew Issue Brief | FHA Loan Programs Aren’t Reaching Black Manufactured Home Buyers
Americans have difficulty getting loans to buy manufactured homes: Denial rates for these loans are more than seven times higher than for those used to purchase comparable site-built (non-manufactured) homes. However, financing challenges are not the same for all buyers. Research shows that lenders deny manufactured home loans to Black applicants at significantly higher rates than they deny loans to White applicants, effectively keeping many Black buyers from one of the nation’s most affordable pathways to homeownership. This Pew Issue Brief explores this trend and recommends that policymakers looking to expand homeownership opportunities for Black households consider ways to increase the number of Black manufactured home buyers who apply for FHA mortgages—and decrease the number who apply for conventional loans. They recommend the FHA actively encourage major lenders to offer more federally insured loans and expand its outreach efforts in the Southeastern United States, where most Black manufactured home buyers live—and where few manufactured home lenders offer FHA financing.Read More -
Things to Know About Energy-Efficient Manufactured Homes
When it comes to housing options, manufactured homes have come a long way in recent years. Once stereotyped as less efficient and less environmentally friendly than site-built houses, manufactured housing has undergone significant advancements that not only enhance their quality and energy efficiency but also contribute positively to the environment. In this post, we'll explore some energy-efficient aspects of manufactured housing and why it should be considered a sustainable and cost-effective home solution.Increased Energy Efficiency Equals Increased Value
One of the most significant selling points of manufactured homes – and increasingly, all homes - is their potential for increased energy efficiency. Upgrading to a more energy-efficient home package can be a powerful investment, not only in terms of reducing your monthly utility bills but also increasing the overall value of your home. If you're considering purchasing a manufactured home, consult with a home sales representative about the options for improving energy efficiency. They can guide you on the various upgrades, including insulation, windows, and appliances, that can make your home more energy efficient. Moreover, inquire about rebates that might be available for upgrading to an ENERGY STAR®-rated home. Many utility companies and power cooperatives offer rebates to incentivize homebuyers to choose more energy-efficient housing options.Factory-Built ENERGY STAR-Certified Homes Save Money
Energy efficiency isn't just about being environmentally responsible; it can also save you a significant amount of money. Factory-built ENERGY STAR-certified homes are designed to consume less energy, resulting in substantial savings on your monthly utility bills. In fact, these homes can save you up to 30% on your energy costs compared to traditional homes. By reducing your carbon footprint and cutting down on utility expenses, you positively impact your wallet and contribute to a greener and more sustainable future.Reduced Waste, Less Environmental Impact
Manufactured homes have another eco-friendly advantage that many might not be aware of - the construction process generates significantly less waste than site-built housing. Traditional construction can result in enormous amounts of waste, with materials discarded in landfills, which has profound environmental implications. Landfills produce methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. By choosing a manufactured home, you are making a sustainable choice for your family and supporting environmentally responsible construction practices that help protect our planet.Manufactured Homes and Solar Panels: A Perfect Match
One of the most exciting developments in the world of manufactured housing is the compatibility with solar panels. In 2019, a partnership between Next Step, the City of San Bernardino, and the local nonprofit organization Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services, Inc. (NPHS) demonstrated the potential of ENERGY STAR®-rated manufactured homes outfitted with solar panels. The goal was to create net-zero energy homes, meaning these homes generate as much energy as they consume, often producing surplus energy that can be sold back to the grid. This not only results in reduced energy costs for homeowners but also a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of these households. These homes are a shining example of how manufactured housing can be at the forefront of sustainable and environmentally friendly living, showcasing the potential for solar power integration that can be a game-changer for energy conservation and cost savings. In conclusion, manufactured housing is different from what it used to be. These homes have evolved into energy-efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly alternatives to site-built. By investing in an ENERGY STAR®-rated manufactured home, you can enjoy substantial savings on your utility bills, reduce your environmental impact, and potentially even become a net-zero energy household with the addition of solar panels. So, if you're considering a new home, make sure to explore the possibilities of manufactured housing and take advantage of the energy-efficient and eco-friendly options available. Learn more about manufactured homes here or visit our Resource Library.