If you are in the process of buying or selling a manufactured home needs to invest in a manufactured home inspection. We guarantee that as a buyer, you will get the most benefit from an inspection, and they can be just as beneficial to a seller.

Buying a mobile home is a tedious process, especially if you are doing it privately, meaning there aren’t any dealers or banks involved.

After you’ve ensured the seller has the correct title and there are no holds or liens on it you’ll want to hire us as your inspection experts for the mobile home inspection.

In this article, we are going to cover the basics of a manufactured home inspection. Why you need one, what you can expect to learn from an inspection, why you should contract us for your knowledgeable manufactured home inspection, and what you can expect to pay for our service.

Why Do I Need an Inspection? 

To put it bluntly, you need to get an inspection on every home you intend to buy to protect yourself and your investment.

Manufactured homes are constructed differently than a site-built home. These differences can create unique issues that a typical homeowner wouldn’t know. For example, in some manufactured homes, the floors may hang out beyond the width of the home’s I-beams. If steel outriggers aren’t attached to the I-beams to support the weight of the extended floors, then the walls may separate from the roof. This separation is called crowning, and it is not easy to repair. You would not want to buy a home with this issue.

Our inspectors would find issues under the home such as this pier failure:
Fallen piers are not healthy for a manufactured home. They must be fixed as soon as possible.

Home inspections protect all parties.

If you are buying a home, an inspection is an investment that can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. In addition to saving money, hiring an inspector can save you a lot of time and headache in the future. Our inspectors have tools such as moisture readers that can give you information not available with the naked eye. These tools, combined with our licensed inspector’s knowledge, are invaluable to a home buyer.

If you are selling a home, hiring our inspectors to look over the home before you put it on the market can help you find and make repairs. Having these repairs done before a buyer enters the equation can help sell a home faster and possibly at a higher price.

A manufactured home inspection would see that the belly wrap was ripped and the insulation was loose. Belly wraps are vital to a healthy manufactured home.

Inspections also protect banks, real estate agents, and even insurance companies. In many situations, an inspection is needed before a bank or lending institution will provide a loan. Some states require all home sells to have an inspection and an appraisal done on the property before the sale is complete.

In short, an inspection should be considered an absolute necessity for all parties involved in buying or selling a mobile or manufactured home.

What Exactly is a Mobile Home Inspection?

A manufactured home inspection is a complete inspection of the home, from the roof to the ground. There are specific areas that are thoroughly inspected such as roofs, plumbing, electricity, heating and cooling, and flooring.

Our competent, licensed inspector for manufactured homes understands the unique issues of factory-built homes. This knowledge allows us to pinpoint current and future issues that may be unsafe, lower the value of the home, or be too expensive to repair.

In short a manufactured home inspector shared a list of the ten most important things in a manufactured home inspection:

• Proper marriage line alignment
• Overextended Jack heads
• Wood pads with cracks
• Squeaking floors, warped or bowing floors that could mean water damage
• Toilets with bad wax rings, loose flanges, or a wobble
• A moisture barrier, belly wrap is present and healthy with no tears
• Damage around water heaters and furnaces
• Pier Spacing
• Healthy outrigger with no visible sagging
• Sagging ceiling panels (caused by broken 1″x2″ or 2″x2″ rafters)

Manufactured Home Inspection Report Examples

When our inspector is finished you will receive a multi-page report filled with photos and details of any issue they have found during the inspection.  This makes for a more informed buying decision.

The report from your inspector will be thorough. Expect several pages and dozens of photos and videos with thermal camera pictures to see what our eyes cannot.

How to Schedule a Manufactured Home Inspection

Now that you understand how important a manufactured home inspection is, you will need to schedule us for a time to inspect the home.

State Requirements for Home Inspectors

The State of California does NOT license Home Inspectors
This means that anyone can call themselves an Inspector

DON’T BE FOOLED; Make sure your Home Inspector is QUALIFIED!!!! Please read this information along with the rest of this website before selecting anybody to inspect your property.

To protect yourself from fake home inspectors you will want to find out what the rules are in your state for home inspectors. Here is the resource that can help you determine the regulatory industry:

7195. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a) (1) “Home inspection” is a noninvasive, physical examination,
performed for a fee in connection with a transfer, as defined in
subdivision (e), of real property, of the mechanical, electrical, or
plumbing systems or the structural and essential components of a
residential dwelling of one to four units designed to identify
material defects in those systems, structures and components. “Home
inspection” includes any consultation regarding the property that is
represented to be a home inspection or any confusingly similar term.

(2) “Home inspection,” if requested by the client, may include an
inspection of energy efficiency . Energy efficiency items to be
inspected may include the following:
(A) A noninvasive inspection of insulation R-values in attics,
roofs, walls, floors, and ducts.
(B) The number of window glass panes and frame types.
(C) The heating and cooling equipment and water heating systems.
(D) The age and fuel type of major appliances.
(E) The exhaust and cooling fans.
(F) The type of thermostat and other systems.
(G) The general integrity and potential leakage areas of walls,
window areas, doors, and duct systems.
(H) The solar control efficiency of existing windows.
(b) A “material defect” is a condition that significantly affects
the value, desirability, habitability, or safety of the dwelling.
Style or aesthetics shall not be considered in determining whether a
system, structure, or component is defective.
(c) A “home inspection report” is a written report prepared for a
fee and issued after a home inspection. The report clearly describes
and identifies the inspected systems, structures, or components of
the dwelling, any material defects identified, and any
recommendations regarding the conditions observed or recommendations
for evaluation by appropriate persons.
(d) A “home inspector” is any individual who performs a home
inspection.
(e) “Transfer” is a transfer by sale, exchange, installment land
sales contract, as defined in Section 2985 of the Civil Code, lease
with an option to purchase, any other option to purchase, or ground
lease coupled with improvements, of real property or residential
stock cooperative, improved with or consisting of not less than one
nor more than four dwelling units.

7196. It is the duty of a home inspector who is not licensed as a
general contractor, structural pest control operator, or architect,
or registered as a professional engineer to conduct a home inspection
with the degree of care that a reasonably prudent home inspector
would exercise.

7196.1. (a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to allow
home inspectors who are not registered engineers to perform any
analysis of the systems, components, or structural integrity of a
dwelling that would constitute the practice of civil, electrical, or
mechanical engineering, or to exempt a home inspector from Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 5500), Chapter 7 (commencing with Section
6700), Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 7000), or Chapter 14
(commencing with Section 8500) of Division 3.
(b) This chapter does not apply to a registered engineer, licensed
land surveyor, or licensed architect acting pursuant to his or her
professional registration or license, nor does it affect the
obligations of a real estate licensee or transferor under Article 1.5
(commencing with Section 1102) of Chapter 2 of Title 4 of Part 3 of
Division 2 of, or Article 2 (commencing with Section 2079) of Chapter
3 of Title 6 of Part 4 of Division 3 of, the Civil Code.

 7197. (a) It is an unfair business practice for a home inspector, a
company that employs the inspector, or a company that is controlled
by a company that also has a financial interest in a company
employing a home inspector, to do any of the following:
(1) To perform or offer to perform, for an additional fee, any
repairs to a structure on which the inspector, or the inspector’s
company, has prepared a home inspection report in the past 12 months.

(2) Inspect for a fee any property in which the inspector, or the
inspector’s company, has any financial interest or any interest in
the transfer of the property.
(3) To offer or deliver any compensation, inducement, or reward to
the owner of the inspected property, the broker, or agent, for the
referral of any business to the inspector or the inspection company.

We are experienced, licensed, and knowledgeable inspectors. While passing an exam is important, actual hands-on experience with manufactured homes is even more important. Also, our inspectors respect and treat manufactured homes as single family residences.

Just a little respect never hurts…

Our price for a home inspection is around $350-$450.

We have a fee price of $350-$450 for manufactured home inspections up to 2500 square foot of conditioned space in the Southern California area.

Summary

Our detailed manufactured home inspections can save you thousands of dollars! Our trained manufactured home inspectors look for things such as roof leaks, pier damage, or moisture, and condensation issues that are not easy to spot. The bottom line is a manufactured home inspection is well worth the time and money.

Additional Resources:

The US Government’s Publishing Office has tons of great resources about manufactured home regulations and HUD code free to download here.