Manufactrured Housing & The Recovery Act

Buyers are urged to understand and remember that this is a tax credit. As defined under the new law this means you must repay the government either over the next 15 years, at no interest, or when you sell the home, if there were sufficient profit from the sale. For most taxpayers the payback will be about $500 per year when you file your federal tax.


While this is not really a credit, but in reality a loan, it is interest free. In some instances the loan may be fully or partially forgiven or offset by other circumstances. This has a lot of potential home buyers discouraged as the tax credit looks a lot like one more instance of government doublespeak.

The tax credit is a great idea and will be a huge help for both buyers and sellers.
We are still in a "buyers market". Home buyers can negotiating great prices and all types of extra incentives from sellers who have been struggling to make a sale. For sellers this plan could make some big changes in the market bringing buyers off the fence and clearing the overstock of homes for sale and starting the move back toward a healthy market.

Any community that fails to include manufactured housing in its growth plans is going to be making a huge mistake. The housing market seems to have hit bottom yet the buyers market is still strong. As the surplus of homes is put into service and demand starts to recover we will see manufactured housing become a significant alternative for a big segment of the working population.

We are at a strange juncture in any economic cycle. The most sought after job candidate across the country is perhaps registered nurses... yet nurses that have been on the job for a few years cant afford a mortgage today.

The same is true of our police and fire responders, teachers and many other traditional jobs that at this time wont permit participation in the American dream.

Manufactured housing will be the answer. I'm betting along with Warren Buffett and investing in manufactured housing as the solution of the near and extended future. Manufactured housing has matured greatly over the past several years into a very reliable and economical alternative to conventional building. Factory built housing makes a lot of sense. If you were going to buy a new car would you purchase all the parts and get some guys to build it in your driveway? The same scale of economy and benefit of assembly line production can be found in today's modern factory build homes.

There is a great video on line with Architect Sarah Susanka describing manufactured or prefab housing and why manufactured housing is built in a controlled environment by craftspeople may be of higher quality than a home built on site. at http://mfdhousing.com/portal/stories.php3?nid=6587