Modular home comparables

[G-man]

I recently completed an appraisal of a modular home. It was fairly complex, as it had an addition, making it of 3,000 Sq. Ft., was on a couple of acres, pond & outbuildings. Nothing I haven't run into before, but not your typical house on a acre or two. Any who, I state in the report the subject is a modular home, list the improvements, blah blah blah. Now the lender is requesting that I provide two modular home comps.
Now here is the problem. How would I go about verifying which, if any of my comps are modular homes. Unless I've walked through the home, I don't see a way to achieve this.
Two of my comps are very similar in design & style, 1.5 story cape cods and appear similar in overall construction quality. Fannie Mae considers modular housing the same as stick built, so I'm not sure why this client is requesting this. It's not like the house in a HUD manf. home.

 

[Jerry Bone Jr]

I'm not sure why this client is requesting this.

It's as if they want you to compare apples to apples.

 

[Rich Heyn]

At one point in time, Fannie issued an announcement that called for the appraiser to use at least two manufactured home comps when appraising a manufactured home. They went on to say that if appraising a modular home, at least two of the comps should be modular homes.

They later superseded the announcement with another that, while still calling for two manufactured comps for a manufactured subject, removed the two modular comp requirement if the subject was a modular.

Some underwriters never got the message. However, it may be a requirement of your lender/client.

Suggest you contact the lender and ask them if they are stipulating two modular comps because they think it's a Fannie requirement. If that's the case, you can attempt to educate them.

Assuming it's true, have you commented in the report that the subject is of a quality level that the market would consider it as equivalent to site-built?

 

[G-man]

Thanks for the replies, even with the snarky one.

Yes, Rich, I made the typical comments regarding marketability, similarity of homes, etc. One or two of my comps may indeed be modular homes, but there is almost no way to VERIFY that they are. So, I added additional commentary, dug up two more comps from outside the area that I searched initially that look very similar to my subject (1.5s cape COD style) and the Fannie Mae selling guide pages that reference modular homes, just for good measure.

P.S. Rich, how is the fishing up in Michigan? I'm off to Fletcher's Pond this weekend. Time for a mini-vacation.

 

[Rich Heyn]

It sounds like you did everything you could reasonably do. I think those Fannie May announcements took place in 2004, if you want to dig through Fannie archives.

Don't know about the fishing in Michigan. I'm spending most of my time if Florida now.

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

One or two of my comps may indeed be modular homes, but there is almost no way to VERIFY that they are. So, I added additional commentary, dug up two more comps from outside the area that I searched initially that look very similar to my subject (1.5s cape COD style) and the Fannie Mae selling guide pages that reference modular homes, just for good measure.

You could call the agents and ask them if the other comps were modulars.

 

[Otis Key]

You could call the agents and ask them if the other comps were modulars.

You must have better educated agents in your area than we do here. According to the local agents, all the manufactured homes are modular! They DON'T know the difference (or want to).

 

[RSW]

You must have better educated agents in your area than we do here. According to the local agents, all the manufactured homes are modular! They DON'T know the difference (or want to).

They must have taken the same RE classes our agents around here did!

 

[RSW]

You must have better educated agents in your area than we do here. According to the local agents, all the manufactured homes are modular! They DON'T know the difference (or want to).

They must have taken the same RE classes our agents around here did!

Sad thing is: We have a female Appraisal CE instructor here in East Tennessee that is telling appraisers that a manufactured home has either a green or red (I can't remember which one) tag on the exterior it is a modular on frame. m2:

 

[Kevin A. Spellman]

If your subject is improved by a modular home and is a two story home with four sections, ask the lender to close the loan with four checks instead of one. I think a closing with four checks is a similar scenario they are requesting, because four sections equal one house on one site as does four checks equal one mortgage on one closing table.

It is not the sale of a modular that makes the report credible, it is the author. I would ask if they are planning on denying the loan with the absence of a modular home sale, just so you can save time and the expense of saying there are no modular home sales.