The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your Manufactured Home Appraised

As you get ready to sell your manufactured home, or are even thinking about selling in the future, you may hear friends, family, or trusted selling partners talk about a mobile home appraisal. 

If you weren’t planning on having your home appraised you may want to reconsider. Appraisals are a crucial part of the home selling process, particularly during this time when home values are changing rapidly.

Often called a manufactured home appraisal or valuation, this step in the selling process gives you an accurate, market-based value. An appraiser will visit your mobile home and determine what it’s worth in the current market. 

The appraised value of your mobile home is dependent on a number of factors, including but not limited to: 

An appraiser will provide you with a report of their findings, which may include photos of the outside and/or inside of your home. Each of these factors will play a role in the final appraised value of your mobile home. 

The appraisal lets you know exactly what your home is worth. It gives you peace of mind when setting your listing price so that you know you are not pricing yourself out of the market, nor are you leaving money on the table by pricing your home too low. 

An appraisal is an “expert” valuation that provides credibility to the asking price for your home. If a buyer tries to haggle with you on cost, you can point to the appraisal report as a resource that shows how you decided on your selling price. 

However, keep in mind that your mobile home’s appraised value does not necessarily have to match your asking price. For example, if you’re eager to sell your home as fast as possible, you may consider listing your home for slightly below the appraised value. 

Before, during, and after your manufactured home appraisal, there are some considerations that you should keep in mind. 

For starters, an appraisal can be a good starting point for making updates to your mobile home that increase its value. For example, if you have your mobile home’s siding replaced before it’s time to sell, or replace a number of appliances like your hot water heater, those can have a positive impact on the value of your home if you decide to have an appraisal re-done. 

You should also think about the market you’ll sell your home in. One of the many things an appraisal can take into account is the value of comparable homes that have sold in your market. Chances are, your home will be appraised similarly to a home that’s much like yours in the same market. If you’re planning on selling your home for higher than similar homes in your area, have a list of recent upgrades, improvements, or repairs ready to provide to a potential buyer. This will help support your asking price. 

Thirdly, as you’re looking at appraisals for your mobile home, you’ll often come across something called a “book value report.” Book values, or replacement cost values, are typically calculated using a guide book which provides the user with a home value based on the make, model, year, and size of the manufactured home. 

These values are often quite different from the true fair market value of your home. A book value has a difficult time taking into account your local market, or the impact that supply and demand may be having in your community. If you are in an excellent community with nice amenities your home may very well sell for above average.  If you have spent a lot of time and money improving your home, the book value has a hard time taking that into consideration. But, if you are looking for just a rough average estimate of what your home might be worth, then you may consider a Book Value as a viable option.

There’s another very important point that you should know. An appraisal report is meant to provide you with a fair market value of your home. The appraisal report is not meant to be a structural inspection of your home. The appraisal process does not include a detailed look at the roof, underbelly insulation, plumbing systems, electrical systems, or HVAC systems. If you are looking to get additional information regarding the structural integrity of your home, you would need to contact a home inspection company.

Finally, you’ll want to make sure that you know what’s included with your mobile home appraisal package when you order one. For example, not all appraisals will involve taking photos of the inside of your home, and some may provide a lengthier report than others. Do some research to ensure that your appraisal service offers you exactly what you need for your home. 

This last point is especially important if you’re appraising a pre-owned mobile home – which, if you’re a mobile home owner reading this blog, applies to you. Many appraisal services only work with brand new homes for professionals. So, you’ll want to make sure that any given appraisal service offers appraisal products to homeowners specifically. 

That being said, there’s one question left to answer…how do you find an appraisal service that operates in your market, AND offers the most comprehensive report around? 

With Datacomp’s market-based appraisal services, you can rest assured knowing that you have access to one of the most extensive and comprehensive appraisal networks in the country. Datacomp covers the entire country, meaning that an appraisal for your mobile home from Datacomp is just a few clicks away when you visit datacompusa.com.