Manufactured Homes on the Upswing

The market for manufactured homes is becoming more profitable as shipments increase, more upscale designs and finishes emerge, and traditional single-family home prices rise. 

Salesman for Rona Homes in Pataskala, Ohio, Scott Richards says that high-end customization options like rainforest showers and built-in entertainment systems help convince potential buyers that any stigma related to manufactured homes being a tacky option are a thing of the past, "We've got linoleum floors that look just like hardwood floors ... You don't think about solid granite being in a manufactured home, but we have that as well." National Mortgage News reports that shipments of manufactured homes have grown nearly every year since 2009, per Census data, and are expected to surpass the 100,000 unit level for the first time in more than 10 years. 

While others walked away from manufactured homes, CEO Don Glisson Jr. stuck around. He's seen the industry's ups and downs in his 36 years working at Triad Financial Services, the third-biggest lender to buyers of factory-made houses in the U.S. The rock-bottom was in the early 2000s, when rival firms were getting fat on subprime loans. "I knew that would lead to disaster," said Glisson. When sales of the homes plummeted and his competitors fled, Glisson booked profits by keeping his focus on borrowers with high credit scores. His discipline paid off: He once was satisfied if his company made $1 million in loans in a month. Now it does that amount in half a day.

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