Dealer
Also called: retailer, manufactured home dealer
A licensed business that sells manufactured homes, usually new, and typically arranges delivery and setup.
A manufactured-home dealer sells homes, most often new homes from one or more manufacturers, sometimes pre-owned as well, and generally coordinates the whole delivery-to-habitable process: ordering, transport, setup, and utility connection.
Dealers are not the same as real-estate agents. A dealer usually represents the manufacturer's product and earns on the sale of the home; an agent represents a buyer or seller in a transaction. Both are legitimate, and knowing which you are talking to tells you whose interest they carry.
When comparing dealer quotes, insist that setup, transport, foundation, skirting, anchoring, steps, and utility connection are itemized. The gap between a home's advertised price and its installed cost is large, and it is where quotes stop being comparable.
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Find a dealerSee also
- Setup, The process of siting a manufactured home: foundation, leveling, joining sections, anchoring, and utility connections.
- Transport, Moving a manufactured home over the road, typically requiring permits, escorts, and a licensed transporter.
- Manufactured home, A home built entirely in a factory to the federal HUD Code, transported to its site on a permanent steel chassis.