Manufactured & Mobile Home Inspection in Metro Detroit
A manufactured home is a real house with a different foundation, a different set of documents, and a different list of things that fail. I inspect it as its own thing, not as a small stick-built house.
15% off for active and retired military, first responders, nurses, and teachers. Any inspection — just mention it when you book.
Home › Manufactured Home Inspection
What It Is
What a manufactured home inspection covers.
Manufactured homes built after June 15, 1976 are built to the federal HUD Code, not the local residential code, and they carry two identifying documents I look for first: the HUD certification label (the red metal tag on the exterior of each section) and the data plate inside, usually in a kitchen cabinet, a bedroom closet, or near the electrical panel. Those tell me the manufacturer, the date, the wind and thermal zones the home was built for, and whether the home is what the listing says it is. Homes without them, or homes built before 1976, are a different conversation, and I will have it with you plainly.
Underneath is where manufactured homes are won or lost. I get under the home and inspect the piers and footings, the frame and outriggers, the tie-downs and anchors, the bottom board (the belly wrap that keeps moisture and animals out of the floor insulation), the crossover duct on multi-section homes, and the plumbing and drain lines that run exposed under the floor. Skirting and its ventilation matter more than people think: poor venting under a manufactured home means a wet crawl space, a sagging belly, and soft floors.
On multi-section homes the marriage line, where the sections were joined on site, is its own inspection: the ridge and roof seam, the floor seam, the alignment of doors and windows across it, and any gap or movement that says the sections have settled differently. Then the house itself: the roof (metal or shingle), the exterior, the electrical panel and wiring, the plumbing (polybutylene was common in 1980s and 1990s manufactured homes and it is on my list), the furnace and water heater closets and their venting and combustion air, windows, doors, egress, smoke and CO alarms, and every appliance.
You get the same photo-documented Spectora report within 24 hours that every PreFlight client gets. Inspections start at $325, and a radon test can be added the same way as any other home; radon is a soil issue, and a skirted manufactured home on a slab or piers is not exempt.
Scope
What I check on a manufactured home
Local Notes
Manufactured homes in Macomb and Oakland counties.
Manufactured housing is a bigger part of this market than most buyers realize. Shelby Township alone lists more than 1,500 manufactured homes on its own township figures, Washington Township has a Sun Communities park along Van Dyke, and there are established communities in Macomb Township, Chesterfield, Auburn Hills, and Orion Township. They are also some of the last homes in the area an entry-level buyer can get into, which is exactly why the inspection matters: the margin for a surprise is thinner.
What I find most often here: skirting vents blocked or missing, leading to a damp crawl space and a deteriorated belly; piers that have tilted or settled after thirty Michigan freeze-thaw cycles; tie-down straps rusted through or never tensioned; crossover ducts crushed or disconnected under multi-section homes, which is why one half of the house is always cold; water heater closets with no combustion air; original polybutylene supply lines; and roofs that have been coated over instead of repaired. None of that is a reason not to buy. All of it is a reason to know before you do.
Two things I do not do, and will tell you where to get: an engineer's foundation certification, which FHA and VA lenders often require on a manufactured home and which must come from a licensed professional engineer; and a wood-destroying-insect inspection, which comes from a licensed pest specialist and which VA loans typically require. Book those alongside the home inspection so the reports land together.
Process & Pricing
How it works and what it costs.
1. Book
Online or by phone. Tell me the community or address, the year, and whether it's single- or multi-section so I bring the right gear and quote it right.
2. Access underneath
I need a way under the home: a skirting access panel or a removable section. If there isn't one, I'll tell you the options before the visit.
3. Inspection day
Two to three hours. Documents first, underneath second, then the whole house, top to bottom, with photos of everything.
4. Report in 24 hours
Photo-documented Spectora report organized by priority, with the data plate and HUD label information recorded.
5. Lender items
If your lender needs an engineer's foundation letter or a WDO report, the inspection report gives them a head start and I'll point you to who provides each.
Manufactured and mobile home inspections start at $325 for a single- or double-section home; larger multi-section homes scale up modestly, and you get a firm price before anything is scheduled. Add a radon test ($175) or a sewer scope ($199) on homes with a private lateral. Active and retired military, first responders, nurses, and teachers get a permanent 15% Heroes Discount.
One honest note: InterNACHI® Buy-Back Guarantee and Inspection Warranty eligibility depends on the program's property terms; ask me before you count on either for a manufactured home.
Questions
Manufactured home inspection questions.
What's the difference between a manufactured home, a mobile home, and a modular home?
A mobile home was built before June 15, 1976, when the federal HUD Code took effect. A manufactured home was built after that date to the HUD Code and carries a HUD certification label. A modular home is built in a factory to the same state and local residential code as a stick-built house and is set on a permanent foundation; I inspect a modular home like any other house. The label and data plate tell me which one I am standing in.
Where is the HUD data plate and why does it matter?
Usually inside a kitchen cabinet door, a bedroom closet, or near the electrical panel. It lists the manufacturer, serial numbers, date of manufacture, and the wind, snow, and thermal zones the home was built for. Lenders, insurers, and appraisers ask for it, and a home that is missing it, or that was built for a milder climate zone than Michigan, is something you want to know before you write an offer.
Do you inspect the foundation and tie-downs?
Yes, that is the heart of the inspection. I get under the home and inspect the piers, footings, frame, tie-down straps and anchors, the bottom board, and the crossover duct. What I do not provide is the engineer's foundation certification that FHA and VA loans often require on a manufactured home; that has to come from a licensed professional engineer, and I will tell you if what I see under the home is likely to be a problem for that letter.
Does the home need a sewer scope or a radon test?
Radon, yes: it comes from the soil and a skirted home on piers or a slab is not exempt. Sewer scope depends on the setup. In a land-lease community the home usually connects to the park's system through a short private line and a scope is optional; on a private lot with its own lateral to the street or a septic tank, treat it like any other house.
Can you inspect a home in a land-lease community?
Yes. I inspect the home, not the park. Give the community office notice, because some require it for outside inspectors, and ask them for the lot's utility hookup information and any rules about skirting access.
What if the home was built before 1976?
I can still inspect it, and I will tell you up front that a pre-HUD mobile home has no HUD label, was not built to the federal standard, and is harder to finance and insure. The inspection then focuses on the practical question: what condition is it in today, and what will it cost to keep it safe and dry.
Service Area
Available across Southeast Michigan
Schedule your inspection.
Most requests answered same day.
Or send the details and I’ll quote it.