Manufactured Homes Offer Affordable Luxury in Florida

The active adult community of Palm Lake Co-operative supports new residents in purchasing their ideal manufactured home.

A brand new manufactured Skyline home was installed the end of June 2014 in the West Palm Beach 55+ adult community of Palm Lake Co-operative. The homeowners benefited from the incentive program that has been in place since the winter. The program, which is still active today, helps to match homeowners with their ideal home for the low price of $5,000.

Palm Lake Co-operative has partnered with Skyline in part because the business has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. They also proactively do a quality assessment of the buying experience with each home owner, and they provide a 15 month warranty on the home.

There are many advantages to purchasing a manufactured home. The first is that manufactured homes are 10 to 35 percent less per square foot than the cost for a site-built home. For residents of Palm Lake Co-operative, that means their retirement funds go further.

The second benefit is there is tremendous control over the building process. The biggest difference between a site-built home and a manufactured home is that manufactured homes are built in a factory and installed on the property. The factory can buy its materials and supplies in bulk. The assembly line promotes efficiency and accuracy. Strict federal regulations oversee quality control over the construction. The environment is controlled and not effected by weather or vandalism. Also, the process eliminates the difficulties that arise from unreliable contractors or subcontractors.

The third benefit is speed. Homeowners are responsible for providing the foundation and utilities prior to installation. Palm Lake Co-operative has resources available to assist the homeowner in preparing the lot for the home installation. Manufactured homes are built in about a third of the time it takes a single-family home to be built. When it arrives, it is nearly 90 percent complete. This speed does not mean quality goes out the door. The home is inspected both during construction at the factory and during and after installation on the property.

Design flexibility is the fourth benefit. Today’s manufactured homes are not our grandparent’s mobile home. These homes can be customized to fit the homeowner’s needs. They’ve been enhanced to look more like a site-built home and boast features that make them more energy efficient. All the amenities a homeowner might want from a site-built home can be added to a manufactured home. These amenities include things like 10 foot ceilings, granite countertops, hardwood floors, and so forth.

All of these benefits translate into an affordable home that can be customized to meet the homeowner’s definition of luxury. All that is needed is to place it in the ideal location.

Palm Lake Co-operative is a community that has embraced the benefits of the manufactured home without sacrificing class and luxury. The community almost feels like a resort with its three community clubhouses, pools, heated whirlpools, freshwater lake, nearby golf courses, and easy access to Florida beaches. Each homeowner owns a share of the community and has a say in how the community is run. Palm Lake Co-operative has collected resources to assist prospective new residents in the process of purchasing and installing their new manufactured home and will walk them through from start to finish. Other manufacturers are also available. For more information, please visit their website at www.palmlakecoop.com/55adultcommunity/contact-us/.