Polk County Housing Market Leads State in Manufactured, Affordable Properties
Looking for a moderately-priced Florida mortgage?
Look to the Polk County housing market, which continues to lead the state when it comes to the number of affordable, manufactured homes.
The county had 84,481 manufactured homes in 2006, nearly 27,000 more than Pinellas County, which ranked second with 57,527, according to figures from county tax collectors around the state.
“When you look at Polk County, it’s a great place to live,” said Jim Ayotte, executive director of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association.
While nearly impossible to get an accurate count of actual manufactured homes, the statistics from the tax collector’s office are a good indicator, Ayotte said. Not every homeowner buys an annual decal required in land-lease communities.
Polk County has 40,907 manufactured homes with valid registrations and 43,574 manufactured homes listed as real property.
“We are kind of in the geographic center of the state,” said Marvin Page, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty and Marvin’s Manufactured Home Sales.
“Back when manufactured homes were first gaining popularity, U.S. 301 and U.S. 41 were some of the main routes. That was around the Zephyrhills area. It’s spread out since then.”
There are three taxing mechanisms for manufactured homes in Florida. When the home and land are both owned by the homeowner, the home is considered real property - and the resident may then qualify for a $25,000 homestead exemption.
When the homeowner does not own the lot, the home must be registered as if it were a vehicle and an annual registration tax is charged.
Homes that do not have registration stickers are assessed as tangible personal property and thus are subject to property taxes annually.
Polk has about 400 mobile home parks, from lavish retirement communities to dilapidated homesteads. Many of the parks are restricted for residents aged 55 and older, and several feature private golf courses.
The parks include communities where residents own their homes but pay rent for land, and subdivisions where residents own their homes and land, but share a common set of rules. Typical manufactured homes in Polk County can range from $30,000 to more than $300,000 for luxury models.
The total number of manufactured homes for the state is about 1,007,294 homes, offering plenty of cheap options for the nation’s many seekers of low-priced Florida mortgages.
“It’s about 20 percent of the state’s population,” Ayotte said.
During the recent Florida housing market boom, the popularity of manufactured homes increased dramatically, he said.
“It’s an affordable housing option.”
“It gave an alternative form of housing to people that couldn’t afford the $200,000 and $300,000 [Florida mortgage loans],” Page said. “But now that market has slowed, too. It hasn’t totally stopped. But it is much slower. It’s not booming like it was before.”
And as manufactured homes become more popular, strict building and zoning codes are being enforced.
The homes are required to meet strict Housing and Urban Development (HUD) building standards that are as strict as site-built homes. Manufactured homes are built in factories and are inspected during each step of the building process, both by the factory and by HUD inspectors.
The newest federal codes require that every manufactured home must be able to withstand winds of 100 to 110 miles per hour, or the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane.
SOURCE: Lakeland Ledger
