News & Notes Archive - May 2005
Results of opinion survey reveal the depths of problems facing MH industry. The good news: manufactured homes really are the best-kept secret in American housing.
Last fall a number of MH industry stake holders, determined to find better ways to get the message out to the American home buyer that maufactured homes are a very attractive option (which they are) poneyed up $250,000 to hire Roper Associates, the well-known research firm to poll the public’s perception of MH. The Roper folks interviewed 700 people who had purchased a manufactured home in the past three years, another 600 who had bought comparable site-built homes, and another 1,000 members of the general public.
Now the results have been revealed. To absolutely no one’s surprise, except some old-line industry die-hards frozen in denial, Mr. Roper reported what many observers, including readers of my book, already know (and what the industry should have known):
A. Manufactured homes in general are well-built, attractive, and offer a terrific price advantage over site-built homes on a cost per square foot comparison.
B. The MH industry comes up way short on literally everything else: its sales methods, financing, installation, warranty service, customer satisfaction—and public perception.
Consider this finding: Of the 700 owners who had recently purchased a new MH, a whopping 39% said they had experienced “a major problem” with their home during the warranty period. That percentage is about 10 times what is considered acceptable for most other industries that track customer satisfaction. It doesn’t matter what the problem was. If they thought it was major, it was major. It’s hard to imagine any product with that kind of track record not being recalled, let alone surviving as a viable consumer offering.
As bad as that statistic is, it gets worse: Of the 39% who reported major problems, only 22% reported their problem was corrected to their satisfaction. Which is to say, 78% reported their major problem was never corrected. I did the math and that means, out of 700 owners polled, 213, or just over 30%, fell into the never-fixed category. That’s close to one out of every three new MH owners. When Roper disclosed this tidbit before a hushed audience of MH industry big wigs, he characterized the finding as “catastrophic.” Considering he was addressing the folks who had paid him so well, he was most assuredly being diplomatic.
What the Roper survey results mean for today’s MH shopper is, if you’re informed, well-researched, careful, and swindle-proof, you can find and purchase the home of your dreams. There are good trustworthy dealers out there, waiting to be discovered. It is a strange irony, that the MH industry, in creating its tainted public image, is much to blame for keeping secret the high quality and advantages of manufactured homes.