1. Build Equity and Credit! 2. Open Concept Homes - New homes offer spacious, flowing floorplans and high ceilings that older houses don’t provide. 3. Smaller Homes - McMansions are expensive to heat, cool and maintain. The wide array of new manufactured homes make it easy to find the size just right for you. 4. Neutral Décor - Probably best for selling a home. However, as a new home buyer, don’t be afraid to display your true colors. 5. Modern Kitchens - The heart of every home. This is where new homes shine with the latest and greatest design, cabinets, countertops and lighting — to say nothing of state-of-the-art appliances. 6. Going Green – Hands down, new homes win here, too. The Home Energy Rating System (also known as a HERS Score) is an industry standard that rates the energy efficiency of homes. The lower the score, the more energy efficient the home. As the people behind HERS point out on their site, the U.S. Department of Energy has determined that a typical new home is 30 percent more energy efficient than a typical resale house. On the outside. Your ENERGY STAR certified Manufactured home may not look any different from other site-built or manufactured home, but you will feel the difference in your comfort, and see it in your bank account. An ENERGY STAR certified manufactured home uses substantially less energy for heating, cooling and water heating than a standard manufactured home. Homeowners can expect to save hundreds of dollars each year on utility bills. 7. Linen Closets & Smart Storage - New homes take the win in this category, too. Simply compare the much larger walk-in closets of today’s new homes with the cramped closest of old homes. 8. Energy-Efficient Fixtures & Appliances - Our new vs. resale home comparison is turning into a rout. Today’s new homes feature enormous energy efficiency in appliances, HVAC (heating, ventilation and cooling equipment) and throughout the house. As we saw, a typical new home of today is 30 percent more energy efficient than one built just five years ago. Compare a typical new home built today to a 10-20 year old home? Game over! “If you think of how they’re built in a factory, people are inspecting every home each step of the way. It’s all gotten down to a science: There’s no weather interfering with the process, like a site-built home, and no wasted materials. Every movement that goes into making them, and every inch of the home, is accounted for.” 9. Quality - There is a pathway to homeownership that many are beginning to discover that meets all the definitions and conditions of “everything a home should be – today’s modern quality built manufactured housing – confirmed to be equal, or superior, in every respect to site built homes and will have a cost of about 50% less, without sacrificing quality of construction, safety, energy efficiency, amenities and appearance. 10. Price - A new manufactured home will not only be one-half the price of a site-built, but also offers long term financing availability with a minimum 5% down payment requirement and monthly payments typically lower than rent.. In addition to pride of ownership and many other benefits, a new modern manufactured home can appreciate in value similar to a comparable new or existing site-built home thus creating wealth to the same extent as the traditional site-built. Buying for a great price and holding onto your home for a number of years is the key to building equity in any home. Thank you for taking a stroll with me down my first Top Ten blog about the many benefits of manufactured home ownership! Please contact me with any thoughts or questions! - Justin Large Trinity Homes of Abilene Texas