Bellingham and Whatcom County HUD Manufactured Home Inspections

Real estate deals, involving mobile or manufactured homes, have stringent inspection requirements when HUD financing is involved in the purchase. HUD calls for a permanent foundation inspection. This inspection must be performed by, or signed-off on, by a licensed professional engineer.  That is not, in most cases, a home inspector.

The photo is a view of the sub-structure crawl space of a manufactured home. 

The manufactured home in the photo would NOT meet the strict HUD guidelines for a number of reasons. The professional engineer would have the duty of inspecting the foundation at this manufactured home -- if HUD was involved. In most, non-HUD, deals the home inspector would do all of the inspection.

Normal HUD requirements also call for an inspection for wood destroying insects. This must be done by a licensed professional so, in Washington State, that is a licensed structural pest inspector -- usually not a professional engineer. This photo, from the King of the House collection,  is frass from carpenter ants who were chewing away in the attic of a manufactured home. The shavings were visible in a bathroom below.

 HUD requirements can be complicated for buyers, sellers and realtors. The fact that, almost always, two professionals are required to complete the inspection is cumbersome. There are timing concerns too. What if the engineer is called in first and the foundation fails the inspection? If that happens, then there is no need for an inspection for wood destroying insects. On the other hand, the same situation could occur in reverse. If the home passed the first HUD ordered inspection, but not the second, then that is an extra expense for the buyer. This is, at times, unavoidable. But, if the two professionals work together, communicating with one another,  then the problem of the client having to pay for two inspections -- when the first one disclosed major problems -- is at the least minimized.

In Whatcom County, King of the House Home Inspection, my firm, has entered into a cooperative agreement with an engineering firm.  Any realtor, lender or buyer can call me and I will  take care of all of the scheduling for your HUD inspection. There will be two separate contracts -- one for the inspector and one for the engineer -- but  the one telephone call gets the process underway.

Anyone who has questions about the home inspector's role in HUD financing of mobile or manufactured homes should give me a call.

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