Understand manufactured homes before you buy one.
This site is a free handbook written by a licensed Texas retailer. Five guides explain what a manufactured home is, how the federal HUD code works, what these homes really cost, how financing happens, and what the purchase looks like from first visit to move-in. No listings. No pressure. Just answers.
Every manufactured home built since June 15, 1976 must meet the federal HUD code — and carries a red metal certification label on each section to prove it.
New manufactured homes typically run $65 to $110 per square foot in Texas. Site-built homes in the San Antonio area often start around double that.
Texas retailers, brokers, and installers must hold a license from the TDHCA Manufactured Housing Division. You can look any license up online before you buy.
What is a manufactured home?
A manufactured home is a house built entirely in a factory to a single federal building standard — the HUD code — and then delivered to its site on a permanent steel chassis. It arrives in one, two, or three sections, gets set on a foundation, and is finished on site. Since June 15, 1976, every one of these homes has been inspected in the factory and sealed with a red certification label before it ships.
That factory process is what separates a manufactured home from a site-built house, and the HUD code is what separates it from the older "mobile homes" built before 1976. The words get mixed up constantly — by buyers, by sellers, and even by county tax offices. The difference matters, because it decides how a home can be financed, insured, titled, and moved.
Modern manufactured homes look very little like the trailers people picture. Today's doublewides come with island kitchens, 9-foot ceilings, and the same appliances you'd find in a subdivision house. What hasn't changed is the price gap: building in a factory, out of the weather and at scale, still costs far less per square foot than building on a lot.
If you're weighing one against a site-built house or a modular home, Part 1 of the handbook walks through all three types and how to tell them apart on paper.
Five guides, in reading order
Who writes these guides?
Texas Manufactured Home is published by Texas New Mobile Homes, a licensed manufactured home retailer (TDHCA license RBI 37928) at 16640 US-281 on the south side of San Antonio. We've sold new, used, and bank repo homes to families across South Texas since 2008 — which means we answer these exact questions in person, every week, from buyers in Palo Alto, Von Ormy, Somerset, Pleasanton, and everywhere in between.
Here's the honest arrangement: our sales lot has its own websites. This one carries no inventory and no prices for our homes. It exists because most people researching a manufactured home can't find straight answers written in plain language — the search results are either lender marketing or forum guesses. Every guide here cites its sources, shows its published date, and gets updated when HUD or Texas rules change. If it helps you buy from us someday, great. If it helps you buy somewhere else with your eyes open, that's a good outcome too.
You can read more about how we work on the about page, or ask us a question directly — a person answers, not a bot.
Common questions, answered fast
Are manufactured homes the same as mobile homes?
Legally, no. "Mobile home" refers to factory-built homes made before June 15, 1976. Homes built after that date meet the federal HUD code and are called manufactured homes. Most Texans still say "mobile home" for both — but lenders, insurers, and the state treat the two very differently. Part 1 covers the full difference.
How much does a manufactured home cost in Texas?
As a broad 2026 industry range: new singlewides typically run $75,000 to $130,000 and new doublewides $130,000 to $220,000, before land and site work. Used and repo homes can cost far less. Part 3 breaks down the full budget, including delivery, setup, and utilities.
Can I get a regular mortgage on a manufactured home?
Often, yes — if the home is titled as real property on land you own and sits on an approved foundation. Homes on leased land or titled as personal property use chattel loans instead, which close faster but carry higher rates. Part 4 explains both paths.
What does the red HUD label on a manufactured home mean?
It's the federal certification tag — a small red metal plate riveted to the outside of each section, proving the home passed factory inspection under the HUD code. A home missing its label can be hard to finance or insure until it's verified. Part 2 shows where to find it.
Who publishes this site?
Texas New Mobile Homes, a licensed Texas retailer (RBI 37928) in San Antonio, operating since 2008. The guides are educational — this site sells nothing directly. Call (210) 441-7040 or visit the contact page to reach a real person.
Reading is free. So is asking.
If a guide leaves you with a question about your own situation — your land, your credit, your county — call or text us. We answer buyer questions every day, whether or not you ever shop with us.