The reality TV show “Duck Dynasty” about the backwoods family who started a lucrative duck call business and has now hooked up with Clayton Homes perpetuates the stereotype of people who live in manufactured homes (MH) as “rednecks,” an image the industry is trying to dispel. Kirk Walker of The Home Place, an MH dealer in Pinson, Ala., says, “I have family members that think I’m in the trailer business. And of course they’ve been in and looked and can’t imagine that this is what a manufactured home has come to.” He says while sales have been slow, the new homes are much more energy efficient than the old homes, and a new MH costs about half as much as a traditional home. While business in 2012 increased 20-25 percent over 2010, Sherry Norris, Executive Director of the Alabama Manufactured Housing Association (AMHA), says federal restrictions on loans for MH are still too tight. “We haven’t been able to sell the homes we would like because of the strenuous regulations that have been put on financing,” she says. According to marketplace.org, many people are still lured away by foreclosed homes that may be less expensive, but many of them need a lot of work. MHProNews knows Alabama has many manufactured housing producers throughout the state.
