Modulars have 2x10 floor joists whereas manufactured has a metal frame.

Modulars are not designed to be moved once they are set whereas manufactured can be moved if necessary.

The basic building codes are different for the two. Manufactured is built to HUD whereas modular is built to BOCA. Note: These are the MINIMUM standards. Both can and are built to state codes and many of those codes are stricter than the national codes. Also you can have a manufactured home built to BOCA codes if you wish.
Manufactured homes serve a great purpose in this country. They provide good housing to many people that otherwise would not be able to afford homes.

Design possibilities are greater with modular.
But modular housing costs more. The same as a site built home. But when complete, they ARE the same as a site built home.

I have yet to see any "fundamental disagreement among some posters as to whether modular homes are significantly different from manufactured homes." Everyone here, as far as I can see, knows there are differences.

What I see are lamentable attitudes among some few as to whether mobile homes should dare be discussed in the same forum as modular homes, as if some here are much to important to share the same conversation with those who live in less expensive mobile homes.

I've yet to see anyone here confused between the two though the alleged "confusion" is often cited by some "modular folk" as reason enough to be spared the indignity of associating with the "trailer folk."

By way of disclosure, I have made my living for the last 18 years in the modular industry and have at one time lived in a mobile home. I am happy to talk to all types of owners and share any of my accrued knowledge with anyone except those with "elitist" attitudes.

Wayne

Also, there are on-frame and off-frame modular homes.
On-frame modular homes are built in a factory on a permanent chassis, like a manufactured home is, and then transported to the site on tires and axles which are removed when the home is set-up.
Off-frame modular homes are not built on a permanent chassis, are usually flat-bed trucked to the site, and installed on a foundation with a crane.
Generally, lenders treat on-frame modular homes as manufactured homes, and off-frame modular homes as stick built homes. There are some exceptions to this rule, specifically, sometimes a lender will consider all modulars as stick built.
Hope this helps.
Rebecca

The lines between quality manufactured homes and modulars is quickly becoming blurry at best. None of these posts have listed 5 differences speaking specifically to the quality, durability or aesthetics. It's important to remember that the upper end manufactured homes have taken dramatic leaps in quality in recent years in part to compete with modulars. Many factories build both. I live in a newer manufactured home and the "metal frame" consists of 4 gigantic steel I-beams that support the 2x6 floor joists. This seems to differ from the 2x10 (no steel I-Beams?) construction of some modulars? Maybe an engineer could tell what is stronger? It might actually be that the manufactured homes need to be stronger to withstand the rigors of a road trip to the site, but I don't know. Our house has standard 2x6 walls, 40lb shingled roof, low-E windows, cement siding, tile entry, oak cabinets, we had them bump up the insulation in the ceiling (R40) & floors. Most people who come to visit ask if this is a "real" (meaning non-manufactured) house since it sits on a foundation and looks just like some of our site built neighbors. I am curious too as to what these differences are. Posters so far have mentioned few. The differences in trade groups does not address what specific differences in construction etc exist. The same is true of the HUD vs BOCA codes. It does not speak to the construction methods or quality of components used. If a factory (manufactured or modular) uses standard grade lumber and components and standard construction techniques it would seem that the resulting homes would be VERY similar in quality & durability. Indeed that is what I've seen at least in the 2 factories we visited. I do think christopherh is right by saying there are more design options available to modular. Manufactured homes are picking up speed in that direction too. We were able to make all sorts of changes that made our home a one of a kind custom home. The great thing about both modular and manfactured is that they benefit by the competition between the two groups and compete for the same buyers. Older mobile homes were indeed inferior in quality almost across the board to stick built. We have lived in 3 different M/Homes and the differences are dramatic, each better by leaps from the previous. What is sad to me is that many are trying to hang on to the notion that all manufactured homes are still being built like grandma's park model. Nothing could be further from the truth. For the open minded folk - please visit the factories and decide for yourselves. The 2 factories we visited (Guerdon & Nashua) were exact in their construction methods and components. We originally planned to get a modular from Guerdon but they said the house itself would be the same EXACT house only costing more because of the extra certifications needed to pass local codes. That cost alone would have been $8,000 more (I've heard that's gone up dramatically). Zoning is usually the kicker and the main reason people opt towards modular. They can be put anywhere a stick built can be placed. Again that does not say the house itself is any different, or even better. I'll be interested to see what others say here.

It is blurry. Could it be due to location? I live in AZ. We inquired about a modular instead of manuf. We have a manufactured home now. This particular dealer did do modulars to the UBC code and it was what you call off frame. That is all they carried. Now if I pull up what I would call a true modular, complete w/a crane set, this is an entirely different home than what Arizona will offer.

An appraiser (this is AZ mind you) mentioned that you need to be careful buying modular here in this state. You can spend a huge quantity of money and end up getting an appraisal for an "off-frame" modular the same as a manuf. It would have been a complete waste of money. So we didn't go modular. Whether he is right, with all the info he gave us, and this is what I remembered, is up in the air. However it seems to make sense. I would spend money on a "true-modular". I think different locations will call a true modular something different.

So this "could" be where there are differences in opinion of modular...due to location of what is offered.

Arizona's what they called "off-frame" didn't not use a crane to set the home. Basically it was a home made to the UBC code instead of HUD, but set on the property just as if it were a manuf home, so the appraisal's were iffy.

Sounded confusing after I wrote it.