If you invest in mobile home parks, you'll value individual homes constantly — pricing park-owned homes in an acquisition, buying used homes for infill, negotiating tenant buyouts, deciding whether a 1994 singlewide is an asset or a removal expense. And here's the thing most new park investors learn the expensive way: a mobile home has three different values depending on who's holding it, and broker pro formas love to quote the biggest one.
This guide gives you all three, the depreciation math behind them, and the fast ways to check any home's value in the real world. Ten minutes here will pay for itself on your first POH negotiation.
The Three Values (Memorize These)
Retail value is what an end buyer pays for the home set up in a park — the number our Mobile Home Value Calculator estimates. Wholesale / investor value is what park owners actually pay when buying homes: typically 50-70% of retail, because the investor carries transport and setup (commonly $5,000-$15,000 for a used home), repairs, lot rent during vacancy, and the work of reselling. Underwriting value is what homes are worth inside a park acquisition: at most wholesale, often less — because lenders and sophisticated buyers pay for lot rent streams, not depreciating boxes.
The negotiation insight hiding in that list: when a park listing capitalizes park-owned home income at the park's cap rate, it's pricing depreciating vehicles like appreciating real estate. Re-run the numbers with homes at wholesale value and lot rent at the cap rate — our MHP Valuation Calculator is built exactly for that — and you'll usually find the honest price sits meaningfully below the ask. That gap is your negotiation, handed to you by arithmetic.
How Mobile Home Depreciation Actually Works
A manufactured home depreciates like a vehicle with a slower clock. The pattern that shows up across industry pricing guides and real transactions, as of mid-2026:
- Years 0-2: the steep drop — typically 10-20% off the new price
- Years 3-20: roughly 3-5% per year
- Years 20+: the curve flattens; a functional, maintained home holds a floor value because it still does its job — housing someone affordably on a rented lot
Two forces bend that curve. Condition moves value roughly ±15% for excellent/fair and -30% for poor — which means a $6,000 renovation on a tired doublewide can add more than it costs, one of the few times you can fight depreciation and win. Setting moves it even more: a home on owned land or a permanent foundation holds value 25-30% better than the same home on a rented lot, and the land underneath appreciates on its own schedule.
A Worked Example (the "1997 Doublewide" Question)
Take a 1,500 sq ft 1997 doublewide in good condition on a rented lot — the exact kind of home you'll meet in POH portfolios. Replacement cost at ~$82/sq ft ≈ $123,000 new. Apply 29 years of the depreciation curve (down to roughly 27% of new) and you land near $33,000 retail — realistically a $27,000-$40,000 range depending on region and park quality. Your buy target as an investor: $17,000-$23,000. Run your own version in the calculator — every input is adjustable, and the value-by-condition table shows the whole picture at once.
Fast Ways to Verify Value in the Real World
An estimate opens the conversation; verification closes it. Four checks, cheapest first:
- Comparable sales in similar parks. MHVillage listings and local dealers show asking prices; park managers know actual closed prices. An afternoon of calls builds a real comp set.
- The serial number lookup. Every HUD-code home (1976+) has a data plate — usually inside a kitchen cabinet, closet, or near the electrical panel — with the serial number and specs. The industry's paid reference, the J.D. Power (formerly NADA) Manufactured Housing report, values homes from that serial number; park lenders and insurers use it, and it's worth the fee when real money is at stake.
- Your own transport-and-setup quote. For infill math, the delivered cost is the value question: a $15,000 home that costs $12,000 to move and set is a $27,000 home. Get local mover quotes before trusting any infill pro forma — including your own.
- The scrap floor. A home beyond saving is worth its salvage minus removal — and removal ($3,000-$6,000+ typical) usually eats the salvage. Practical translation: a dilapidated POH isn't a $5,000 asset on the rent roll; it's roughly a $0-to-negative line item, and your acquisition price should say so.
What This Means for Park Deals
- Infill is a value machine when bought right. A used home at wholesale + transport + setup, sold on payments or rented, converts an empty lot into $300-$500/month of lot rent — and lot rent is what the park's value is built on.
- POH-heavy parks deserve two valuations: the dirt (lot rent ÷ cap rate) and the home fleet (wholesale, honestly depreciated). Add them; don't blend them. Sellers blend; buyers separate.
- Age limits matter at exit. Some parks and some lenders restrict homes older than a certain vintage; a fleet of pre-1990 homes can quietly cap your future buyer pool. Note home ages during due diligence — it's a five-minute column in your rent roll review.
Type, size, year, condition, setting — get the retail range and the investor buy target side by side, plus a value-by-condition table for negotiations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a mobile home depreciate each year?
Roughly 3-5% per year after an initial 10-20% drop in the first year or two, with the curve flattening after year 20. Homes on owned land or permanent foundations buck the trend — they hold value 25-30% better, and the land itself can appreciate enough to offset the home's decline entirely.
How do I find the value of my mobile home by serial number?
Locate the HUD data plate (inside a kitchen cabinet, bedroom closet, or near the electrical panel on homes built since 1976), then use the serial number with the J.D. Power (formerly NADA) Manufactured Housing value report — the paid reference lenders and insurers rely on. For a free starting estimate, a depreciation-based tool like our calculator gets you in the neighborhood first — and it's the same reference lenders lean on when underwriting a POH fleet.
What is a 1990s mobile home worth today?
A functional 1990s doublewide in good condition on a rented lot commonly trades around $20,000-$45,000 as of mid-2026 — singlewides less — varying widely with region and park quality. For investors, that retail figure is the ceiling — your infill buy target sits at 50-70% of it.
How much do you get for scrapping a mobile home?
Usually little or nothing net: salvage value (frame steel, aluminum) rarely exceeds a few hundred to ~$1,000-$2,000, while professional demolition and removal typically costs $3,000-$6,000+. For park investors, that's the point — a beyond-repair POH is a removal liability, and your purchase price should treat it as one.
Why do park owners pay only 50-70% of retail for homes?
Because the discount funds everything retail buyers never see: transport and setup ($5,000-$15,000 for used homes), repairs, lot rent on the vacant lot while the home sells, and the sales effort itself. It's not lowballing — it's the margin that makes infill programs and community stability economically possible.
Value ranges and cost figures are indicative U.S. estimates as of mid-2026 and vary substantially by region, park, and home. Verify against local comparable sales and professional reports before transacting. Educational content, not investment advice.