When Richard and Judy Parker decided to sell their farm in LaFollette, TN, to move closer to their kids and grandkids in New Tazewell, TN, they were searching for a site-built home.
They wanted a home they could make memories in with their grandkids, and one they could pass down for generations. After about eight months of searching for a home online, they found and instantly fell in love with the Keeneland. It was a CrossMod® home model from Clayton that had already been built and placed on land in a neighborhood.
The benefits of a CrossMod® home
When they first came across the Keeneland, Richard and Judy didn’t know it was a CrossMod® home. Their daughter and son-in-law told them it was a CrossMod® when they toured it in person. A CrossMod® home is a type of manufactured home that’s built off-site, then permanently placed on permanent foundation at the home site. Other features of CrossMod® homes include:
Covered porch
Garage or carport
Enhanced cabinets
Drywall interiors
Energy efficient standards and features
Elevated roof pitch
A CrossMod® home also has the ability to appraise similarly to a traditional site-built home and the financing options can have a number of advantages over loans secured by standard manufactured housing. This means it combines many of the benefits of both off-site and site-built homes.
The Parkers have owned both manufactured and site-built homes in the past. They wanted this home purchase to be their retirement home, so they were initially looking for a site-built home that would hold its value. Once they toured the Keeneland, they realized they could have the best of both worlds: An affordable home with the possibility of appreciation in the future.
Because CrossMod® homes can be compared to site-built home sales when an appraisal is performed, their home value can perform more like traditional site-built homes.
The features they wanted at an affordable price
The quality of the interior features and the amenities caught the Parkers' attention. From the attached garage to the wood cabinets, the Keeneland defies a common misconception that offsite-built homes are built using low quality materials
"We saw there is an [attached] garage, it’s on [a] foundation, the flooring is beautiful, the walls are thick, the cabinets are real wood, not particle board, and it has a full water heater like a traditional home," said Judy. "You would have to pay so much more for a site-built house with this quality."
“[Our] daughter said it is exactly what you're looking for and you deserve a house like this," said Judy. "She didn’t want something that we would have to repair. A lot of the site-built homes on the market need repairs. To get a new house that you don’t have to repair saves a lot of money."
Once Richard and Judy moved in, they realized just how perfect the home was for their grandkids' visits and to keep in the family for years to come.
"My favorite parts of the home are the kitchen, garage and bathroom," said Judy. "The large island in the middle of the kitchen is modern and accommodating when cooking for the family, and the bathroom has plenty of storage with high-quality cabinets."
A home that will stay in the family
With three bedrooms, two baths and 1,767 sq. ft. of space, the house has plenty of room for their grandkids to stay. They love making memories with their family in the home, but they also had the future in mind in choosing it.
"This is a college town, so my daughter said when her children start college, they’re going to stay in this home," said Judy. "They like the location, they like being here. They’re going to keep it and my grandchildren will grow into it."
"We’ve bought a lot of houses through the years, and we looked for what’s going to hold its value," said Judy. "We want to see our investment and our children’s investment out of it."
CrossMod® is a registered trademark of the Manufactured Housing Institute.
