Think about this for a second…
Imagine you’re scrolling through Zillow, looking for that perfect new home.
You’ve got the price range selected, your neighborhood picked out, and the perfect combo of bedrooms and amenities.With those filters selected, a handful of homes pop up. The home at the top of the list has a great kitchen, a luxurious ensuite bath, plenty of bedrooms, open concept layout, etc. It’s got all the good stuff.
But…
There’s no photo of the outside.
When you see that home, what do you think? Do you think: “I’m sure the exterior looks great, they just didn’t show it because they are fired up about this kitchen.” Or do you think: “What is so wrong with the outside that I don’t get to see it?”
If you’re like most home buyers, you’re likely thinking the latter. And the same applies to manufactured home buyers. Every bit of testing and data we’ve collected points to customers always wanting to see the exterior photo of a home first, followed by the interior.
Look at the screenshot below from a national manufacturer’s site. These are the homes available near me, right now. They’ve got great looking kitchen and some nice decor.
But where are the pictures of what they’re actually selling? Are they selling kitchens, or homes?
Here’s a closer shot of that house on the top left, the ‘New Moon 3252A’. The kitchen looks great, right? No problem there. However, if I showed this image to someone on the street, someone completely unfamiliar with our industry, and I said “Do you want to buy this?”, would they know what I’m selling? Would they know it’s a house? Or would they think I’m selling appliances, kitchen remodeling, LVP flooring, or maybe furniture?
Does the image below really portray a house?
Now look at the photo below. This is the same house, from the same website above, except it’s the exterior photo. If I showed this to a random person on the street, would they know what I’m selling? I’m guessing they would, because it is clearly a house.
I do realize that not everyone is going to have access or the capacity to get photos of ‘move in’ ready homes like the one above (this one has also had some computer “touch ups”). However, ANY exterior photo is better than NO exterior photo. Even if the home is still sitting on the lot, completely unfinished. Buyers want to see what they’re buying, even if it isn’t in perfect condition.
The largest opportunity for the factory built housing industry lies in drawing in new buyers who would have previously purchased a site built home, but who are now all but priced out of that market. Just look at that chart above. Home prices have increased by nearly 200% in the past 25 years, while the median household income has only increased by 40%. Buyers need a more affordable, better option for their new home.
To attract those buyers, most of whom are completely unfamiliar with factory built housing, you need a similar shopping experience to what they are familiar with. You need to present your homes in a similar manner to what they’re used to (like on Zillow, Redfin, etc), and that means including, and leading with, an exterior photo of every home.