From Rainshadow Publications, the two most comprehensive, trusted and authoritative guides to manufactured homes, written by veteran journalist and author John Grissim
For 2008—now in its third printing!
The Grissim Ratings Guide to Manufactured Homes
The essential buyer’s resource, listing every builder in the U.S., their histories, products, price ranges, construction ratings, need-to-know information and much more
At last, the first consumer ratings guide to every manufactured home builder ever published. This eagerly awaited book, certain to become a standard reference, provides at-a-glance listings with key information home shoppers need to make an informed buying decision.
- All 83 U.S. builders evaluated
- More than 300 brands and series described
Plus!, an annotated construction rating chart with 56 criteria you can use to evaluate any home — before you buy.
“An essential resource...a wealth of invaluable information...pulls no punches...strongly recommended. The potential home buyer will be best served by purchasing both books.” The Lakeland Register
ISBN 0-9725436-2-7
192 pages, 66 illustrations, 2 tables
Soft cover $29.95 US
New! E-book edition, only $19.95
Second edition—Revised and Updated!
The Grissim Buyer’s Guide to Manufactured Homes & Land
How to find a reputable dealer and negotiate a fair price on the best-kept secret in American housing
New! From Rainshadow Publications, the second edition of #1 bestselling consumer guide in America on manufactured homes, written by veteran journalist, author and consumer advocate John Grissim, himself a manufactured home owner. This new edition contains many revisions, up-dates and new material that make this invaluable resource even more useful to home shoppers.
“Outstanding research...jam-packed with information and advice...Fair and balanced....Will save money, time, effort and frustration.” St. Petersburg Times
“Finally, consumers have a detailed map of the manufactured home marketplace... Presents a huge amount of sophisticated information... above all, [how to] negotiate a fair deal...” Shelterforce magazine
Special offer
Buy the print editions of both books together for just $49.95 (plus $6.50 S&H) and save $16.45—a 22% savings! That’s over 300 pages of essential information, product evaluations and no-nonsense insights for only $56.45. Books are promptly shipped by Priority Mail and are usually in your hands in 2-3 days.
Another special offer
Author John Grissim has personally helped many consumers go through their home purchase process, serving as their telephone consultant, helping steer them through the process and away from trouble. The cost is very modest. To learn more, please click on the Home & Land Advisor tile in the column to the left.
About The Grissim Ratings Guide to Manufactured Homes
John Grissim’s bestselling The Complete Buyer’s Guide to Manufactured Homes & Land has been hailed as the definitive resource for navigating the tricky waters of the manufactured home marketplace. Now, he has written a long-awaited companion guide that takes a close look at every manufacturer and the brands they build, providing up-to-date, essential information together with authoritative, no-nonsense insights that have made him a respected industry observer and voice for the home-buying consumer.
Each manufacturer’s listing includes:
- Company background and history
- States where sold
- Principal target customer
- Retail price range
- who they compete against
- Construction rating on a 1-to-10 scale
- Brands and series described
- Description of a popular model
- What distinguishes brand from competition
- Warranty structure
- Author’s comments...and more.
Click on Browse the books to learn more.
About The Grissim Buyer’s Guide to Manufactured Homes & Land
Manufactured homes are truly the best-kept secret in American housing. Many models are indistinguishable from conventional homes and offer great quality and savings. Yet for all their advantages–and there are many–manufactured homes are still sold like cars: through dealerships. Amazingly, manufactured home sales are even less regulated than used car dealers!
Retailers historically have been highly secretive about how much they actually pay for the homes they sell. Unscrupulous dealers regularly charge home buyers thousands more for their homes than they should–sometimes tens of thousands more! That’s outrageous.
This authoritative guide explains just how the manufactured home industry operates, exposes its secrets and reveals insider information that even the good guys don’t want you to know.
Among the many additions to this second edition are a greatly expanded discussion on selecting the right home, including a new glossary of common terms used in manufactured home construction, plus a new three-page Construction Features and Specifications Comparison Table with 56 criteria. This table enables you not only to identify what features are associated with different levels of quality but also to determine the construction quality (on a 1-to-10 scale) of any home you are evaluating (independent of what any sales person may claim!). This same table is also in The Grissim Ratings Guide, and is by far the most comprehensive detailed listing of construction features and quality ever provided consumers.
Among many topics receiving an expanded discussion in this second edition:
- the installation (or set-up) process and the role of the set-up contractor, including a detailed installation check-list for home buyers.
- Warranty issues, and how to deal with them, receive added emphasis.
- Tips to better calculate the fair asking price for a home, together with a simple formula for determining your offering price during negotiations.
In short, this guide contains all the information and tools you will need to confidently–and successfully–go through the home buying process.