BunchOAtoms

How did you vet the people you talked to? These people seemed to have really bad credit (I didn't know it was even possible to have a credit score <500.), and I'm wondering how many of them were likely to be delinquent regardless. Did any of them just never pay their loan or make few attempts? I am usually skeptical of anecdotal accounts since every large company is, by the sheer nature of its size, going to have some bad actors that don't reflect the larger experience, and I was curious if this might be the case.

I read your rebuttle to the Clayton Homes statement, and I've got to admit that I felt like you were trying to use flimsy, conjectural stats to combat their flimsy, conjectural stats, and that didn't sit well with me. If you're going after them based on hard proof, then that's fine, but I felt like a lot of the story and the rebuttal was built on limited anecdotal evidence, as well as a lot of stats that were extrapolated out according to broad data not specific to Clayton Homes, but the industry at large. How would you respond to those concerns? I think the timing of this article and the Rolling Stone review is going to draw extra scrutiny to investigative pieces. Sorry to be that way, but I'm just a product of the current environment.

Lastly, as I understand it, manufactured housing is the only option for a lot of people who live in low-income rural areas who can't afford to purchase a house and also have limited, or non-existent, rental options. Is that correct? If so, what would be your solution to come up with housing for people who are a high credit risk with low incomes and have fewer options, if it's not Clayton Homes? In other words: "okay, so Clayton Homes is making high-cost loans; what is the alternative that's better?"

Regarding the first part of your question, credit risk always is a part of how loans are priced. However, Clayton’s loans are unusually costly, as Mike explained in this answer[1] , in part because Berkshire Hathaway charges Clayton up to an extra percentage point on top of BRK’s own borrowing costs -- and that’s passed directly to the consumer. So credit risk is only one element of how the rates are set.

Nice way to avoid the question. Interest rates (particularly for individuals) are determined by factors other than their credit score, but you didn't answer the question.

Wouldn't high interest rates make sense when dealing with a demographic who are more likely to default on their payments than those who make a higher income?

So what's the answer?

You're talking about a lot of words that sound like similes synonyms, but they're not.

A manufactured home is exactly what is says it is--a home built in a factory. That can encompass a lot of different types of homes that come in all sorts of shapes or sizes.

Mobile home and trailer describe what you think of when you hear those terms--a long, narrow-ish home that is built then delivered to the home site. This is what comes into your mind when you think of trailer parks. However, there are a lot of different types of mobile homes that aren't the dilapidated tin sheds you might think of.

Modular homes are houses that are manufactured in sections and put together at the home site. These look like normal houses and you probably wouldn't be able to differentiate them from houses, except for the fact they seem to have a particular "look."

ETA: I can't answer your question to the above user, but instead was just explaining the difference between manufactured, mobile and modular homes.

Issuing a prepared statement isn't the same as talking to reporters.

I don't think you can buy a mobile home that you can literally put tires on anymore, but I'm hardly an expert on the subject.

I'm going to use links to Clayton Homes' models here since they're the only home manufacturer I know of, but a mobile home looks like this where a modular home looks more like this. The mobile home is your typical, rectangular setup where a modular home is usually going to look more like a traditional house.

Manufactured home is just a catch-all term that describes any home built in a factory and delivered to the home site, so trailers/mobile homes/modular homes are all manufactured housing.