Answer: If you're looking to get the most out of your "housing dollar," you need to consider a manufactured home. Depending on the region of the country, construction costs per square foot for a new manufactured home average anywhere from 10 to 35 percent less than a comparable site-built home, excluding the cost of land. Today's manufactured homes offer the quality construction, modern amenities and livability you are seeking ... at a price that fits your lifestyle and your budget!

Answer: To learn more about manufactured housing, contact the Manufactured Housing Institute at 2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 610, Arlington, VA 22201-3062, (703) 558-0400 or www.manufacturedhousing.org.

Answer: Just as there are choices when you buy a site-built home, there are a variety of financing options when you buy a manufactured home. Down payments and loan terms are similar - 5 to 10 percent of the manufactured home's sales price, and loan terms of 15 to 30 years.

If you are buying the home and land together, or plan to place the home on land you already own, some financial institutions offer traditional real estate mortgages with similar interest rates. Should you be purchasing the manufactured home separately from the land on which it will be located, the home will probably be financed as a personal property manufactured home loan, usually with a somewhat higher interest rate. FHA-insured and Department of Veterans Affairs-guaranteed (called FHA and VA) loans are available to manufactured home buyers. These types of loans may offer lower interest rates or lower down payment requirements if available in your area. They require more paperwork during the credit application and approval process and, therefore, may take longer for approval than a conventional loan.

Answer: Yes. There are several insurance companies that specialize in offering insurance coverage for manufactured homes.

Answer: Many cities and towns, still relying on outdated perceptions and stereotypes of "mobile homes," have zoning regulations limiting where you can place a manufactured home. However, more and more urban and suburban governments are recognizing that today's manufactured homes are virtually indistinguishable from site-built homes and are allowing manufactured homes to be placed in their communities. Before purchasing a manufactured home, be sure to check the zoning regulations in the area where you want to live.

Answer: While many like to joke that "mobile homes attract tornadoes," there is no meteorological or scientific basis to that theory. In fact, the explanation for the reports of damage to manufactured homes from tornadoes is quite simple: manufactured housing is largely found in rural and suburban areas where tornadoes are most likely to occur.

As to hurricanes, valuable lessons were learned from the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which destroyed or damaged thousands of site-built and manufactured homes. Now, in areas prone to hurricane-force winds, the standards for manufactured homes are equivalent to or more stringent than the current regional and national building codes for site-built homes in these high wind zones. Also, proper installation and anchoring of the home is a key element is how a manufactured home will perform in severe weather situations.