How to tell if your home can be moved

Most homes can be moved. The ones that cannot usually fail on frame condition rather than age, and the failure is visible long before we arrive if you know what to look at.

Start with the HUD tag

Homes built after June 1976 carry a HUD certification label — a small metal plate, usually at the rear exterior of each section. It means the home was built to a national construction standard, and it is the single strongest predictor that a home will survive transport.

Pre-1976 homes were built to no consistent standard. Some are excellent. Many have frames that will not take the lift, and several states restrict them on public roads regardless of condition. We assess them individually and we decline a meaningful share.

Then look at the frame

Get under the home with a torch. You are looking at the steel I-beams that run the length of each section. Surface rust is normal and not a problem. What matters is section loss — places where the steel has corroded through, or where a previous repair has been welded in badly.

1. 01Check the outriggers where they meet the main beams
2. 02Look for cracking or deformation around old jack points
3. 03Note any beam that has been cut and re-welded
4. 04Check the hitch end for impact damage

Interior signs of an underlying problem

Doors that will not latch, windows that stick, and new drywall cracks at the corners usually mean the home has settled — which is a leveling problem, not a structural one, and it is fixable. But a floor that feels soft underfoot in the same spot as a rusted outrigger is a different conversation.

What we do on the assessment

We inspect the frame, the axles, the tyres, and the roof structure, and we check the running gear is present at all — a surprising number of homes have had their axles sold. Then we tell you plainly. If the answer is that the home should not travel, you get that answer before you have spent anything.