Manufactured Homes and ADUs in Orange County
From our office in San Juan Capistrano
Custom Living Homes works out of San Juan Capistrano, at 33302 Valle Road, Suite 200. We help Orange County buyers put a manufactured home on a park lot or on their own land, and we help homeowners add an ADU in the backyard. That covers the whole job: checking what your lot allows, financing, design, permits and setting the home.
Call us at (949) 441-5111 or book a free consultation.
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Manufactured home, modular home or ADU?
These terms get mixed up a lot, and the difference matters for what you can build and how you pay for it.
- Manufactured homes are built in a factory to the federal HUD Code and delivered in one or more sections. They’re what most of our floor plans are, and they can go in a mobile home park or on a private lot.
- Modular homes are also factory-built, but to California’s building code instead of the HUD Code. They’re set on a permanent foundation and treated much like a site-built house.
- ADUs (accessory dwelling units) are second homes on a lot that already has a house. Under California law, a manufactured home can be an ADU, and so can a garage conversion or a new detached unit.
If you already own a house and want room for family or rental income, you’re probably looking at an ADU. If you want a home of your own, it’s a manufactured home in a park or on land. Our feasibility study sorts out which one your lot supports.
Building in Orange County
On your own lot
California law requires cities and counties to allow federally certified manufactured homes on permanent foundations on lots zoned for single-family homes. The city can hold the home to the same standards as a site-built house on that lot, such as setbacks, parking and minimum size, and it can set rules for the roof overhang, roofing and siding. It can’t use those rules to keep manufactured homes out altogether.
In a mobile home park
In a park you buy the home and rent the space it sits on. That keeps the purchase price far below a house on its own lot, which is a big reason manufactured homes are one of the more affordable ways to live in Orange County. We help buyers find a park space and handle the home from order to set.
ADUs and the coastal zone
Most ADUs in California get approved at staff level, with no public hearing, as long as they meet the city’s objective standards. Cities can’t require side and rear setbacks over four feet for a new ADU, and they have to allow at least 850 square feet (1,000 if it has more than one bedroom). Parts of Orange County sit in the coastal zone, where a city’s certified Local Coastal Program can add its own requirements. Even there, the city still has to approve or deny an ADU application within 60 days.
We check zoning, utilities, access and the rules for your parcel before you spend money on a home, and our team handles planning and permitting. See our ADU page for the types we build, and our ADU cost guide for what one costs.
How it works
- Consultation. We talk through what you want to build and walk you through the process.
- Financing. If you need it, our in-house loan team goes over your options, including pre-approval, the Trade-Up program and MH Advantage.
- Feasibility and site visit. A parcel-level study of what’s allowed, any restrictions, and a preliminary budget.
- Design, permits and construction. We finish the floor plan, handle engineering and approvals, and set and finish the home.
We’re also a preferred dealer and installer for BOXABL, whose Casita is a popular backyard ADU. You can see every home for sale on our California listings.
Questions
Can I put a manufactured home on my lot in Orange County?
If the lot is zoned for single-family homes, generally yes. California law requires cities to allow certified manufactured homes on permanent foundations in those zones, held to the same standards as a site-built house on that lot. A city can refuse homes made more than 10 years before the permit application. Our feasibility study checks your parcel first.
What is the downside of modular and manufactured homes?
Delivery takes planning: the sections have to reach your lot by truck, so access and site work can add cost. Financing works differently too. A home in a park is usually financed on its own, without the land, which can mean a different loan type from a regular mortgage. We go over all of this before you commit.
Is it cheaper to build a factory-built home or a site-built one?
Usually the factory-built home costs less, because most of the work happens in a controlled setting on a set schedule. Your total still depends on the lot: site prep, utilities, foundation and permits can vary a lot from one Orange County parcel to the next. A feasibility study gives you a preliminary budget before you buy.
Do you help with financing?
Yes. We have an in-house loan division and can walk you through pre-approval, our Trade-Up program for current manufactured home owners, and MH Advantage for qualifying homes. Start on our financing page.
