Mobile Home Site Preparation in Alabama: A Buyer’s Checklist

Start with the exact property, not the city name in the mailing address. The office responsible for the land may be a city zoning or building department, a county planning or permit office, the county health department for septic approval, or the local floodplain office. If the property is outside city limits, the county may be the first place to call.

1. Make Sure a Mobile Home Is Allowed

Start with the local authority for the exact property. Ask whether a manufactured or mobile home is allowed and which permits or approvals you need. Also ask about setbacks, home size, the number of sections, roof or siding rules, foundation rules, and required inspections. The answer can change from one city or county to the next.

Check for private rules too. Deed restrictions, subdivision rules, an HOA, or a land agreement may limit the home even when the city or county allows it. A mobile home next door does not prove that your property is approved today. Get the answer in writing when you can.

2. Choose a Homesite That Works

Do not clear the prettiest spot first. Choose a place that works for the whole project. The home needs enough room for its required setbacks, foundation, driveway, parking, utilities, septic system, drainage, steps, heating and cooling equipment, and any porch or garage you may add later.

Make sure you know the property lines. A survey may be needed to show boundaries, easements, and where the home can sit. Once the spot is chosen, mark the home, driveway, utility routes, and septic areas before contractors start clearing or digging.

3. Check the Full Delivery Route

A driveway that works for a pickup truck may not work for a mobile home. Follow the delivery route from the main road all the way to the homesite. Look for:

• Narrow roads, entrances, or gates.
• Sharp turns and steep hills.
• Low tree limbs, power lines, phone lines, or cables.
• Weak bridges, culverts, or soft ground.
• Fences, signs, mailboxes, ditches, and trees in the way.
• Enough open space for the truck, setup equipment, and every section of the home.

A double wide needs room for both sections to enter and line up. Ask the dealer or delivery contractor to inspect the route before the home is ordered. Find out who must complete and pay for any clearing, road, entrance, or overhead-line work.

4. Plan for Water and Drainage

Water should move away from the home, driveway, and septic area. Visit the land during or soon after heavy rain if you can. Look for standing water, soft ground, washed-out soil, wet ditches, and water flowing onto the property from a road or nearby land.

Check the proposed homesite and delivery route in the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. Then confirm the result with the local floodplain office. A flood zone may affect where the home can sit, the foundation or elevation plan, insurance, financing, and site cost.

Ask the site contractor how the home pad will be built and how rainwater will drain away. Clearing trees is not the same as preparing a stable, well-drained homesite.

5. Match the Foundation to the Home and Land

The foundation and anchoring plan must work with the exact home, the soil, the site, the manufacturer’s instructions, and local rules. A neighbor’s foundation is not a plan for your property.

Ask the installer what must be finished before delivery. Depending on the site and foundation, the work may include clearing, fill dirt, gravel, grading, compaction, footings, concrete, drainage, or retaining work. If plumbing or other lines must pass through concrete, their locations may need to be planned before the concrete is poured.

6. Start Utilities Early

A line at the road does not mean the home is ready to connect. Call the company that serves the exact property and ask where its work ends and yours begins. Plan for:

• Power: service applications, poles, a transformer, a meter setup, trenching, inspections, and the route to the home.
• Water: the meter or well, the line to the home, valves, trenching, testing, and inspections.
• Sewer or septic: the tap or approved system, permits, installation, and inspection.
• Heating and cooling: the outdoor pad, power, ducts, drain, startup, and testing.

If raw land does not have a physical address, ask the county or city which office assigns one. It may be called 911 Addressing, E-911, GIS, Planning, Engineering, or Addressing. You may need that address before utilities, permits, financing, or delivery can move forward.

7. Confirm Septic Before You Commit

If public sewer is not available, the land needs an approved place for a septic system and any required replacement area. The local process may use a perc test, a soil and site review, or both. The goal is to find out whether the soil and the chosen area can safely handle wastewater from the home.

Do not rely on a promise that the land “should perk.” That is not an approval, a system design, or an installed price. If you are buying the land, ask a qualified local real-estate professional or attorney how to make septic approval a written condition of the purchase. If a normal system will not work, stop and learn whether another approved system is possible and what it will cost to install and maintain.

8. Get the Work and Price in Writing

Ask the dealer for a written list of what the home proposal includes and what it does not. Check delivery, setup, air conditioning, skirting, steps, permits, utility connections, septic, foundation work, grading, driveway work, porches, cleanup, and finish work.

For every job, write down:

• Who will do it.
• Who will pay for it.
• Whether the price is fixed, an estimate, or an allowance.
• What could change the price.
• When it must be finished.
• Who will schedule the next step.

Compare quotes by the work included, not only by the final number. A lower quote may leave out a job that another quote covers.

9. Keep the Site From Delaying the Home

The home can be built before the land is ready. Use the time before delivery to move permits, clearing, foundation work, utilities, septic, driveway work, and inspections forward. Keep one written task list with the person in charge, the needed document, the date, and the next step.

Before delivery is scheduled, have the route and homesite checked again. Make sure the required access, foundation, permits, and working room are ready. The home arriving should not be the moment everyone discovers that one unfinished job stops the setup.

10. Save Your Project Records

Keep copies of permits, plans, utility instructions, quotes, contracts, receipts, inspection results, and written changes. Take photos of pipes, wires, trenches, and other work before they are covered. Good records help you see what is complete, what is still open, and who is responsible for the next step.