A new Spokane Valley company named Independence Home Center Inc. has opened a Fleetwood Homes manufactured-home dealership just south of Interstate 90 near Barker Road.


Peter Zeman, who owns Independence Home Center, says the new dealership is located on a roughly 3-acre piece of land he bought at 19117 E. Broadway that includes a 1,200-square-foot office building.


The dealership carries new double- and triple-wide manufactured homes ranging in price between $53,000 and $135,000. Zeman says those prices include transporting the homes and placing them on desired sites, but dont include the costs of preparing the sites, extending utilities to them, or connecting utilities to the homes.


Zeman says buyers must find and acquire their own sites, but that Independence Home Center will supply a contractor to submit a bid to do as much of the site preparation and utility-connection work as the buyer wants. That bid can include amenities such as handicap ramps and a garage. The buyer, however, retains the option of seeking other bids and choosing another contractor to do the work, he says.


Zeman says almost every manufactured home the new business sells is attached permanently to a foundation, qualifying it as real property. However, the buyer does have the option of not attaching it permanently, in which case it would be designated as personal property, he says. Owners of permanently attached manufactured homes qualify for a conventional home loan from most lending agencies, and those loans can be extended over a 30-year period, says Mike Hadley, a real estate loan officer for Spokane Teachers Credit Union. Owners of manufactured homes not attached permanently often qualify only for loans for a shorter period of time because the mobile homes present a greater risk to the lender. The interest rates on such personal property loans are almost always higher than if a home were attached permanently and designated as real property.


Zeman, who has a background in sales and management, says, The key to this business is getting financing. The majority of people who will buy these homes are looking toward an alternative to a stick-built house.


In hopes of expanding Independence Home Centers role, Zeman says he plans within the next five years to begin arranging onsite financing for customers, rather than sending them elsewhere to obtain it.


The business currently employs two people, but Zeman says he plans to add two more employees within the next two months. He anticipates that within the next five years the business will reach annual revenues of about $5 million, develop a sales presence on the Internet, and employ up to eight people.


Zeman says that Fleetwood Homes, which manufactures the homes the dealership sells, employs the workers and handles the moving and setup of the homes.


This is great for us because we dont have to hire so many people and can focus on sales, he says.


Mobile homes sold by Independence Home Center are shipped here from Fleetwood manufacturing plants in Nampa, Idaho, and Woodland, Wash., Zeman says.


Fleetwood Homes is a subsidiary of Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., also of Riverside, which also manufactures recreational vehicles.


Contact Rocky Wilson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at rockyw@spokanejournal.com.