Understanding the manufactured housing industry and learning how to get the best deal on a factory-made home will save consumers cash and headaches and that could boost the residential real estate industry's only lagging sector.

"Our research indicates that manufactured homes can be a good investment for consumers, but only if the consumer carefully considers every aspect of the deal," said Kevin Jewell, policy associate with Consumers Union's manufactured housing project.

Consumers Union, the Yonkers, NY-based publisher of top-rated Consumer Reports magazine, has just rolled out an extensive online report "Tips on Mobile Homes," as an update to its well-received 1997 brochure on the same topic. It's also available in Spanish.

"It's about 60 percent new content, 40 percent content from the 1997 brochure that has been reviewed to make sure it is still relevant. For consumers, one of the most exciting and useful additions is the extensive checklist which allows them to compare the quality of over a hundred different components of the home. The financing, negotiation, and warranty sections have also been significantly expanded," said Jewell.

Bad loans, resulting in repossessions that bloated already swollen inventories, all exacerbated by a recessionary economy, knocked the manufactured housing industry off its foundation at the turn of the century and the industry is still scrambling for firm footing.

New shipments of manufactured homes rose in March to 10,435, from 9,620 in February this year, but the March 2003 numbers reflect a 25.1 percent reduction in homes shipped since March 2002, according to the Manufactured Housing Institute.

"Two monitors used to gauge a turning point in the labor market have yet to improve from the 2001 recession: the length of the average workweek and the hiring of temporary personnel. When demand in the economy improves, these indicators should turn positive, and employment growth should follow," the institute reported.

Consumers shopping for a manufactured home now have Consumer Unions tips to further strengthen their existing negotiating edge in the manufactured housing market.

Consumers Union's guide is a close inspection every aspect of manufactured home products and services.

The guide teaches buyers how to examine affordability, location, financing, shopping, roofing, walls, plumbing, windows, floors, heating and air, electrical system, appliances, weathering, foundations and warranties. It also teaches buyers how to deal with the dealer to make a sound purchase and explains what to do and where to go if something goes awry with the deal or the home.

"We attempt to cut to the chase in this guide by offering clear advice that takes prospective owners from planning for and buying a home through post-purchase home maintenance," Jewell said.

The guide succeeds.