Manufactured Homes Near Sun City, Arizona: Where They Are and What to Check
If you want a manufactured home and you like the Sun City area, expect to buy next to Sun City, not in it. Sun City is an age-restricted community of site-built houses, duplexes and condominiums. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 estimates count about 26,600 housing units there and only about 200 mobile homes, the category the survey uses for manufactured homes.
The manufactured homes are in the cities around it, many of them in land-lease communities where you own the home and rent the space. That changes what you own, who sets the age rule and which fees you pay.
Sun City is age-restricted, site-built and run by its own associations
Sun City is not a city in the legal sense. It is an unincorporated community in Maricopa County, and two private organizations handle much of what a buyer there deals with.
- The age rule. Sun City’s recorded restrictions for single-family homes generally require at least one occupant aged 55 or older in each home and limit how long anyone under 19 may live there. The Sun City Home Owners Association publishes and enforces them. Condominium owners have further restrictions from their own associations.
- The recreation assessment. The Recreation Centers of Sun City, a private nonprofit, owns and runs the recreation centers and golf courses. According to its published answers for owners, every property owner in Sun City pays it an annual property assessment, whether or not they use the facilities.
Both apply to any home inside Sun City. Neither applies to a manufactured home community in a neighboring city, which has its own owner, its own rules and its own charges. This is general information, not legal advice; read the current documents before you rely on them.
The manufactured homes are in the cities around Sun City
Sun City is bordered by Peoria, Surprise, El Mirage and the small town of Youngtown, with Glendale a short distance to the southeast. The same Census estimates show where the area’s manufactured homes are.
Mobile homes by place, Census Bureau estimates for 2020 to 2024
| Place | Housing units | Mobile homes |
|---|---|---|
| Sun City | 26,600 | 200 |
| El Mirage | 11,900 | 900 |
| Surprise | 62,100 | 2,400 |
| Peoria | 79,100 | 4,200 |
| Glendale | 93,700 | 5,400 |
Figures are rounded from Census table B25024. They are survey estimates with margins of error, and Sun City’s count is small enough that its margin is nearly as large as the estimate.
Many of the communities in these cities are age-qualified, and others are open to all ages, so check each one. For the financing in each place, see our pages for Peoria and Surprise.
Buying inside Sun City and buying next door are different purchases
A home inside Sun City compared with a manufactured home in a nearby community
| Home inside Sun City | Manufactured home in a nearby land-lease community | |
|---|---|---|
| What you own | The house and its lot, or a condominium unit | The home; the community owns the land |
| Who sets the age rule | Recorded restrictions enforced by the homeowners association | The community’s written age policy, if it is age-qualified |
| Charges besides a loan | Property taxes, insurance, the recreation assessment, any association fees | Space rent, utilities, insurance, any amenity fees |
| Recreation facilities | The Sun City recreation centers and golf courses | Whatever the community itself provides |
| Financing | A mortgage on site-built real estate | A home-only (chattel) loan on the manufactured home |
Santiago Financial, Inc. finances manufactured and mobile homes only, so the rest of this article is about the right-hand column.
Age rules in a land-lease community come from the community
The federal Fair Housing Act lets a community operate as senior housing when it meets the standards of the Housing for Older Persons Act, as the U.S. Department of Justice explains on its Fair Housing Act page. Inside that framework each community writes its own policy. One may accept a spouse who is under 55; another may not. One may let a grandchild stay for the summer; another sets a shorter limit.
The policy also follows the home. When you sell, your buyer has to meet it, which narrows who can buy from you. How park rules can affect your purchase covers this and the other rules worth reading before you commit.
Space rent and amenity fees belong in the monthly total
In a land-lease community, space rent is paid to the community on top of the loan payment. A pool, a clubhouse or a golf course may be included in that rent or charged separately, and two communities a mile apart can handle it differently.
Ask each office for three things in writing: the current space rent, what it includes, and the history of increases. Then add the rent, any amenity fees, utilities and insurance to the estimated loan payment. A lender looks at that same total when it compares your housing cost with your income. How space rent affects what you can afford shows how to compare two communities on equal terms.
If you plan to live in the home for only part of the year, say so at the start. Many programs require owner-occupancy, so ask whether financing is available for your intended use before you buy.
If you would rather own the land
Some buyers like the idea of an age-restricted community but do not want to rent the ground under their home. In the East Valley, Sun Lakes has manufactured homes on lots their owners hold title to, inside a homeowners association. Buying a manufactured home in Sun Lakes explains how that changes the costs and the loan.
