To the editor:
Owners of manufactured homes beware; you may be classified as a one-storey standard house by BC Assessment.
Last year, I had an elevated roof constructed over my existing trailer roof and replaced the old siding, which now hides the skirting around the bottom portion of the 1965 doublewide trailer with an addition.
Wondering why my 2012 assessment was extremely high, I contacted BC Assessment and attended it review panel hearing, only to find out my mobile home is now treated as a house for tax purposes because it now looks like a house, according to their appraiser.
Needless to say, it remains a double-wide manufactured home underneath its new facelift.
The (British Columbia Real Estate Association) would not allow it to be sold as a one-storey standard house, as that would be illegal, and it would not pass (Housing and Construction Standards B.C.) upon inspection.
I feel this is an unfair increased value added because most mobile home owners purchase such because they cannot afford a standard house.
Although manufactured homes are made to look like houses, they are not constructed as such.
I advise you to check the assessment list on the Internet to see if your modified trailer is now assessed a one-storey standard house.
Patricia Vredik
Lone Butte