Buying the home is only half the project — getting it to your property, set, and livable is the other half. Here's what actually happens in between, in roughly the order it happens.
Property and access review
Before anything ships, the delivery route and your site get reviewed: road width and clearance for an oversized load, how the transport truck will access the lot, and whether the ground is stable enough for the home and the equipment that sets it. This step catches problems while they're still cheap to solve.
Site prep
Your site needs a prepared pad — typically graded, compacted, and sometimes requiring piers or a foundation system depending on local code and soil conditions. If you're on a double-wide, the pad also needs to be sized and leveled for two sections to be joined accurately.
Delivery and installation
The home (or, for a double-wide, both sections) is transported to your site and set onto the prepared pad. For a double-wide, this includes "marrying" the two sections together and finishing the seams, roofline and flooring transitions so it reads as one continuous home.
Skirting, steps, and finishing touches
Once the home is set, skirting closes the gap between the home and the ground (both for appearance and to protect the underside from weather and pests), and steps or a porch are added for safe entry. This is also when air conditioning and any other site-installed systems typically go in.
Utilities and permitting
Water, electrical, sewer or septic connections, and any required local permits or inspections need to be coordinated — sometimes with your own contractor, sometimes through the dealer, depending on your location and the scope of the project. This step varies more than any other by county and city, which is why it's worth confirming local requirements early rather than assuming they're the same everywhere.
Final walkthrough
Before you move in, a final walkthrough checks that the home is level, sealed, and that everything installed at setup — skirting, steps, A/C, utility connections — is complete and working correctly.
What affects the price
Distance from the dealer, road and site access, soil conditions, and local utility and permitting requirements all affect the scope and cost of delivery and setup. That's exactly why a fair delivery quote comes after a property review, not before — and why we confirm project details before presenting a final turn-key price.