O/T Buying a Mobile Home?
 

The insurance is STILL jerkng us around. Except now I have taken over handling it and I have become demanding. Eight weeks is far too long to be left homeless and scattered like we are. I need to go home since I have only one heated water source which the idiot chickens are drowning in, Teddy my one LGD has been escaping, none of us can find out from where. I just want to stop traveling there and not spending time with the goats like I use to. There are a few who will kid, the rest were luted or sold and that makes me nervous if they kid at night when it is freezing out.
I am past the depressed part and now I am angry, so I have told her they WILL finally remove the remains of the house, replace my utilites and I will get a trailer there.

But I am unexperienced in buying one. Some are repos, some are sitting in a trailer park, some are new and on clearance. I do love a clearance sale but 30k seems like a lot to me. So do the ones empty sitting in the trailer park, those are 20-77k. Yes some are manufacured homes, the higher priced ones but they are HUD built, not UBC; don't these homes lose value over time?
Of course there are the people who never ever take down their ads either, one guy had a nice size one ready to move for 22k OBO and of course I email him and he tells me it sold a few weeks ago but he has a double wide for 43k, yeah sure ok, not!

Do the trailer parks bargain a bit on price? Like for one that is 22k I would offer 17k, of course they can say no, but could I go lower?
These prices seem high to me in general. While I need a place to live I prefer not to be ripped off.

Are they expensive to move and have set on your property? It would be less then 50 miles and I am sure the price varies by state.

Do I have to have the full cash price? Or would I need financing? Who would even do that aside from owner carry?

Thanks

You can get financing for a mobile home. If you go to a dealer, they often have used ones that were either repoed or traded in. They can help you get financing.

Oh and I think the cost and kind of financing will depend on whether or not you put it on a foundation. Check your county for laws about that. I know some places require them to be put on foundations.

Go clearance sale, honest.

Older mobile homes get "issues" really easy. As soon as you move them, 15 more "issues" pop up. The older mobile homes, also, aren't as well built. (The exact opposite of regular homes, which often, the older they are, the better built they are.)

You will be SO much happier if you get a new, on clearance, mobile home that the company moves to your place and sets up, rather than buying a used one, going to the trouble to hire someone to move it, and HOPE they set it up and level it right. And then, of course, spending the first year fixing this little thing and that little thing......

Get a new one on clearance.

Our credit is shot due to a foreclosure (good ol' Bank of America!) more than 3 years ago. However, now that we know we have to move out of here by the end of March, hubby has been talking to Clayton Homes and is pretty sure they're going to finance us and set us up on 8 acres. It's not our first choice, but I'm tired of dealing with landlords who either lose their homes to foreclosure, or suddenly decide they want to put their place up for sale. I'm sure you can get financed - hang in there! :)

Make sure you get one with a solid floor. Mine is press wood or something like it. Just get one with a good hard solid floor.

That's another thing about getting a new home rather than an used, older home. Building codes in mobile homes. The older ones have particle board flooring. The new ones have plywood flooring.

Is this just going to be temporary until you have a new home built or are you thinking long term?
There are some pretty nice modular & manufactured homes out there. They can be set on a foundation, full basement, etc. & a lot of them don't look like trailers at all.
The newer one's have better insulation than a lot of stick built homes. Do a little looking around you might see something that you just love & with the right price.

I 2nd the discount sale, dealers discount last years models just like car dealerships.
You can get them financed as well.

I sure wish the insurance company would get off their Duff & take care of business like there supposed too!

Clayton homes is the place with the supposed clearance homes, there website even states they still have 3 left for 29k! So I drove all the way down there and of course they just sold them, but here we have some nice ones for 50k and up... grr!!!

I went to a place just down the street from there and they take 6 to 8 weeks to deliver one, I can't wait that long. Clayton says 2 weeks but I really do not want to spend 50-91k.

By used I mean built in the 2000's I guess trailer parks repo them?
I will live in for a year and a half, then I want to go back East once my daughter graduates from HS. We were going to go before she started HS but things got in the way, now she wants me to wait till she graduates. She will be going to college out East anyway. Yes I am taking the goats with me :)

The insurance company is trying to give me pretty much half of what it really would cost to rebuild the house. I also hated building the house originally and everthing took longer then they said and they messed up on quite a number of things, including obviously the electric :(
So I am fighting her on that amount, hard. I will not build half the house and pay the same mortgage.
She has lost her mind if she thinks I will except that.

Ok this one is 1998, would it have lots of problems? It looks nice and probably can bargain. I cannot live there as I am not over 55 :) but hopefully could take it off the lot.

http://www.mhvillage.com/Mobile-Home...php?key=823911

That really looks nice! Try to work it out getting that!! :) :)

Nice house! May have problems moving the carport and porch, though. Well, may have problems moving the house without destroying the carport and porch as well!

If you are only living in it for a year and a half, I guess it doesn't really matter, does it? It is not like it is long term. :)

Realize that it is going to cost you $1500, minimum, just to hook a used mobile home up to a truck and move it five feet. Check contractors in your area that move mobile homes.

Since it is temporary, and you are not re-building, I would get whatever is cheap. :D

Tell them you want to look under the tubs sinks water heater where the washer was behind the refrigerator if it has an ice maker any where there could've been a possible leak. If they say don't worry about it look any way. Don't ask me how I know. I live in a trailer so make sure you look specially if it is used.

My mom lives in a doublewide that was manufactured in the early 1980s. Hers had those pipes that would develop pinhole leaks on a regular basis, and called when there was a class action lawsuit advertised on television several years ago. They told her the home was "too old" - say what?!? Needless to say, my "jack of all trades" husband has had to go repair numerous leaks and replace the majority of the flooring in her home, so I agree - check the plumbing!

We live in one. Hate to say it. It was trashed when we moved in. Had planned to live in it long enough to build, but the economy broke, I lost my job, and now - if we did build even a modest small house, we'd price ourselves out of the market. Frustrating.
Rj's a builder and has taken on the outside projects. We often lament that our animals live in nicer homes than we do. Honestly, if a natural disaster strikes, I'm headed for the chicken coop!

Issues your likely to run into - thin sheet rock. Good luck hanging pictures.
Small kitchens and cheap cupboard and cabinentry.
Fake wood trim and non standard size doors. Makes them hard to replace.
Hollow sounding floors.
Easier access for rodents.
Decreasing value.

If putting in a gas or propane stove, you'll have to get B-venting pipes.

On the plus side - there's usually enough visqueen in the walls that it will maintain heat. Not the best, but hopefully, not as bad as you'd think.
Strong, steel? floor beams. Ours holds up our one ton piano just fine.
In the future, you can rebuild and move it to another part of your lot and have a second home, or use as a barn, or whatever. They are moveable, but I don't think often!

Be sure the roof stays in good shape. Once the lid goes, the rest quickly follows.
We stripped out the fiberglass insulation, replaced with foam and put down new vapor barrier. That deterred some of the rodents from burrowing. We also put down flooring and linoleum. They can be fixed up nice, but sadly, they'll never be the same as a stick built.

It will be home soon though, and as the economy comes back, you may find a buyer who is willing to live in it while they build their dream home. That was our plan. We're hoping one day that we'll be able to sell the property, despite the MFR home on it.

Good luck.

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I really like the quality of Clayton homes at least a few years ago they were some of the best we looked at

That house looks really nice thai but check with a contractor on moving it. See what they say about the attached porch but it sounds nice & this is just for a couple more years.

I rate insurance reps right down there with lawyer and politicians!:grumble:

I know you are now in a rush to do something, but have you checked into mobile home auctions in your area.
Purchased my 10 1/2 acres in 2004 with intentions of building a house, but wanted to get on it ASAP.
I was able to buy a 1986 Clayton 16 x 80 at an auction for $6500 and it cost me $2000 to get it moved and set up. (not counting all the utilities that I did myself).
It is in good condition and we are happy with it.
Lost the good job in 2008, so the house plans changed. We have done some remodeling and it is a pleasant structure to call home. Besides, the taxes on a MH are way cheaper than a house. LOL

If you continue to look good luck.
Check as best as possible around any plumbing. sinks, tubs, showers, water heaters, washing machine
Check condition of the roof. Elastomeric is a good paint on rubber roof coating
Check the material under for cuts that may indicate repairs and it may compromise the insulation on the under side.
Check for rain water leaks around windows and doors.

They are not all bad. especially if they are for temp use.

The link looks like a community to move into.

SPIKE

We just bought a small doublewide, only about 5,000 more than a single wide. We also had it blocked in and the insurance was very happy about that. If I had to order one with upgrades, I would upgrade the fixtures for the sinks, have heavier sheet rock, and that is about all I can think of. We needed to get into something really quick. Most dealers will help you with financing and can tell you what it will cost to block it in. Very happy over all with this one. We hang all our pictures using the command strips, and they hold everything.

A colleague had a serious house fire a few months back. The insurance company put a furnished trailer home on their property until their house could be repaired.

Could you push your insurance company to do the same?

That's exactly what the insurance company should do! Good thinking Pony!

We had issues with our insurance after a bad storm last year. After fighting and finally settling, One of DH's customers said we should have checked with the state for support. I don't recall the department's name, but apparantly there is an office that oversees insurance companies and advocates for the customer. I would think all states have something similar.

Another thought: My aunt purchased a used trailer a few years back and had it moved to a spot of her choice about 30 miles away (cost was roughly $2500 to have it moved and set on blocks, another $500 to move the attached porch on a flat bed, and $150 to rent a bobcat for the family to re-attach it). After it was delivered, she realized the new sinks, light fixtures, and even a few windows had been removed and replaced with old stuff. Sadly, it was a private sale and she had no pictures to prove she had been taken.
So I would suggest taking pictures, even if the purchase is through a comapny and not a private sale...

Hope you'll be home soon!

Can you buy a mobile home in a park and move it out?

It took me three days of some serious and not very nice emails on my part to get her to put me in touch with the ALE people. They work with and pay this company to help people find a temp rental. That lady was shocked that it took my insurance company 7 weeks to give her my info.
They offered me a travel trailer, which I said had better be a big one for three of us and a 70 lb dog, then they said due to it being Winter it was a no go.


Ford Zoo I think you are talking about the Insurance Commisson. Which I will soon be contacting if this keeps dragging on or the offer does nto get better.

Yes you can move the trailers off the lot, once it is yours they let you take it unless there is some kind of agreement stating you will not move it, or if it is on some type of foundation that does not allow it to be moved.

That one is one of a few I am looking at, not set on that one. If the car port were to get destroyed oh well, but if it made it intact I think I might use it for hay lol. My garage is still standing, the siding melted in one area but it is fine.

Thanks for the advice on checking for leaks and such. I will see if they have mobile home auctions here.

Thiablue, to be honest moving and setting up a mobile home, especially a double wide, can be the most expensive part of the deal. If you keep your eyes open, you can find late 1980's thru 1990's mobile homes for free, yet moving and set up will cost a lot. Around here a single wide can be moved and set up for between $2500 and $3500. I double wide starts at $5000. If you are good with tools, you can make a free trailer pretty solid, functional and homey. Don't be afraid to replace the original mobile home fixtures with those for houses, though you would have to change connecting parts as well. Where there are lots of mobile homes, however, there are stores that sell replacement parts and fixtures specifically for mobile homes. Remember to that there is inherently a lot of flex with trailers, so I recommend not tiling the kitchen floor and such, as it will crack.