Jim Walter Homes

maybe I should have mentioned that we cannot get any traditional financing

it looks as though this may be our only hope of getting out of a trailer

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I'm back...for now.

My preference would be "Free and Clear" land. I wouldn't mind the trailer much, unless it was FULL of children. THAT can be hectic! Otherwise, I'd personally prefer to make the "payments" to myself (Savings account, etc.) Trailers can be made liveable and cozy.

just a different opinion. We don't all see things from the same perspective in this World.

GOOD LUCK with YOUR dreams!
Bruce

The problem is, in your situation you probably can't afford the new house then.

Over the past 5 years, many companies have feasted on your type of situation, taking advantage of lax lending rules.

They get your loan, sell it to some other company, and let the fine print finish you off.

Many are finding now they wish they could at least still have the mobile home back. Lost that too.

Bet there is a pile of fine print in the deal offered to you that says you won't ever own that place - they will. You are getting a sweet offer to get you hooked. Sell your morgage to another company as a package with several 100 others, and no one cares about you. foreclose when you don't meet the fine print, and resell to others. As this building bubble bursts, the lending companies go bust; the govt forgives the whole mess so the ecconomy doesn't go sour, and the cycle repeats itself all over again in the next 20 years with the same lending crooks being around, feasting on people in your situation. Only 2 people get hurt in it - you do, and taxpayers do.

I don't want to be negative. I want you to have your dream.

A lease to own deal doesn't hold much promise. You are basically renting.....

Please don't be part of that bad cycle.

If this is your only option...... I see a lot of red flags. I don't want to see you be another statistic.

Good luck with this all. As I said in my other message, you can do this. But be real, real careful of the fine print. You need a plan how to get to the end of it all, and actually have what you want. How long is the term, what is the interest rate, what is your family income's future, what other expenses are headed your way, and so on. Depends if you are planning a family, young, old, 2 jobs, one job, medical bills, college bills, etc. Sounds like no savings, not so good credit.

Nothing wrong with that, but it makes it a very uphill battle.

With nothing at all down, they are hoping you get the house finished with your money before they foreclose on it & resell it. That is where they make theirs in a good ecconomy. It is a huge task to pay off a property & a new house with nothing down. Huge risk. If the ecconomy goes bad (it's heading there - rapidly) the govt will bail them out, and you will have nothing.

Do you really want that to be your only hope? Low risk to them either way, high risk to you?

I don't agree with others here that one should only pay as you go. With a steady income, stable family, one can pay off a home, living in it as they go. Nothing at all wrong with that.

But you do need to start with something. If you are financing the whole thing, nothing down, and the land isn't even something you are paying on but a rental lease at this point........

Renting out the trailer (which you don't want to live in any more...) to a relative has it's own set of problems. The zoning issues as someone else mentioned. Working with, living next to, and collecting money from relatives can sometimes be a real hassle over time. Or getting them to do what they say - like move out there in the first place.... Do you really want to put your sister in a place you don't want to live? What happens if your sis fins a better deal in 6 months - will you be comfortable renting to some stranger? Can you, legally? Who pays the remodle bills then?

It seems waiting a couple of years & getting some feet under you would make swinging this a whole lot easier?

I don't want to be negative. You are looking for positive messages. I can tell from your first message, you don't want to see anything that puts cold water on your dreams.

Please be careful. If no one else wants to loan you the money - maybe that's a signal you should wait a couple years to get some feet under you. Banks make their living by making loans. If they don't want to do business with you - that might be a sign?

Dreams can take a while. Sometimes seem impossible. But aren't. Just take time. I don't want to see you become a nightmare.

--->Paul

My only suggestion,,,,,read Mortgage Free by Rob Roy. You're more than half way there. You have the land, and a comfortable place to live while builiding. Why pay someone else 3-4 times as much to build something you can do yourself?

I've been involved in remodeling and finishing the basement on three professionally built homes in the last five years. I have been appalled at what passes for normal and acceptable in these homes. Out of square, out of plumb, minimal framing, minimal wiring, cheap plastic water lines.

Make no mistake about it, modern construction and materials are only intended to do two things well.....decrease the time/skill in construction and increase the profit margin for the builder.

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"Iron" Mike - Semper Fidelis
Jack of all trades - Master of none

Paul, this is a very nice, incredibly kind, well-reasonsed, and thoughtful post.

Pony!

And right on the mark! Please think about what Paul is telling you.

Hey, ARE YOU PEOPLE CRAZY?

Don't you know that the American consumer has as a bedrock requirement for citizenship that he or she be in hock up to their eyeballs, and spend every penny of what they make?

What are ya, unAmerican? Why just today it came out that incomes last month rose .06% and consumer spending rose exactly .06%! God bless America! Get with the program, people! If word of the treasonous rants in the last few posts here ever gets out and becomes widespread, do you realize what we could have in this country?

A nation of self-sufficient people, all of whom have money in the bank! It is extremely difficult politically to lead those types of people around by the nose, since they tend to get independent when they don't owe massive piles of cash.

So my question to you is, why do you hate America?

(LOL...actually, I loved the last 4 posts! It gives me hope that not EVERYONE in this country has lost their sense of fiscal responsibility.)

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates

I just returned from looking at a Jim Walter home. It sets on about 2 acres. The people lived in it less than a year. They were unable to make the payments and they lost their land that thay had free and clear before trying to buy the house.
Jim Walters is having to foreclose on them and they cannot sell the house until they get the ownership of the land straightened out. They suggested checking back in 3 months. The people had to move out but there is a problem with the deed to the land.
Be sure you can make the payments or you may loose your land.

I've been reading and hearing a lot about folks that couldn't afford traditional loans for there homes... and mortgage lenders made it easy for them to afford their first homes... good credit, bad credit, no credit... after a few years the adjustable rate kicks in, or the balloon payment, or a medical emergency pops up, and the bankers don't care if you can't afford your payments...they get evicted.

If you can't afford a traditional loan, and don't own land, no big deal, you can walk away. If you do own land, it'll be tied to the mortgage, so if you lose your house, you lose your land too!

Best bet? Live in the trailer, save money, pay for a slab. Save more money, or learn to scrounge...put up your walls...save more...put up roof...save more, finish walls..........etc. Might take a few years, but you'll never miss a mortgage payment.

Good luck to you.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

I second that. It works for us.

When we built our custom home almost 4 years ago, we were thinking of going the manufactured home route, but once we saw the cost of what they were going to charge us, I contacted a local custom home builder and guess what? The custom home builder was MUCH cheaper and the constuction is phenominal. I would check all avenues before deciding, just MHO. Hey, good luck, this is a very exciting time in your life and have fun!

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The more people I meet, the more I like my chickens

i would tell you to shop around. the guy i subcontract for has done 2 and working to finish hopefully the last jim walters home. they dont treat the contracters well. if they lie to the contractors most likely they will lie to customers. the people we are building this house for was told they would be in the house before christmas of 06 we didnt get this house until the first of march. they told us they closed on the contract back in october. we was suppost to get payed today the boss called the man over us that turns in the draws he told us one story then we called the lady at their finance company (which send out the draws) which told us something else.
needle to say it will be next week before we see our pay check.
the material is seconds or very old that hasnt been stored right. the studs are old and dried they will shatter when you nail them. it isnt very fun to have a stud shatter in your face when you are nailing a wall together. you also pay for the full lumber packege and the lumber not used is picked up by them which you are still charged for.
and last they dont always give the contractors the right plans. its hard to build the right house if you dont have the right plans.
i know you wanted the positive responses but this is my experiance with jim walters homes
sorry for the rambaling

And another thought....

One good thing about Jim Walter house plans...something one really ought to study...

These guys make a living out of using every possible bit of material and keeping material waste to a minimum. A mark of an efficient plan (materials-wise) is when you can't find a cut-off in the trash pile over a foot long...

As many others have said, I would check the fine print!! Jim Walter can sell you loan off and whoever is the buyer can re-adjust your terms, interest rate call the note whatever they wish ( within the legal limits of the contract). I am not saying it is not a good deal, but I would hire a lawyer to review the contract before I sign. Or better yet have the Jim Walters sales agent meet you at an attorneys office to go over the paperwork and sign.
No matter what some ya-yo behind the desk implies to you while explaining a contract, it may not mean at all what the legal mumbo jumbo that on that paper really says. And anyone saying well this guys told us this is what that part of the contract says. is not worth a hill of beans and the opposing party will bring up the fact that it is all written in the contract.
No matter who you choose please remember that these people are in it to make a buck, they are not doing any of this to help any of us out. I don't care what their website says or if Jim Walters himself came into my house and told me that he was hear to help us out with our housing needs, sure he is but it is not going to be for free there is goign to be a mark up and they are certainly going to legally protect themselves any way possible.
I know Jim Walters seems attractive but have you looked into being your own general contractor? There are tons of websites on how to be your own contractor or goto your local library. There are several ways to do it, buy a kit and have framers put it together so on and so forth.
Below are some links, the first few are on SIPS( structurally Insulated Panels) which is how we are going to build our home and soon a neighborhood of craftsmen style homes. Our friend has built and sold over 100 of these using a be your own general contractor method. He never lifts a finger, just hires all the contractors needed to get the job done. And he started off while working a $10 an hour job and doing this on his first place during lunch beaks and taking sick and vacation days.
Good luck to you

http://www.fischersips.com/logandtimber.html
http://www.ibpanels.com/index.php
http://www.heathershome.info/
http://www.sipweb.com/monitor/bc_11.2004.asp

Belwo are articles on Jim Waltes Homes some good some bad

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff124713.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff85493.htm

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...f094113D36.DTL

http://www.boston.com/business/perso...ubprime_loans/

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...826731,00.html