Queshtion about Manufactured Homes (Huntsville, Arab: hardwood floors, for sale, renting)

[FLGAL76]

Hi all...we are from Florida and looking into taking a trip to Huntsville and possibly moving up there. My husband and I have been looking alot into that area and we have noticed there are alot of Manufactured Homes with land that are very reasonable in price. Down here in Florida they priced high and really hard to get financed for. Is it hard to get financed for one up there in Alabama? What kind of areas are most Manufactured Homes in? Good/Bad? This would be a starter home for us and we would love to own a home with some land. We just can't get over how reasonably priced some of them are and the property tax is. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Southlander]

Really? You won't find that many in towns - they're mostly in the more rural areas. I think that if you own your land, it's fairly easy to get financing. However, beware of financing by the home manufacturer - Alabama allows some of the highest finance rates in the nation. Don't be paying 22% interest!
If you go that way, but sure to get the home fastened down properly, and don't even THINK of staying in it if there are tornadoes around. There's a saying here - Alabama tornadoes and divorces have one thing in common - somebody's gonna lose their trailer!

[FLGAL76]

Thanks for your response Southlander. I do appreciate it! A few more queshtions if you don't mind or anyone else that can be a help I sure would appreciate it. When your say the Manufactured Homes are more in the rural parts are you meaning out far away from the city area? How far of a drive to get into the city? We have seen some 3/2 on a half acre or more for around $50-70,000. This would be a starter home for us but we do have children that would need to attend school and wouldn't want to be to far out from shopping,restraunts,schools and also in a good safe area. We are all for a regular home but would want something that is affordable but in good areas. We have seen some regular homes for sale in that same price range but just not knowing if they are in bad areas or not so we will be making a trip up hopefully by this weekend or this week. Were just real excited about getting out of Florida!

[harry chickpea]

"Alabama tornadoes and divorces have one thing in common - somebody's gonna lose their trailer!" LOL! Good Wun, Southlander.

New homes are required by law to be fastened down. They also can only be placed on land that has no restrictions, and the cost of installing water, septic, and power makes them much more expensive than you might think. However, the construction of some of the newer homes is far better than homes you might have visited a few years ago.

Older, more poorly constructed homes simply don't hold their value, hence the low prices. However, as more oldsters move from Florida, or avoid it altogether, expect to see homes on better lots actually begin to increase in cost. There is a logic to it that isn't apparent to many.

For someone on social security (fixed income with no serious possibility of coming into money), buying and owning without a mortgage makes more sense that renting. Rents can and do go up. A domicile and car are commonly excluded from any suits by outsiders. The state wisely realizes that a person or couple of retirement age being tossed out on the street will cost the state more than if they are allowed to live in their own home, and the proceeds from the home seized at time of sale. (Florida has even stronger homestead laws, one of many reasons a lot of seniors chose that state in the past.) No mortgage payments and low taxes mean a major improvement in spendable income for this population segment, and delaying the inevitable date they will be forced to deed their home to a nursing home to gain admittance. Not every baby boomer is worth a million bucks, and few have truly sufficient retirement funds now, especially with the triple whammy of inflation, a faltering market, and loss of employer sponsored health care. Retrenching and downsizing will become more and more common, and good low priced lots with low taxes and established services will be in hot demand. The mental gears of the senior public just haven't kicked in yet that Alabama offers bargains on housing and is a good place to retire.

Like any real-estate, when buying such property - location, location, location. The home could be a P.O.S. but sit on nice land that is undervalued simply because of the condition of the trailer. In such a case, buying outright, cash in hand, or using a short-term loan, would allow complete ownership within five years. Buying a newer repossessed home and replacing the bad one, then salvaging the material for the old one upgrades the property for little money. As Southlander pointed out, high interest is your enemy, even though delaying payment is technically your friend because of inflation.

In case I forgot to mention it - LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. We spent months in a full time search for a property we wanted, because we wanted low costs to allow us to go mortgage free, and other treats like a year round stream and good neighbors. We did eventually find it.

And about those tornadoes - older trailers were easily torn apart by passing gusts of wind. Wives of men with loud forts constantly lived in fear. Newer ones with 2"x6" walls are about as solid as most stick-builts. To concatenate a couple of common ideas - If a modern manufactured home is so weak in the wind, how is it that it can be loaded onto wheels and pulled down the road at 70 mph? (I've clocked some of them being pulled at 80 mph in Florida) The real danger is of a home being hit by debris, such as hundred pound branches, going at 200 mph, and then the wind getting inside the breached structure. No home will hold up to such abuse.

In case I forgot to mention it- Location, location, location.

[Keeper]

To be honest, I would rather spend the money on a house as trailers seem to attract tornadoes even in FL.. What part of FL would you be coming from? I moved up here from Tampa.

I have seen trailers and land around Arab for less than 50K although not sure how old they are. Most are in rural areas though. Arab is only 20 mins MOL from H'ville. You can buy an older home for a little more on a large lot here.

[FLGAL76]

Originally Posted by Keeper

To be honest, I would rather spend the money on a house as trailers seem to attract tornadoes even in FL.. What part of FL would you be coming from? I moved up here from Tampa.

I have seen trailers and land around Arab for less than 50K although not sure how old they are. Most are in rural areas though. Arab is only 20 mins MOL from H'ville. You can buy an older home for a little more on a large lot here.

We are coming up from Orlando, Florida. Dh said he would rather have a house with a large lot because the manufactured homes aren't going to be worth much years to come just mainly the land and because of tornadoes or bad storms. My queshtion is can you find a older home that is in a good area in our around Hunstville for $50-70,000. We are willing to do some repairs like paint, carpet, tile or whatever but nothing that is major like a new roof, ac or something that is going to be in the hundreds or thousands to fix. Are the older homes that are cheaper mainly fixer uppers? I mean down here in Florida your just not finding a home for that price unless it is in a real bad area or runned down.

[Keeper]

Probably won't find it directly in H'ville but in Arab there are houses that are older. I got an all brick home built in the 60s. 3/2 on 3/4 acre lot for just a little more than your high price. Remember too that HOI and Property taxes are much lower up here. My PT was $170 this year and HOI last year was less than $700. I can look in the paper to see if there are any listed there.

Here is an example 1800 sq ft home for 79K asking..you can always offer less.
Endless possibilities on this 1800 plus square foot home located inside the city limits. Sitting on one-half acre with mature landscaping and trees. The home features a detached 2-car garage, metal roof and hardwood floors. All appliances are to remain. Move right in!

[southernnaturelover]

If you get a direct hit from a tornado it won't matter what you're in, you're doomed.

[FLGAL76]

Originally Posted by Keeper

Probably won't find it directly in H'ville but in Arab there are houses that are older. I got an all brick home built in the 60s. 3/2 on 3/4 acre lot for just a little more than your high price. Remember too that HOI and Property taxes are much lower up here. My PT was $170 this year and HOI last year was less than $700. I can look in the paper to see if there are any listed there.

Here is an example 1800 sq ft home for 79K asking..you can always offer less.
Endless possibilities on this 1800 plus square foot home located inside the city limits. Sitting on one-half acre with mature landscaping and trees. The home features a detached 2-car garage, metal roof and hardwood floors. All appliances are to remain. Move right in!

That house sounds really great! If you could give me some info for us to see it on the internet it would be great or PM any info on it.

[Sarges Dad]

Originally Posted by FLGAL76

Thanks for your response Southlander. I do appreciate it! A few more queshtions if you don't mind or anyone else that can be a help I sure would appreciate it. When your say the Manufactured Homes are more in the rural parts are you meaning out far away from the city area? How far of a drive to get into the city? We have seen some 3/2 on a half acre or more for around $50-70,000. This would be a starter home for us but we do have children that would need to attend school and wouldn't want to be to far out from shopping,restraunts,schools and also in a good safe area. We are all for a regular home but would want something that is affordable but in good areas. We have seen some regular homes for sale in that same price range but just not knowing if they are in bad areas or not so we will be making a trip up hopefully by this weekend or this week. Were just real excited about getting out of Florida!

Usualy you can find land with a mobile home out side city limits with 10 t0 20 minutes of ammenities you desire. Hard to find land to out one on thought. I built a house on 7 acres of unrestricted land so in the future if I need to take care of my parents if they get older or want to help my daughter with a starter home I could put one here. Land is becoming a premium here.