Looking to relocate - mobile/manufactured home? (Pittsburgh, Plum: for sale, 2014)

[tyovan4]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice, as I'm considering potentially selling my house.
I paid $46k for the house in 2014. Current home estimates are a spread: Redfin is $60k. Zillow is $94k. Realtor is $75k. I'm not underwater on the mortgage, and seem to be able to reasonably expect to make a profit.

I'm a single guy, with one kid who I have visitation with. He's in Shaler.
Things are up in the air with a woman, who has two kids. I don't know whats going to happen with her in the future, so I need to proceed with plans as if it'll just be me.

My mortgage/taxes/insurance are currently $400/month. I'd like to stay in this ballpark.
I have some minor maintenance issues with my house that need addressed.
The house is typical Etna/Pittsburgh house in that it is terraced into the side of a hill. I see serious maintenance in the future that I simply won't be able to afford. The house will be needing a new roof - due to the height and the slope of the roof, I'm not comfortable doing it myself. It would be a project, even for professionals, due to the difficulty of getting scaffolding. There's also a large retaining wall that holds up the front yard, etc. I know that I can't stay in this house when I'm elderly (there's 25 steps to get from the sidewalk to my front door) - and that I'd have to get rid of this eventually.

I don't like the density of my neighborhood (if i stretch my arms out, I can touch my house and my neighbor's house at the same time), or the lack of parking. I'm personally not happy with my location. And I see financial difficulties with maintenance that will inevitably be coming down the road. I'd like to get out before those bills come due.

I'm thinking of a manufactured or mobile home actually. Something like that (a one-story home, with a gently pitched roof) I could do comfortably do maintenance on (such as reshingling, etc) without worrying about risking my life and limb. My home now is about 1k square feet, and I'd be comfortable with a similar size - or even a slightly smaller size.

For reasons of cost (living within my current budget) and for the reasons of cost of future maintenance, I'm thinking of a mobile, or manufactured home.
I don't want a lot of land to own - it would be nice just to have enough to be able to throw a football with my son (the amount of land I own now is small, but it is steep... therefore, its quite an effort to maintain, and I can't use it for any real benefit.. I'm also tired of my my next-door neighbor not contributing any maintenance towards our commonly-owned steps). A gravel parking pad for two vehicles would be perfect, I'd really prefer to avoid dealing again with off-street parking.

I won't consider leaving Allegheny County. I would prefer to be north of the Allegheny River, but that is flexible.
We all know I definitely dont want to live in the City of Pittsburgh.

Any advice or suggestions on where to look? All help is appreciated, thanks!

[guy2073]

If you are over 50 you could look into the cloverleaf homes

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by guy2073

If you are over 50 you could look into the cloverleaf homes

Early 30s. Just trying to think ahead - in terms of maintenance costs and the fact that I don't want to be in my 50s and having to go up 25 steps just to get to my front door.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

Early 30s. Just trying to think ahead - in terms of maintenance costs and the fact that I don't want to be in my 50s and having to go up 25 steps just to get to my front door.

It is hard to think of to many places in allegheny county. There are some in west mifflin, greentree and imperial. Imperial is the nicer one. There are places like 422 home sales, they sell repossession homes but you will need to supply your own land but that is not to hard.

[guy2073]

https://www.422homes.com/previously-owned-homes/

[Knepper3]

I do have a decent amount of experience with mobile homes/manufactured homes though have never purchased one. My mother at one point owned a mobile home and my father owned a manufactured home. They both loved them but I will say stepping inside my dad's manufactured home I would not really have known it was not a regular single family home. I also manage project work for FEMA which oversees their temporary housing program mainly through mobile homes. The 2 main items/issues are do you want to own your own property or be in a community? Usually when in a MH park you will not own your property and will pay a monthly lease, good and bad just depends on what you want but you can always place one on your own property IF it is allowed in that area. I have not researched much close the city but I would assume most communities would not allow this until you get further out.
Second main issue is they are considered personal property so you can not get a mortgage on it, you have to get a personal loan kinda like getting a car loan only with larger down payment demands and likely higher rates.

[Knepper3]

If you must stay in the county it will be much harder too unless you plan to buy land in an area zoned for that type of property or buy a MH direct then find a community to lease a lot in. Right now there are 6 MH for sale in all the county and 26 total that have sold in the past year, at least on the MLS market.


I know there are some communities up near Cranberry if you would consider being just over the line, the ones I saw in Allegheny are out near Robinson, Plumb Boro, West Mifflin, Cheswick, though I am sure there are more parks around.

[bluecarebear]

Do your kid a favor and stay single until the kid is out of high school. Shaler is so underrated with one of the best locations in the city. A short drive to...everything! Plus Shaler doesnt have the city feel. The community seems like a cheaper Fox Chapel.

[eschaton]

Others would know more, but my impression is suburban zoning codes usually prohibit mobile homes unless they are in specified areas properly zoned for it (otherwise known as trailer parks).

There are a few areas of the county though where you can find trailers mixed in on residential streets. One example in the north of the city is the Acmetonia neighborhood in Harmar Township, just to the west of Cheswick. It might still be a bit too urban for you however, since there certainly are not multi-acre lots there.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It might still be a bit too urban for you however, since there certainly are not multi-acre lots there.

I don't need a multi-acre lot. As it is now, I can touch my house and my neighbors house at the same time. Its like that on both sides of me.
I'm wedged into a hill with a small lot that is difficult to maintain and that because of its slope I cant even use to throw a football or kick a soccer ball with my son on. I have property that is a hassle to maintain, but that I can't utilize.

I dont mind some density - I just want a small (flat!) yard that my son and I could play in, a little off-street parking pad or driveway for one or two cars, and without needing to go up 25 steps to get in the house. I want a location that I can enjoy now with my son, and also that I can handle as I age (I dont want to think about being 50 or 60 and trying to bring groceries up my steps in the winter) - and where I dont feel like my neighbors and I are living on top of each other in a sardine can.

"suburban" is fine - I dont need '"rural".. but I cant deal with the density of such an urban environment anymore.

I don't need a manufactured home per se.... but I would prefer one compared to my present location.
I'd be content with a one-story ranch house somewhere too.

I just cant deal with living wedged onto the side of a mountain - it presents no benefits (yards that are unusable) and a lot of pitfalls (Im thinking of how expensive it'll be to inevitably re-do the roof, or the fact that any retaining wall repairs are beyond my skillset, etc).

I want something that I can get more utility out of, and that it will be easier and more cost-effective for me to maintain.