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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,156 posts, read 80,258,802 times
Reputation: 57011
Quote:
Originally Posted by thinkalot
It is the replacement for a trailer. Will never be thought of differently.
Yes, a step up but still not the same as a home built from the ground up stick-by-stick on site in the eyes of most home buyers. There's nothing wrong with them, it's just a perception that will probably be around for many years.
Until banks, HOA's and others treat manufactured / mobile homes (trailers) the exact same as real property, they will always be viewed as slightly second class and addressed as such.
What caused your stress about it? I can imagine, if I spent the money to buy a brand new manufactured and everyone was calling it a "trailer", it would annoy me. Is that what's happening here?
I don't really care...my folks live in a classic double wide 1979 metal lap-sided trailer, my daughter lives in the 1954 single wide right next door, and we live in a 26 foot travel trailer in the driveway. We have jokingly named that whole thing "The Trailer Trash Commune".
Mobile homes are still being built. A mobile home is a manufactured home that is not on a permanent foundation. We have several companies in Oregon that build manufactured homes. Some are bought and placed in our local mobile home parks and are called mobile homes, and some are put on a permanent foundation on land and called manufactured homes. Not sure why you think they aren't being built anymore.
A modular home is called a modular home, and is different than a manufactured home, although it is manufactured in a factory too. Modular homes need to follow residential building codes like site built homes, where manufactured homes just conform to HUD standards and are built on a permanent chassis. They are NOT the same thing. They are constructed differently.
Until banks, HOA's and others treat manufactured / mobile homes (trailers) the exact same as real property, they will always be viewed as slightly second class and addressed as such.
What caused your stress about it? I can imagine, if I spent the money to buy a brand new manufactured and everyone was calling it a "trailer", it would annoy me. Is that what's happening here?
I don't really care...my folks live in a classic double wide 1979 metal lap-sided trailer, my daughter lives in the 1954 single wide right next door, and we live in a 26 foot travel trailer in the driveway. We have jokingly named that whole thing "The Trailer Trash Commune".
Modular homes ARE treated the same as site built homes by lenders because they conform to building codes. Manufactured homes are treated as manufactured homes because they conform to HUD standards.
When I was looking to build, I visited modular model homes. They were nice but it felt off. It didn't feel like a true stick built home. You can tell where they put the sections together despite all the pretty trim they used. And plus it felt cheap to me. I can't explain it. I much prefer a stick built or concrete block personally.
We have a whole community of modulars here right near me. I just did five by-law cleanups for a friend of mine, as the three realtors we saw knew very much what a modular is, and I see their point of view. If they have a solid client they can sell a "real" home for 50% more in our market. I can't blame them, as fifty for sale signs are still up after a year and only two have sold, along with four or five defaults on beater/dropper homes. From my friend the owner, she's taken loving care.
From the owner side, this particular home has a $70. a month utility bill! It's been kept up immaculately and no one has beat up the flooring. Just installed a brand new water heater (home original was built in 1992), redid the balcony to code, permitted all the work the "hex" and "dear departed" had done for "kash" without a permit. Hint: don't do that.
What don't I like? It's dark in winter (home is in a "holler") and screams for bay windows. You can't upgrade these places easily and watch contractors that say they can.The floor feels in places like joists need attention (boing, boing). A dance floor? Plumbing wasn't furred out, so both bathrooms could be redone tres chic. Large furniture doesn't fit.
Having said that, all in the place will never be more than $250,000 no matter what you do. That's an entry level place for a young couple, or a retired couple, your only real market here, (the land of newly weds and nearly deads). The place cannot be even listed by a normal realtor without these permits done. Using inlaws and outlaws and all the pulled materials, everything was done for $3,000 INCLUDING ALL THE BOOZE.
It'll be listed cometh the spring, and before the next federal election. I grew up in trailer parks and loved the experience.
This is not a trailer, and I'd take it over several old homes right around the corner.
Location: Somewhere gray and damp, close to the West Coast
20,955 posts, read 5,511,732 times
Reputation: 8559
Lived in a modular home less than 2 years old. Bottom line, I felt like I was living in a trailer.
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