Factory Built homes, your experiences please (San Angelo, Buda: real estate, prebuilt, loans)

[Sparky13]

My wife and I are semi-retired, we are in the process of selling the home we built 30 years ago here in Kansas City, Missouri. I am a Heating, cooling and electrical businessman/serviceman. We have been Wintering at South Padre for 5 years, and want to move to Texas, we think a 'Factory built' home will be great for us, I will build a garage/shop and attach it with a breezeway. We toured a factory in Buda, I like the way they build them, and the inexpensive result. We will landscape it, so it will not stand out in a field on visible blocks...
Has anyone here bought and lived in one? I would like to find out about the good, and bad of such a home.
We think at this point we would love the San Angelo area, for the dry climate. I am SICK of the Missouri humidity, I have worked out in it for 35 years; enough...
Your input on this, (and the area) would be much appreciated.
We also have a Montana 5th wheel trailer.

[ChristieP]

Good: they are inexpensive.

Bad: they are cheaply built and will depreciate just like a car. Owners of these houses have a LOT of problem reselling them because the VA and FHA will not write loans for them, so you have to find a cash buyer. Many cities do not allow them in the city limits, so you have to live in an unincorporated area. I would *NEVER* live in one of these homes near San Angelo due to the poetntial for severe weather there. Manufactured homes are NOT safe to be in in a tornado, and you're actually told to LEAVE them in a tornado warning!

[Sparky13]

Christie, thank you for your reply and opinion.
In our tour of the plant, it seemed to me that the construction practices, and materials used, were quite good. I will look into the financing aspect of resale.
Christie, if we did not have a basement here in our site built home, I would not try to ride out a Tornado in it either. We are right in 'Tornado Alley' here. I will have to build a Tornado shelter when we move down there, as I hear you folks don't have many in the homes.
Take care, and thanks again.

[texdav]

I have several friends who retired and bought land and had a factory built home moved on the property. These were people that had owned modern custom built homes over 2500 Sq ft before . Many owned serveral homes when working. The prebuilt home was like 1900 sq ft and came in two peices. The walls were 2X6 construction with very good insulation and their heat ;cooling bills were low.They all put them on concrete slabs with a moisture barrier. Frankly they look alot like a house built on site and have crawl spaces insulated and all. The main difference I could see was cost really from being built at a factory. Not a custom home but eqaul to many boxes being built now days for over 100,000 on small lots and pretty poor construction and fittings.Definite suitable for soemone who wants to stay were they like for their last years and be abe to do other things.As far as tornadoes ;I also would have a shelter rather than a box home because none are really safe.I have a friend who moved back to his home town in a torando alley area and that is the first thing he did before moving in; have a shelter built.

[Sparky13]

texdav,
Thanks for your informative and kind reply. With my construction background, I was impressed with the quality of the homes built in the factory. The walls are nailed, glued and screwed down to the floor. I think much of the 'overbuild' has to do with making them suitable for travel over the highways to the final destination.
They get a bad 'rap', (for one reason) because many folks just leave them on the blocks in a field somewhere out in the open. If we go that route, I will make it look like a site built home, and have it be something we are proud of.
We visited a real estate company's web site today and looked at many dozen homes, some with land. We are open to either route at this time.
I will contact an appraiser tomorrow and get our home appraised, so I can sell it.
We have worked on it like dogs for two month's 'sprucing' it up.
We are very excited about our relocation to Texas, the 5 years we have spent Wintering and traveling the state has been all positive, we love Texas and the Texans in it, we hope to measure up to the standard you folks have set.
Thanks again.
Sparky