We decided on a land home package deal for us! (Casper: sale, 2009)

[shadowwalker]

I finally got so tired of looking at over priced, junk or housing having future problems.
I stumbled on a home package with a 2008, 1570 sq. ft. Manufactured home. They are going to put it on a little over 2 acre lot with no covenances. It's fenced on three sides and we signed the paperwork last Tuesday. They will handle all the permits, do the foundation and set the house, build three decks around it, water well, sewer, driveway, set the electrical and bringing in the circular driveway. They are also flattening me off a spot for a 30 x 56 garage/workshop. It is less than 1/8 of a mile off paved road by well maintained dirt road. I researched the company and only found raves for them from past customers and my brother and his family included.
All for just under $150,000.00
Now I have been doing back flips and jumping hoops for information from the zoning, planning, and believe it or not fire department just to submit a draft for the garage. I'd for got how slow the grinding rusty wheels turn around here for the self important people that work for the county. Oh and the official website with all this information won't open the last pages with the information for me anyway, so I have to call and do face to face with them. Ha,ha.
I do realize there are valid reasons for some of it.

[Froggie Legs]

Congrats! Can I ask a question... what are covenances and what do they do if attached to a property?

[shadowwalker]

They are usually a set of rules set up in a subdivision that could regulate everything you are allowed to do. How many houses, how big, how its made, allowed animals on property and amounts of them. Business or no businesses, what you can have for improvements or even yard ornaments at one place we looked at. And I heard alot of things like "grandfathered in". Thats where you get to buy a new property and adhear to all the new restrictions, pay full inflated price for it, and both your neighbors lands look like the town in Deliverance or the worst of in Trailer Court monthly magazine and you have to put up with it. Because they were there before the housing association was set up with their new rules.
Now if the area is new and everybody has to adhear, I guess that's fine, most of them come with a monthy or yearly fee for upkeep of the roads, rules etc.
I am not going to the extra expense and trouble to live outside of town and then have a bunch of rules to meet also. The stuff set up by the state,county are enough.

[GEORGIAINMT]

ShadowWalker,
What town will you be near? We ALMOST got a manufactured home/land deal here in Gillette but now we're thinking of going with a new construction stick built home with a basement. The resale value is just better for 15-20 years down the road when we retire just in case we decide to leave Gillette. This has been a crazy process! I'm sure you feel the same way. Too many options and not knowing which direction to go! I do know that the manufactured homes we were considering are just beautiful and the brand new 2008 models are discounted a lot. I'm happy you found what you were looking for! Best wishes to you!

[quietlake]

Hey - Share contact info of the selling company? Sounds like a good deal. Thanks!

[shadowwalker]

Sorry about that, it's East Side Homes in Casper. They are down by the Post office on Walsh drive, just across the entry street. They put together packages as well as sell manufactured homes for setup on your land.
Now there is a big difference between Manufactured, Modular homes and of course Mobile homes.. Manufactured are supposed to increase in value. Modular and mobile don't.
Manufactured is built with the same rigid specs as stick built. The hand out paper work has ours at 2x6 constructed walls,R-13 walls, insulated attic, above grade fixtures and cabnets, rounded corners, etc. They are upgraded on building specs about every 5 years. Modular and mobile are like trailer houses in quality and specs.
When we got our loan approval and started looking we found out right away that some loan companies won't lend money on modular and mobile home. And won't loan on anything not on a foundation.
Eastside mobil homes regularly put together land/home packages on acreage up to 20 plus acres.
And beleive me having someone else act as general manager putting together all the utilities and such is worth it to me. And they help with your financing and have many ways to do it.
My brother is buying a second one from them and I have been in three that friends have bought from them. They all hold up well to the family wear and tear. They have been in business in casper for over 6 years and are great to deal with. Their number is 234-8600.

[Kristynwy]

Actually Modular homes have an attic crawl space and many other features that a stick home has, and are built to some of the stick home standards and do appreciate in value from the research I did when we were considering doing a land/home package a while back...

Some Manufactured homes aren't built to that standard and some are. It really depends on the company you go with. I have a couple of books. One book I have rates every single manufactured home dealer out there. It was a wonderful resource.

For example Bonnavilla homes are what is considered "high-end" manufactured homes with a lot of what would be considered an "upgrade" with some companies a standard with their company... They are rated 9 out of 10 on the scale....

But Fleetwood was rated like 5 out of 10, and come with more standard features that are less like stick built homes.

The only difference between a Manufactured and a Modular, is about 4-5,000+ more for a Modular home. Modulars are always put on foundations as well, I am pretty sure. Or even more if you add more upgrades to the home...

[GEORGIAINMT]

I have to agree with Kristy. We did a lot of research on manufactured/modular homes, too. All of the dealer we've talked to in Billings, Gillette and Rapid City have all told us the opposite of what Shadow was told in Casper.....as far as financing, structure, etc. Also, we found that modulars are way more expensive, more like $10K+ more than manufactured for the same home, only mod instead of man.

[Claim Jumper]

A Modular is stronger than most any stick built and is considered just like a site built home--value will go up / manufactured are ok but will depreciate almost like a mobile home but not as bad. Beware of mobiles/older mobiles if you need to sell LATER banks usually shy away-limiting your sale ability later!
Modular homes are state code built-every state has different building codes. Manufactures are a national building code. A modular home gets inspected just like a site built home. All in all manufactured homes (depends on co. ) can be just as nice as a modular.
Great deal and congrats on your new place.
I have 11.33 acres in Cody--my only subdivision rule-stick built or modular-no manufactured homes. Rules can really get stupid in subdivisions right down to the length of grass your acreage can have-from the height how tall to how short(BE AWARE OF RULES some require min sq ft home etc.). I was looking into 10 acres up the South Fork in Cody and the rules were so lengthy and stupid I passed. That was in late 2006--now 2009 and only 2 of the 4 parcels have sold.
If you are thinking on buying land here is a tip I learned--once you see something you are pretty sure you want-put $ down and hold with contingencies --in other words how much will power cost (f you need to bring power or road work? Will it perk for septic? (if needed) etc. If you do not do your homework you could end up spending more than you anticipated. If you don't do the contingencies someone could do it while you are hem hawing around-trying to find out if its build able & afordable -meanwhile someone else buys it while your tire kicking-Be sure to work with a realtor and make provisions on what costs factor will leave you an out-you get your money back. In other words if power road septic costs to much--i think you must state what cost you can afford-if its reachable-then you do it.

I think shadowWalker got a modular just got the 2 names mixed up

[shadowwalker]

Ok, You are all right, I did get things mixed up. I relooked our stuff over. We got the modular, and the brochures we got on the house are all modular. Oh, I'm just a guy. The big thing about the whole land and house deal for me is I get a garge/shop and greenhouse and some fruit trees. The house is just some place to watch tv, eat and sleep. Ha,ah,ha.