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You'll have to excuse me but I have NO idea what a "BFE" is. Other than THAT I have to tell you, I've done a ton of homework. Even working with a lender out of Bellingham and now a dealer out of Lyndon. Both are quite sure I CAN do this for at or under the $200K budget. A 3br, 2ba, "Energy Star" rated manufactured home with a single car garage on a 1/3 acre lot in a 55+ community where you OWN your land, not lease or rent it. The lot is $37K and I've been told since ALL the utilities are right there on the street (yeah paved) the dealer said instead of 60K-80K for prep of the land it would be closer to $30K. With our downpayment it would be doable so no need to tell me I'm dreaming. You have to do a lot of homework and research but these places DO exist. Now it's just a question of sitting down with them and hammering out the details. This isn't going to happen till first of May so plenty of time to lay the ground work for this. You folks just give up way too fast
Well the B is for Bum, and the E is for Egypt. One way to meet your budget would be to go very rural, such that a few acres of land would not cost much. But that is not where you seem to be headed.
I don't know about these "planned communities" - you end up all in each other's business, since you are in high-density housing, really. All you need is one SOB and it's not a great place to live anymore.
What you are doing here does not meet my definition of "A NEW house on my own land". It's a glorified trailer in a glorified trailer park. If that's what you want, OK, great.
There is no doubt in my mind you will have HOA fees that will go on as long as you are there - if you are OK with that, then I guess you are OK with that. I would not be.
In MOST of the available so called "Manufactured Home Communities" which are also referred to as "Mobil Home Parks" (man I hate that term let alone environment) you've described them quite accurately. Almost all I've run across were as you described. The one I'm looking at consideration of is actually quite different. The homes actually have some space between them and it's near a river and a almost park like setting. Not the "jammed up against each other devoid of greenery and peace" you otherwise described. This is a scenario where you actually OWN the land (rare as it is to begin with) and the community (which is quite small) has CCR's which from the conversation I had with the VP of the Association, IF (and so far it's never happened) there was some ONE in that community that was NOT adhering to the CCR's they would (and could) be removed. So no worries about keeping things quiet my friend, as foreign as that may seem. No "mobile" types of homes, ONLY Modular or Manufactured residential types allowed and must exceed 1200sq ft. with a garage. 2 vehicles allowed (both must be licensed and running) not the often typical collection of junk cars as I've seen. Many other good things to adhere to. It's the main reason I'm considering it. Also a huge factor is the Gas, Water, Electric AND sewer are right there at the lot, so very minimal cost and impact fees to incur as if I went for the out lying areas it would be HUGE (septic, well and more). So I have a clue here what I'm checking into believe me. it's not BFE to say the least, but it's also not in the middle of the large congestion of a Bellingham scenario either. I'll continue my investigation until I see it won't work either financially or physically.
Well, like I said, good luck, apparently you have found a rare exception to the usual drawbacks of "Mobile Communities" or "Trailer Parks" or whatever you want to call them.
I would suggest reading the CCR's very carefully, maybe even hire a lawyer for an hour or two to go over them with you.
FWIW in Washington State, the old school "trailer" type of mobile home has to be rewired if moved (tight stretched aluminum wire in many has pulled loose and caused fire hazards). This has not resulted in any trailers getting re-wired, instead it has "super-glued" them in place as they were when the law was passed. So none of these would ever be moved into a new park, the re-wiring job would cost more than the shack is worth.
Like I said that type of so called "home" isn't permitted in THIS location. They are manufactured by companies such as Palm Harbor, Kartcher, Skyline and more, and in many cases are more deluxe than most so called custom stick built homes (I know I'm in one of those now). Nothing cheaply done about them. We shall see.
UPDATE: I spoke with the land owner this evening as well as his agent. She is drafting up a contingency offer for me to purchase the lot so that after the 1st of the year I can sell my home in Utah and get the ball rolling up there. So far it looks pretty good. Once the land is nailed down the rest is pretty well figured out. Man this is such a learning experience, but glad I stuck to my guns. If all goes as I plan it, next summer we'll be up there in the Everson area enjoying REAL air and maybe even have some friends for a change. Haven't had those in Utah for the last 23 years. The 2 folks living there in that neighborhood I've spoken to have already invited me to coffee with them ;-) Can't wait!
UPDATE: I spoke with the land owner this evening as well as his agent. She is drafting up a contingency offer for me to purchase the lot so that after the 1st of the year I can sell my home in Utah and get the ball rolling up there. So far it looks pretty good. Once the land is nailed down the rest is pretty well figured out. Man this is such a learning experience, but glad I stuck to my guns. If all goes as I plan it, next summer we'll be up there in the Everson area enjoying REAL air and maybe even have some friends for a change. Haven't had those in Utah for the last 23 years. The 2 folks living there in that neighborhood I've spoken to have already invited me to coffee with them ;-) Can't wait!
So, to recap, where are you going to end up? Near B'ham somewhere?
What kind of longevity do those manufactured homes have? How does the roof hold up in a strong wind? In the Southwest, I see quite a few with tires on the roof, or other items ostensibly to hold the roof down in a windstorm.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcisive
Like I said that type of so called "home" isn't permitted in THIS location. They are manufactured by companies such as Palm Harbor, Kartcher, Skyline and more, and in many cases are more deluxe than most so called custom stick built homes (I know I'm in one of those now). Nothing cheaply done about them. We shall see.
I have 4 of my income props in TX that are high end Manf homes. Saves me ALOT on property taxes!!! a WHOLE lot... but... I can build a custom home MUCH cheaper than they cost new, so I NEVER buy them new. You can get repo / ordered, but 'not delivered' homes @ VERY good deals, but I often buy them used (need to me moved = $3000 - $5000) I get them for 1/2 to 1/3 new cost. I have never paid over $35k for an exquisite quality and condition MH / Modular. (good as new) One was set up as a MIL house and she did not live long enough to move in. It was ADA approved (=Lower taxes / benefit in WA State)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
So, to recap, where are you going to end up? Near B'ham somewhere?
What kind of longevity do those manufactured homes have? How does the roof hold up in a strong wind? In the Southwest, I see quite a few with tires on the roof, or other items ostensibly to hold the roof down in a windstorm.
They are built OK and strapped down, NOT like my neighbor's new modular that blew away one night in Colorado. In the morning there was just the floor, the walls and interior stuff was spread for many miles. I have MH's that frequently survive 80+ MPH winds in the Columbia Gorge (and similar in TX). I know the wind is howling when the neighbor's cast iron deck furniture flies by
I have MH's that are over 50 yr old (still feeding me $1000 - $1800 / month)
UPDATE: I spoke with the land owner this evening as well as his agent. She is drafting up a contingency offer for me to purchase the lot so that after the 1st of the year I can sell my home in Utah and get the ball rolling up there. So far it looks pretty good. Once the land is nailed down the rest is pretty well figured out. Man this is such a learning experience, but glad I stuck to my guns. If all goes as I plan it, next summer we'll be up there in the Everson area enjoying REAL air and maybe even have some friends for a change. Haven't had those in Utah for the last 23 years. The 2 folks living there in that neighborhood I've spoken to have already invited me to coffee with them ;-) Can't wait!
Good for you, escaping that peculiar "culture" that abounds in Utah. I would have never considered a job there, because of that...
Not bad people, but quite cliquish, and given that I don't buy into their lifestyle of 8 kids per couple, yeah, I don't want to be surrounded by them. (That and objectively this drives up property taxes because of the massive schools needed to "educate" their huge broods...)
You are probably eager to sell out of Utah, but, don't sell your house out from under yourself till you are ready to move, me, I would have that new house on site, go check it out, make sure all is right with it, *then* move.
Anyway glad you are able to swing the deal you want to do.
Yeah half the battle was finding a MH dealer with a good reputation. Not many of them around, but this one is 5 Star. As for their construction like ALL homes including stick built, there are good, bad and ugly models and manufacturers to be had. The one I'm looking to do comes with the ONLY 10 year warranty of them all (most are only one year). They have nailed roofing asphalt rated shingle roofs not the cheap stapled types, All the construction easily meets up to typical stick built standards. Tape and textured walls, Energy Star certified throughout, Moen fixtures, granite counter tops, top rated energy efficient windows and more, so I'm not one to criticize MH's in general as it seems others here would love to do. They are living back when they were essentially "mobile homes" which the ones I'm considering are most certainly NOT. They are affixed onto a solid foundation meeting the same requirements of a stick built home in this case. It will have a nice garage as well. So I'll continue to investigate this as we move into the new year. I hope to be in place by next summer.
In MOST of the available so called "Manufactured Home Communities" which are also referred to as "Mobil Home Parks" (man I hate that term let alone environment) you've described them quite accurately. Almost all I've run across were as you described. The one I'm looking at consideration of is actually quite different. The homes actually have some space between them and it's near a river and a almost park like setting. Not the "jammed up against each other devoid of greenery and peace" you otherwise described. This is a scenario where you actually OWN the land (rare as it is to begin with) and the community (which is quite small) has CCR's which from the conversation I had with the VP of the Association, IF (and so far it's never happened) there was some ONE in that community that was NOT adhering to the CCR's they would (and could) be removed. So no worries about keeping things quiet my friend, as foreign as that may seem. No "mobile" types of homes, ONLY Modular or Manufactured residential types allowed and must exceed 1200sq ft. with a garage. 2 vehicles allowed (both must be licensed and running) not the often typical collection of junk cars as I've seen. Many other good things to adhere to. It's the main reason I'm considering it. Also a huge factor is the Gas, Water, Electric AND sewer are right there at the lot, so very minimal cost and impact fees to incur as if I went for the out lying areas it would be HUGE (septic, well and more). So I have a clue here what I'm checking into believe me. it's not BFE to say the least, but it's also not in the middle of the large congestion of a Bellingham scenario either. I'll continue my investigation until I see it won't work either financially or physically.
There is vast difference between a Manufactured home and a mobile home.
I lived in a custom manufactured home for a couple years and it was spaciest and placed on a city lot. I owned both the house and the lot. When I sold I doubled my money in only three years time.
Mobile homes are mostly cramped especially if they are single wide. Double wide have more room but 'usually' but not always placed in Mobile home type parks.
Drawbacks.... mobile homes are placed about 10 feet or so apart. I agree I would be hard pressed to want to live there but a lot of senior citizens on limited income have little or no choice. Mobile parks tend to look old and shabby after several years.
Sequim begin a senior citizen magnet has many mobile home type parks and a couple manufactured type parks and the difference is vast.
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It was ADA approved (=Lower taxes / benefit in WA State)
