Let's Talk Mobile (or Modular) Homes

[PastorPaul]

One of the options we are looking at if building a house won't work, is to buy a double-wide mobile or modular home. We have some very reputable dealers in the Jeff City and Columbia area who frequently get in used mobile homes at great prices.

Our thought was to buy one of these, put it on a basement on a lot just outside of town, and when we can afford it build a garage. That would provide us fast housing at a price we might be able to afford. By putting it on a basement instead of a pad with skirting, or just a crawlspace foundation, we gain additional living space -- in particular some shop space -- and some protection from severe weather. That's a bit of a concern for me after looking over the top of the church a few years ago and seeing a tornado coming our way.

I realize that you have to be cautious in buying mobile homes, new or used, because some of them are little more than cardboard boxes with doors and windows attached.

My question is: How feasible is this solution? I realize that we will have probably have to add a closed in porch or utility room to give access to the basement, unless the double-wide has an area where a stairway could be added without compromising the structural integrity of the framework.

I would really like to hear the pro and cons about this idea, as well as just any suggestions related to making this work. Time is running short fast, and the rental options don't look to good. Besides, I dearly miss my four-legged buddy and most rental property around here won't allow pets. I wouldn't want to get between my wife and the guy who tells her she can't keep her cat! Not only that, but sleeping on our daughter's couch with all our belongs in storage doesn't sound very appealing.

Let'er rip boys!

Pastor Paul

"If they don't have woodworking in heaven, I ain't going!!!"

[RSK]

>One of the options we are looking at if building a house
>won't work, is to buy a double-wide mobile or modular home.
>We have some very reputable dealers in the Jeff City and
>Columbia area who frequently get in used mobile homes at
>great prices.
>

This is something we looked at as well a few years ago. We ended up differently for a number of reasons, but it's not entirely a bad idea.


>Our thought was to buy one of these, put it on a basement on
>a lot just outside of town, and when we can afford it build
>a garage. That would provide us fast housing at a price we
>might be able to afford. By putting it on a basement
>instead of a pad with skirting, or just a crawlspace
>foundation, we gain additional living space -- in particular
>some shop space -- and some protection from severe weather.
>That's a bit of a concern for me after looking over the top
>of the church a few years ago and seeing a tornado coming
>our way.

Don't forget to include the costs of these other options. A basement costs more to construct then a slab & there is more work involved (read: money) in putting one on a basement.

I'm glad I moved back north....I don't miss tornados at all.


>I realize that you have to be cautious in buying mobile
>homes, new or used, because some of them are little more
>than cardboard boxes with doors and windows attached.

Some of the newer pre-fabs are actually built as well or better then on-site construction. But be careful of used homes. Once they settle in for a few years, they don't adjust well to moving and re-installing. This shouldn't be a problem if you are buying it on location.


>My question is: How feasible is this solution? I realize
>that we will have probably have to add a closed in porch or
>utility room to give access to the basement, unless the
>double-wide has an area where a stairway could be added
>without compromising the structural integrity of the
>framework.

Some things to think about are land, running services to the site, and delivery & set up. I've looked at a number of the buildings that seemed very reasonable, but don't forget the figure everything else in.

I have seen some double-wides do have basement stairs - generally as a special order & you have to give up a closet, but they do have them.


>I would really like to hear the pro and cons about this
>idea, as well as just any suggestions related to making this
>work. Time is running short fast, and the rental options
>don't look to good. Besides, I dearly miss my four-legged
>buddy and most rental property around here won't allow pets.
> I wouldn't want to get between my wife and the guy who
>tells her she can't keep her cat! Not only that, but
>sleeping on our daughter's couch with all our belongs in
>storage doesn't sound very appealing.
>
>Let'er rip boys!
>
>Pastor Paul
>
>"If they don't have woodworking in heaven, I ain't going!!!"



Best of luck to you and I hope you find this helpful

[doo_hicky]

Hi PP.

Another concern might be re-sale value of a DW mobile home, if you go this route for the interim of building your own. A couple of years ago when me and my wife were looking at DW mobile and modular houses we asked alot of ???? and got some really good answers. Most of these types of homes have provisions built in to accept stairs in such instances of putting them on a foundation. They typically are/can be discuised as a hall closet. If you have a manufacture close by, a tour would be a good idea. With HUD standards being what they are today I don't know if there is any real need for concerns. Most of the houses being built today use 2x6 construction. These homes have to adhere to the HUD standards. If you have found and older DW home be careful in the purchase because this happened to us: When we went to sell our DW(granted it was 18yrs old) we found out that the banks would not give anybody a loan for it because of the age and because it did not have the HUD endorsement on it. The only way were able to sell it was at a 30% loss of what we paid for it(not including the updates) to a cash offer.

Another possibility could be habitat for humanity?

The one thing nice about manuf homes are once they are there you can move right in, it seems that now of days they come completely furnished with the major appliances. We checked the price differences of getting w/or wo and purchasing the appliances on our own and it was actually cheaper to get them with the house.

Just something to think about.

Mike

[Bob Crosley]

Pastor,
My sister and husband opted for a new DW instead of a home. This was 4 years ago. But they're in a park.

Generally, I'd recommend against it for the resale and depreciation issues others have mentioned. If you sell, you will have to disclose that it is a DW, not a stick built house.

But my bigger concern for you would be reliability. Now I have no idea what they paid for theirs, or where it is on the quality scale, but it does seem to be going downhill pretty fast. Just little stuff, but things that need fixing nonetheless.

In contrast, our modest stick built house which was built 4 years ago is holding up much better. More importantly, thanks to property values, it's now appreciated 22% over what we paid for it, just 4 years ago.

Better to make your sawdust creating something new than fixing something!

Take care and best of luck to you,
Bob

[daveferg]

Pastor Paul, from what I've seen, there's a vast difference between "mobile" and "modular." Had friends with a very nice double-wide, but former in-laws had a modular---you could hardly tell it from a stick-built house. But, with either, I would HIGHLY recommend not getting into any rental park situation--too hard to control your costs.

I think your tornado concerns are legit'---would seem to me that some group or agency has done studies on survival rates of various types of structures---of course, we're talking about glancing blows---don't think much of anything can survive in the direct path of a big one.

[dicklaxt]

There is a Modular Home Company that builds and delivers to be set on your basement walls. The exterior walls are 2 x 6 stick construction> It is a turn key deal when they leave the site, you just move in > I looked at one of their models,with my sister in Lansing ,Michigan a few years ago . This was a permanent home not a douuble wide on a basement structure. I'll bet you can find them or a similiar company with a google search,,,,,,,,search for "modular homes"

dick

[Bob Crosley]

Excellent point. From what I could find the terms are defined by their industries as such:

Mobile: You know what this is, the traditional "Mobile Home Park" home. This term is somewhat out of date (as is Trailer)and the industry prefers "Manufactured."

Manufactured: See Above. :) Same thing, but now we call them Manufactured homes and put them in Manufactured Home Communities.

Modular: This is a process by which most of the house is built using traditional construction methods at a factory. Then it's partially disassembled, trucked to your site and put on your slab or your basement. You wind up with something much closer to a stick built home, but can save up to 30% off a site built home.

When we bought our house, we were looking at Modular homes. You can get a wide variety of styles including 2 story homes. The quality can be quite good. They often use cost saving methods like engineered floor joists rather than traditional 2x16's but they meet all codes and appreciate in value like a house rather than depreciate in value like a manufactured home.

Problem is finding them. The terms aren't clear cut and the Manufactured home industry likes to pass itself of under the term "modular" home also. But if you dig, you can get a nice house in a shorter time and save some money too.

Bob

[dicklaxt]

Hers a starting point,,,,,,,,,,,,,,46 dealers in your state

http://www.patriothomes.com/main.html

dick

[jimpen]

I purchased a 3 year old modular home mounted on a crawlspace almost 3 years ago. The house is now about 5 1/2 years old. It has some minor prolems that have had to be addressed, luckily I have been able to do most of it myself.

Before I bought I was already looking at modulars. We went to look at modular homes at a dealership.

This particular dealership had a 1400 SQ FT 4 BR 2.5 bath with a large living room/dining room, gas fireplace, options on the furnace and water heater (gas/electric) and the back door designed to put a porch/foyer and stairwell for the basement. It could be mounted over a basement, crawlspace or slab. The dealership said they could also mount on a half basements and crawlspace or slab. It was a January beat the taxman sale for about $47,000. And they will deal on the prices like a car dealership.

The dealership had free shipping (couple hundred miles) and setup on your foundation, could arrange financing for the whole project, had lists of reputable contractors in region it serviced.

This dealership has a satisfaction guarantee on the house. After they set it up you would make a list of all the minor things that are wrong with the house and then supply the list to them around the ninety day mark. They will come out and fix the problems.

I couldn't bring the numbers in for the below $120,000 for the particlar lot I was looking at. That was paying for the lot, a basement, water (well), septic tank, gravel for a driveway and other costs. But a lot of that can fluctuate depending on who you know (i.e. one of your parishioners does basements/cement work and will do it for about cost).

I ended up buying my 1200 SQ Ft 3 Bed 2 Bath modular on 6 acres with a pole barn and other out buildings out in the country (15 Miles to the nearest small city) in the high $80s.

The thing to note with most modulars:

The modulars generally sit a little higher at interior floor level than stick built homes.

The doors and windows are generally not the same standard sizes as for stick built homes.

A lot of the windows are lower to the ground on the interrior. (This makes them the right height from the exterior.)

The faucets are generally the same type used in RV and mobile homes (i.e. hard to find the bonnets and stems at Lowes/HD).

The pipes/plumbing that don't need to be copper or hi-temp PVC are pecs (sp) pipe. You need special tools and clamps to work on them. And about five feet beyond the hot water heater the copper goes away and becomes pecs pipe.

My house does not have cutoff valves for the shower stall and both bathtubs, that I can find. There are cutoff valves for all the sinks and toilets.

Most are triple grounded per code as opposed to single grounding. I had to change the plug on my 220V dryer when I moved.

The way mine is constructed on the crawlspace, it has insulation and a vapor barrier that conceals all the wiring, plumbing and cabling. This is a major pain as I want to rewire/add phone jacks to the house. I would suggest you make sure you get everything preinstalled where you think you want it.

I have one floor panel that is squeaking/drooping. I don't know the cause as I would have to pull up carpet/ and or pull the insulation bottom liner out of the crawlspace.

I have caught a few mistakes/problems that obviously were screw ups at the manufacterer, and the prior owner did not catch/fix. The shower stall splash rail was put in backwards. (Water was running down the hall after every shower :( ). The particle board under the one bathroom sink doesn't have the glue-on veneer applied/showing. The cabinets are some sort of plastic/compressed board with a wood grain glue-on veneer that is peeling wher we always grab at the door-edge v. using the door knob.

Most smart lending companies will give you a loan on a new/newer modular. How many stick built homes were designed and constructed to be pulled down the highway at 45MPH.

Shop around for insurance. I called Allstate and the numbers that came back were $1800. I went to Grange for about $800 and they haven't jacked it severely yet.

All in all though, I am satisfied with the house.

I would suggest that you try to squeeze a new modular as opposed to used. Just to get that new house feeling, and if you can find a dealership that will back the product.

I don't know what numbers you are looking at but I'm throwing in what little knowledge and experience that I have.

I know this got long.

Jim.

[Keystone]

PP

Up here we have a pre-fab house sold by a company called Design Homes. These house, when set onto a foundation, are treated the same when it comes to resale as a site built home. It is near impossible to tell the difference. They are 2X6 walls etc. They also have "basement" homes that are set up to go onto a basement. Prices start @ 70K, plus land and foundation. So, depending on those costs, one could have a new home for somewhere around 120K for 1600 SF of Living Space. A site built of the same configuation on the same land would run $140K