How long does it take to place your new home on land?

[Beth]

We are hoping to purchase a new manufactured home and place it on land, but we have to sell our old home first. How long does it generally take from the time you order your new home until it is ready to move into? The thing that concerns us is that we have no place to go between the time our home sells and when our new home will be ready, unless the time frame is not excessively long. If we had to stay in a hotel for 3 weeks or so I guess it would be do-able, but I'm worried about the process dragging on for 3-4 months.

What has been your experience with your homes? Our dealer said it could take 8-10 weeks. Is that average? How did you cope while waiting to move in?

Thanks!

Beth

[Mac]

We placed ours on our land and sold the old one. We had to sell ours earlier than desired because it was heading to Montana, and the buyer wanted to get it in before the snow. We rented a 26' travel trailer and lived there.

The timeframe looked like this:

Site prep and pour slab- a couple days, but the slab needs to cure a week or so.
Actual build at the plant - about a week, but it needed to be added to the production schedule.
Delivery and initial setup - a couple days. But, electricity and water needed hookup, final tape and texture needed to be done, then carpeting. All of these done together in the tightest schedule could be done in a month, I suppose. It does need scheduling, though. If your dealer subcontracts out parts or all of the setup, there are more schedules to work with, perhaps.

Our old house moved in October, the build happened in early December, and we were in just before Christmas. We had an airbed which we inflated / deflated every night so we could sleep inside.

Weather may also be a factor. Last winter was very mild. This winter, there's a foot of snow on the ground, more coming, then a big melt (watch Northwest Oregon on national TV for flood action in about three days). So this year would have been delayed likely a couple weeks.

Hope this helps -

[Charlotte]

I was told that the house could be ready for living in in two weeks but that they, the set up crew would prefer a month. I can't fight with that.

I have asked for a 15 May 2004 move in date so they, the salesman, is counting back 10 weeks for a start date, on the house. We still have to do the "blue print' thing because my floor plan hasn't been done by this company before, I can't wait to see the first draft of the blue prints which should be in my hands in two weeks.

[rmurray]

The time frame varies a lot depending on all that has to be done..

You salesperson is correct that the whole sales process can take 8 to 10 weeks..But some deals are done in as little as 4 weeks...

Most of the 8 to 10 weeks is in the finance process...Credit apps...deal conditions..credit repair..appraisals..title searches..construction qualifing...can all take 4 to 6 weeks easy (of the 8 to 10)...You can start this process NOW...Be prepared to pay the cost of an appraisal up front...If for some reason..if you do not close you will lose this money.....

Once all finance is done...construction time can vary depending on the land prep..Lots that are fully ready for a home will only take 2 to 3 weeks to complete..those that need everything can easily add 3 to 4 additional weeks to the process..

What do you do in the mean time...????????????....Most have to rent a storage area for the furniture...many rent from weekly rental places like Amerisuites..some stay with relatives and test their family relationships..

Some are very lucky and buyer allows them to rent the home they sold for a month or 2.

Good Luck

[Beth]

Hi, thanks for your responses. If you were to buy your land quite a bit before hand (like at least several months before) and had all the basic red tape taken care of and did a lot of the land prep yourself (as in clearing, driveway, that type of thing) how much would that cut down on your wait time for the house to be put up and made liveable? Also, would you be able to combine your loan for your land and your construction loan at that time if you've bought your land before hand? I know you can combine the loans into one mortgage if you buy the land and do the home at the same time, I was just wondering if it still works if you get the land first. Am I making sense, LOL? Thanks!

Beth

[rmurray]

Great idea...If you can find developer financed land..the best idea is to start as soon as possible..
The more you do..the shorter the final process will be..Things that can cause long delays are perk test (some areas this alone can take 2 weeks)..clearing (always bad weather when you are in a rush..)...

As I said..finance arrangements can take the longest..with good planning you can get the whole process down to about 2 weeks when you need it..

There will be no problem in refinancing the original land note with the final loan..

A couple suggestions...

Document all money spent...Often lenders will want to document all of your cash committment..Write checks for every dollar spent on improvements..keep all receipts for every thing spent..You may not need them...but could be handy in some cases...

Go for it...Put the for sale sign out...find a home..apply for a loan..find some land and buy it...Lots of work...MAKE IT FUN

[chase]

one thing though , moving the home onto lot with trucks etc, could do some damage to improvements, a weel , septic{if not in way of spotting home could be done but all landscapes and some itmes of this type should wait. beth, for a home that you could possibly own the rest of your life or say 30 years , for it to be done correctly without rushing,{trust me rushing causes problems} 8 tp 10 weeks will seem pretty insignificant once you are moved in and everything is perfect. two months in a residence inn would be a small price to pay for worry free 30 year mortgage commitment