Karsten vs. Champion/Redman

[Melissa]

Hi. I am currently considering buying a 28x80 champion from Chandler Arizona (I am in New Mexico). I recently visited a woman who is living in the exact model I want (give or take some options) and it was beautiful and very residential, fully tape and textured, solid wood cabinets and it had a very sturdy appearance next to all the other homes I have seen. In fact she has lived there 4 months with no complaints or service calls!
When I wrote in before asking some other questions I was emailed by someone saying that Champions (and Redmans) are a piece of trash and that I should try Karsten etc. etc. However he specifically mentioned that they are made out of Texas. I spoke with the retailer and she assured me that The Chandler, AZ plant is the "upscale/residential" plant and is not associated with the problems of the other plants. I believe that Karsten makes the floorplan we like too, but that it bumps up the price about $8-10,000. This will probably throw us way over budget! If Champions from Chandler have a decent reputation I would prefer to go that route and stay in budget. Does anyone have any info on Redmans/Champions from Chandler AZ? Any advice or guidence would be appreciated!!

[Terry]

Melissa, The person that told you Champion was trash was me. If you ever gone throughout New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas you will see many Champion homes that are falling apart. Their construction technique really is bad. Their roof would start to sag in and the only support it has is the interior walls. You could see where the walls are placed and this is where you will see a hump. It's up to you to make that decision for yourself. And by the way, I've toured the Redman plant in Chandler, Arizona. Their homes are'nt quite to my expectation. I've see they use a cheap paper board type of siding that warps and buckles out and this isn't qualilty and which I've seen in Flaggstaff, AZ on one of their homes. They use cheater studs 2x2 walls for the interior and 24" o.c. I would prefere 16" o.c. Have you seen the Solitaire homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico or the Los Lunas retailer. As I recall they had a 28x84' 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths for 64,000.00 delivered any where in New Mexico. The home was tape and textured thru out and plywood floors gridwork in floors and ceiling, one piece tub and shower combol, real wood cabinets. You might check into this also and compare. The Karsten home is a very quality brand but you said budget so that's out of the question at this time. It's up to you for what home you want to settle for if you want the Redmen home make sure you check out some people who live in them and ask them how they like their homes. Good Luck. Just being strait with you.

[Melissa]

Thanks for the advice. How about a higher end Fleetwood? I am trying to get a handle on this whole thing. I really do not want my home to fall apart! Now I am getting scared about buying a MH at all if almost every manufacturer has so much overwhelming negative feedback! The only one I can find that has a good reputation is at least 10,000 over my budget (we are prequalified).
I will look into solitaire hopefully they will have a 5 bedroom. Does anyone know a URL for Solitaire? I tried www.solitairehomes.com but it says they can't be reached...

[Charlotte]

Use the below URL to get to the KARSTEN web site, they have revamped it recently because the last time I was "there" they didn't have the "Classic" homes listed. Worth checking them out.

I still like the KARSTEN homes.

http://www.thekarstenco.com/