Price/comparison

[Jim]

Ok...First of I am in So. Calif. (where the home prices are raising 20% a year) which has the manufactured home retailers getting top dollar or more for units.

Can anyone give a comment on purchasing a manufactured home; since each dealer wants to recommend the brand(s) they are selling, it is difficult to get
a true comparison.

So far I have looked at:

Silvercrest
Fleetwood
Karsten
Hallmark
Cavco

I am looking to buy an upscale model...2000 + square feet. The prices I am being
quoted are between $125,000 to $165,000.

However, I have received info from a "discount" dealer that has a Model I like
for $73,000 (plus upgrades and delivery and setup). The local dealer is asking
$125,000 plus upgrades for a similar model...different manufacturer)

My inclination is to go for the $73,000 deal. In this case I would have $50,000
difference I could put into upgrades. and still come out better.... only issue is that I have been told that the mfg of the $73,000 deal is difficult to work with on doing changes and so forth.

[John]

I have been looking for homes that lenders have foreclosed on, I have seen homes as new as the Late '90s that have the features we like/can live with/can change on our own in the future, but don't have the price tag of a new home, costs including the possible removal of an existing home and the wait time for the new home to be delivered, setup, and deemed safe to move in. The way I see it, if I can find a home that comes close to what we are looking for in terms of features and location; we would save enough $$ on the home to make any changes we deem necessary after we move in, on our own schedule.. It's even been suggested that we might be able to include the cost on the lot lease so it would be prepaid for a number of years; although I don't know how true/legal this might be. I have also been looking at homes located in resident-owned parks; that way, we own the land and have a say in park operations..

Yes, I too live in So Cal and we are.afraid of the real estate market, such as it is, being a seller's market pricing most things in places we would like to live simply out of our budget (not a good thing).

Just my thoughts