Buying a used Mobile Home..TIPS..

[Krystal]

Here's a little something about my experience in buying my first used mobile home....but I still love my house! This is long but PLEASE READ IT!!
I bought a 1977 Fuqua doublewide 3 bed,2 full bath home in Oct. 2003.
I bought it from an older lady who had not done ANYTHING to update it, so it had all the DARK fake-wood paneling, horrible vinyl,etc.
I've re-done the entire kitchen, including the cabinets, the dining room, living room, my daughter's room, and the hall bath was totally gutted and re-done. I still have my bedroom and master bath to do...
While sitting on my deck this spring, I noticed all of these winged bugs all over the place. I went online and found out they were TERMITES swarming like they do in the spring!! When I replaced the carpet in my daughters' room, upon taking the carpet out of her closet, I found the termite mud tunnels all around the perimieter and the previous owner had put PLYWOOD down...Upon prying the plywood up, I found that 1/4 of the entire closet floor was GONE!! Also, the support joist was eaten away! I've now found out that the back THREE support joists need to be totally replaced!!!
The tub in the master bath has leaked for years and down behind the wall into the air duct, which I soon found out was full of MOLD! Also, more than 1/2 the vent ducts in my home aren't connected to the main air ducts under my house so I'm heating and cooling the underneath of my house! Plus all of the insulation has fallen down and is all moldy on the end where the tub leaked.
My point is that from our initial inspection and viewing of the home, we thought it was a great deal and the home had a lot of potential with alot of elbow grease and paint and new carpet & tile.
The things I found are just things you wouldn't think of looking for when looking at a home. (You don't usually say "Hey, can I pull up your carpet in your closets and check out the floor underneath?")
So I would just advise people to make sure to LOOK UNDER THE HOUSE!!!!! You can find A LOT of things about a mobile home by what's going on underneath. Also, don't be shy about pulling a vent cover off and checking the ductwork!
Make sure the insulation is in good condition. Check the sink drainpipes and make sure they're secure . (I found that my kitchen sink drain was held together with electrical tape when I installed and ran my dishwasher the first time!! Water was blowing out all under the sink!!)
Check inside kitchen cabinets and look at the ceiling inside them to find any leaks that can be hidden. (I have TWO areas inside my kitchen cabs where the ceiling used to leak that would NEVER be seen if you didn't look inside the cabinets!)
Check to see that there are no wet areas under the house. Look for small 'nail size holes' in the ceiling, which can indicate termites that have bored through it. (It's happened to me!) Please use my experience to give you some ideas of what to look for that you normally would NEVER think to do when viewing a home!! PLEASE do these things and save yourself a bunch of money and trouble!!
Luckily, I've been able to find a church program who is going to assist me by treating my home to kill the termites, replace all the wood that has been damaged, tear out and remove the insulation and replace it with new, AND replace and repair all of my duct work!!! If not for the church, I would be stuck with a terrible situation and I'd never be able to sell the place because I could never afford to fix these expensive problems!! But...I STILL LOVE MY HOUSE!!
The house has a lot of qualities not found in most mobile homes, especially older homes. I have an arched doorway in the entranceway (which is actually a REAL entranceway, not just a few squares of tile in front of the door!). My kitchen is ROUND! It is the coolest kitchen I've ever seen and there is a curved bar that curves around to separate it from the dining room. I have 25 kitchen cabinets and 9 drawers in my kitchen! That's more than most homes. My 2 regular bedrooms both have huge walk-in closets, one is 4'x5' and the other is 6'x5'.
I have a new roof, new a/c/heating system, deck, 30'x12' patio cover, 6x8 deck WITH a ramp, and I just poured an additional 9x11' herringbone brick patio with mulch and landscaping all around it and an in-the-ground fountain too, BY MYSELF! (I'm a single mom). I only paid $7500 for my house!
I live in a mature community with huge trees everywhere, a fully equipped clubhouse and a wonderful built in pool with a kiddie pool,etc. It was rated the #1 mobile home park in Missouri. I don't regret my purchase, mainly because I'm going to be able to get everything fixed. Unfortunately, most people won't be able to get that assistance and need to be VERY aware of all the things a seller can hide from you when selling a home, things that you wouldn't even THINK of!
So please remember what I found out about my house and CHECK ALL THOSE THINGS OUT before buying a home!!!
I hope I've been able to help at least ONE person from a huge financial mistake!
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Krystal

[rmurray]

Actually the easiest way to find these things is to have a professional home inspector check out the home before you buy...A small fee well spent..

[Karen]

We hired an inspector for the first MH we found that we just loved, come to find out it was the BEST $290 we ever spent...he found the air conditioner did not work & there was water seeping up from a shallow water table underground & it had wicked up the wood siding & was slowly ruining it.....and he found numerous other small things plus gave us a thick book outlining all the problems...needless to say we got our earnest money back & looked elsewhere.