CAVCO, Litchfield

[ChuckZ]

I am looking at a CAVCO built in the Litchfield plant in Phoenix, AZ. I plan to upgrade the exterior walls to 2x6, add'l insulation,T&T the wet areas, 2x8 floor joists, all electric. What else should I look at upgrading? What have you experienced concerning CAVCO in AZ? Who is a reputable dealer? I've looked at Palm Harbor (they are real proud of their product, the price shows it and the dealer in Buckeye has an attitude problem) and Schult. The CAVCO has the best price, even with upgrades, Schult is not as expensive at the PH and looks like quality. BTW, CAVCO states they install the ABS drain lines below the frame which facilitates grade(draining) and ease of repair...do others? Can you tell me what else to look for? Does CAVCO use standard size home windows? If I wanted to add an attached garage in the future, how difficult is it in a MH?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

[Nancy]

Cavco of Arizona builds very cheap homes. They had their factory shut down in Belen, New Mexico because of HUD violations. Try to look at another home. I live in Silvercity, New Mexico and alot of folks here are buying Solitaire Homes which just opened a factory in Deming, New Mexico. They are marketing their homes into Arizona soon, and is better built than Cavco. Good luck!

[Charlotte]

My brother has a friend who bought a CAVCO and has had nothing but grief from both the dealership and factory, CAVCO would be one of my very last choices.

[Roger C.]

Chuck,

I would avoid the Cavco models coming out of Litchfield and
focus on the Durango models. If you plan upgrading your
house the Durango plant does it all.

I just spent 3 months putting my house together, i priced
out a Palm Harbor, Schultz, Karsten and a Cavco. The
homes were all the same floorplan, same upgrades and
same size and all the bids with tax and air came in around
75K set and delivered.

I dealt with dealers from Flagstaff to Casa Grande, been
to Buckeye Palm Harbor too, LOL. anyways i really
tried to look for the best in these independent dealers,
sorry to say i found that my BS meter ran on high
all the time.

I finally bought the Cavco thru Cavco Retail Group, i
dealt with my housing consultant, factory rep and
divisional manager. I bought my house for 6K less
than any of the independents offered.Get the floorplan
you like in the XL series, if the CRG can do that
model it's the way to go.

Another thing, there's 2 beautiful all electric Karsten
lot models sitting on the Omega lot located in N. Phx.
The dealership is paying on them now. and would
love to get rid of them.One is a K3, the other is a K4,
you can look them up at www.karsten.com.

Good luck and take your time, it's a buyers market
and this industry is in a world of hurt. Get your own financing
and have at it. Don't be rushed and take your time, some
of these guys are real good.

E-Mail me if you need some help and make sure you
get a house with 12" eaves. The monsoons will give
you grief in the summer without them.

Roger C.

[Chuck]

Roger:

Thanks for replying to my questions! You mentioned 12" eaves. Did each of the builders you worked with indicate they could do and approx how much add'l cost? Looks like you went through what I am doing now. When reviewing all the features and building methods of Palm Harbor, Schult and Cavco, what did you determine what the + and - of each was?

I looked at Schult at Buckeye and thought their homes were well built (after I looked at Palm Harbor there). Also I looked at the Oakwood/Golden Harbor but they looked rather poor compared to Palm Harbor and Schult. You mentioned the dealer you went through...do you have a name and phone number?

I also sent some time looking at used homes in various MH parks in the Phoenix area. My impression was for the price they were asking for 3br 2bath homes around 1200 to 1500 sq ft and how they showed, I am better off buying new. In fact I never did see one that was tape & textured, just vinyl.

Since I plan to use my home part time, I am looking at 1100 to 1400 sq ft homes. One last question,between Schult and Cavco, what made you decide Cavco. I assume it was price?

Regards

[Roger C.]

Chuck,

I'll go through these one at a time...

>>

This is an upgrade option, with Cavco it includes 2x6 walls 12" eaves R19
R22 and R49 (walls floors ceiling) Palm Harbor can't do eaves on 30 wides
(just 4") or the 4/12 roof pitch on 30 wides. Karsten is standard, Shultz is
optional.

>>

Palm Harbor + 3/4 T&G plywood floors, nailed gang boxes, blown in
roof insulation. some interior walls 2x4

Palm Harbor - No FHA carpet pads, No eaves or roof pitches on 30
wides, thermoply sheating and 1/4 OSB if you order lap siding.Double
hung hinged interior doors,

Karsten comes standard with everything

Cavco + 12"eaves 4/12 roof pitch , FHA pad, good carpet choice.
hidden hinged hardwood cabinet doors, REAL metal faucets, Tyvek
wrap, 3/8 OSB under lap siding at no additional cost.

Cavco - Gang boxes float, not nailed, only 5/8 T&G OSB floor
upgrade. They use 3/4 cressdeck standard now. 2x3 interior
walls.

You could go on and on here, take your time, be through. There
are so many little details, it can drive you nuts,

>>

I dropped Schult, their parent company is Oakwwod. You can research
the company, the stock symbol is OH. Palm Harbor is PHHM and Cavco
is owned by Centex, symbol CTX. Look real carefully at these companys,
Palm Harbor just warned on earnings, Oakwood is well, a mess??, Centex
is a huge corporation.

>

I don't like the balance sheet of Oakwood, and the floorplans of Shult just
didn't cut it for me. I disliked the kitchens and felt like i was in a maze


Cavco gave me what i wanted, there's nothing i'm really missing on
my spec sheet that i will regret later. I have a little fluff, solartubes,
skylight in kitchen, the rest is all house.

One thing to consider, the train arrives in PHX, the plants all buy
the same product, they take it all back to their plants and put
it together. Vist the PH tempe factory, or the Cavco Durango
plants. These are the "quality" plants. Stay away from the
Marana PH plant or the Litchfield Cavco plant.

I looked at repos and lot models, i bought new. You will get
what you want and if you shop and negotiate you will pay
your price for the home. There's some real winners on these
lot's, what's good for the industry after this crash is they won't
be around anymore, hopefully.

Any other questions, use this Google link and search the
newsgroup. The answers are there.

http://groups.google.com/groups?num=25& ... mobilehome

[susyn]

thanks for the informative post and reference - this is what i'm going through right now and had been swayed from using the durango plant (hmmm....?) i was considering the cle (dealer recommended the es) series. i noticed ph didn't have the eaves and i thought that was odd considering they are so proud of their product (and in this case, one of the 'straightest' dealers i've come across) the dealer for the factory at cavco i talked with made me appreciate used car dealers. can you buy direct if you go visit the factory? the prices i am getting within the same series is also weird - huge variances of $10k for the same plan. i really wonder about this .... they almost make buying anything difficult.

ph seemed more stable as far as that goes. this is it and that is that. seemed a lot straighter forward and less doubt about what would be actually delivered (but haven't ordered yet!)

thx again...