Thanks, Owner of new Karsten Home.

[Jannis]

Hello,

I would like to thank the people who have shared their experience with Karsten Home of New Mexico. I just purchased a new home from them 3 weeks ago and had it delivered to my property in Utah. The dealer was very good and the service received was excellent. He told me it was one of the best home coming out of New Mexico and told me not to listen to any thing about the floor construction. I was told it had spacers in between the floors that keep it together and I believe they are right. This is my first Manufactured Home and I am proud of it. The is like luxury to me, better than the home I used to own in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dormers over the windows, ceramic tile in kitchen and counter tops, skylights, 2x6 sidewalls, architectural shingles, watershut off thru out, 6:12 pitched roof, wrap around porch, 9' flat ceiling height, and top it off very residental style home and doesn't look like a factory built home at all. Again Thank you very much.

[r murray]

Nice to hear from a happy camper...ENJOY your new home...

Stop back to these forums from time to time to help others....

[Travis]

I noticed you lived in Utah and was wondering why you went with a Karsten Home vs. the others like Champion, Marlette, Fleetwood, or Kit? We are looking at Manufactured homes and was wondering how all of these compare. I have ordered the books which are available. I am also interested in others opinions who have been down the road we are thinking about traveling.

Thanks for any help.

[L Jane]

Sounds like a great testimonial! What is involved with purchasing a manufactured home from out-of-state? I had never considered this as an option, just imagining what kind of condition one would be in having been hauled for such a distance. Wasn't the delivery expense high? I would like to see these homes, do they have a website? Best of luck with your new home! L. Jane

[Charlotte Maness]

Try www.thekarstenco.com

[Travis]

LJane,
Out in the west there are only a few states which actually make a manufactured home. Utah is not one of them. So, when a person buys a home to have it delivered it actually comes from another state. My brother in law just bought a Marlette home and it came from Oregon to Utah. It is actually in really good shape for being hauled the long distance.

[Jannis]

L. Jane

Hello, Just for your information. The home was shipped from New Mexico with shipping braces every 6' apart in the wide open spaces. At each end of the home their was steel plates at the top and bottom of the home that was screwed into the microlam beam and the endwalls and the same with the floor to the endwalls. They told me the home doesn't flex down the road because it has a full 12" I beam every 4' apart thru out the center of the two I beams, this giving it more streangth to the chassis. My home only had 3 minor cracks above the doors and along the tower windows. The home was preready for foundation which was placed over crawlspace foundation. Also, I looked around at other manufactures, Marlette Homes, Fuqua Homes, Nashua Homes, and Silvercrest Homes and none of them was like the Karsten Home which really had nice floor plans and residential style. So Good Luck!

[L Jane]

Thank you for the thorough description of how they prepared your home for transport! And I appreciate the website information that Charlotte sent. I shall now go visit their site. I suppose living in the heart of manufactured homes does have its advantages though one tends to get a bit "light headed" after looking at all of them. Thanks to Randy's comparison guide. . .it's a far more pleasureable experience when talking with a dealership. I'll have to share this with everyone. We were out looking last Friday. A couple came through the unit we were in and spent a grand total of 2 minutes. His wife said she liked it. . .he said "It looks like a trailer to me!" She asked him what made it look like a trailer. His response, are you ready for this? "The rooms are long and narrow." I was going to mention Randy's comparison guide but opted not too. After all, you cannot tell a know-it-all anything, and I'm afraid he knew it all! Thanks Randy for the great book! L Jane

[r murray]

Unfortunately there are all too many customers like you saw...These are the folks that later will be bad mouthing someone or some dealer,,,I see "these" folks everyday...Eventually they will find someone to take their money..Then it will be everybody elses fault....Everyone will be a crook...No home is woth anything..

Consumer education is the trick...Randy's (or other books like it), forums, newsgroups, web sites and literature all make your ownership much more pleasurable..

Good Luck with your new home..