The Manufactured Housing Forums

After a couple of earlier trips to Florida and a lot of time spent surfing MH real estate listings on the Internet glut, I thought I'd ask your opinion on the best way to spend our time in January 2008, to find a snowbird home in central Florida. Somewhere, we think, around Winter Haven / Lakeland but as far south as Bradenton or Sarasota. Obviously, there are thousands of 55+ adult communities in that space, and quite a number of resident-owned and operated ones at that, which is what we'd prefer. What is your advice for the best way to proceed, if we were to come down for a month with check book in hand?

We're not golfers, but do you think a home in a golf community has better resale potential, down the road?

I don't want to get too tightly hooked up with a realtor, because then he/she will only show us their own listings and only certain communities.

Are there "buyer's agents" who know the MH/55+ market who can guide us to the "big picture" ?

There's a State of Florida Web site which advises first-time buyers to rent for the first year to make sure they like the lifestyle before they actually make a purchase. Is this advice practical?

It looks to me as if there are thousands of listings, hence Florida appears to be very much a buyer's market. How realistic are the asking prices one sees in Web listings, and what could one actually expect to pay?

What other advice do you have?

Central Florida is a great place to live.  We moved here thirty years ago to raise our kids in a rural community.  In thoes days this area was occupied mostly by citrus groves, and living on a paved road was the exception.  This section of the state has matured into a wonderful retirement area.

There is a wide selection of communities to choose from depending on exactly what your looking for.  Additionaly you can purchase land and install your manufactured home on private property in most counties and towns.

Renting for a year is not a bad idea. Many folks purchase in Florida while on vacation here. Just about anyplace you go on vacation can seem like it is perfect. You have left the day to day problems of living behind you and are enjoying an exciting and different experience. Once you buy you realize that the grass grows and needs to be cut, dishes need to be washed and the little day to day stresses of living, we all have will follow you. There is a high turn over rate in Florida just for that reason and a trial season, wherever you might think is best, makes very good sense

Central Florida is deep into a "buyer's market". At this time there are more homes on the market then there are buyers. Homes are taking longer to sell and prices are more reasonable. Read our free article How To Take Advantage of the Buyers Housing Market for some good tips.

If you would like a service that will match you with the homes for sale in any particular section of the country try the no cost Manufactured Home Finder This service can help you locate brand new manufactured homes or pre-owned manufactured homes, manufactured home and land packages or homes in MH land lease communities. Instead of spending your day driving you can know before you leave home which local sellers have the homes, locations and even finance programs that best match what your looking for.

You might also want to browse through the Manufactured Housing FLORIDA listings on this web site. There are currently 632 listings. This will give you a overlook at what is available, price range, and even the wide variety of land-lease and private owned land options available.

There is a great article on line by the late Len Bonifield, who wrote a weekly item about MH Community Living for Central Florida newspapers. See In Love With Florida And Community Living for an overview of the lifestyle he came to love during the decade he lived here.

You can also read dozens of the insights and opinions Len wrote over the years about Florida MH Community Living in the Archive of Len Bonifield's Articles

If your most interested in resident owned communities a good plade to start would be The Florida State ROC Network.  They include over 34 resident-owned manufactured housing communities on the Florida Suncoast, including St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Pinellas County. Manufactured Resident home communities in Florida are incorporated in three ways:

Condominiums

Each home is on a deeded lot and the common area expenses are shared and managed by a board of directors elected by the home owners. Governed by State Statute #718.

Cooperatives

A cooperative Corporation owns and manages the land (common Property) and leases Lots to the homeowner. The lease, as defined by the courts of the State of Florida is a defacto deed, Each homeowner is issued a share in the corporation, elects a board of directors and shares in the expenses of the common areas. Governed by Florida State Statute 719.

Sub-divisions

Similar to a condominium but organized under Florida State Statutes #720. Each lot is individulay owned.

Click Herefor a listing of member communities.



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I hope that you are renting this winter and looking around for the best deals. I moved to a Hometown America Community about a year and a half ago and I am sorry I did not check out the really good deals in this area before moving to Florida from the northeast. I love my home, but Hometown America is charging $675.00 per month for a rental site which is actually about $75.00 more than I was told and a lot more than other comparable communities are charging. Unfortunately, I bought at the peak and the price of my home fell $40,000.00 the next month.

If I had taken a little more time to research, I could have saved myself a great deal of money. In addition, it was very difficult to find anyone to finance a manufactured home on a rented lot. In the end, we paid cash which has cut into our disposable income. Take your time. You can get a great deal in this market.