Mobile homes

What do you want to know about manufactured homes? The worlds greatest collection of expert advice on buying, installing, maintaining and repairing manufactured homes.



Richard

Re: Mobile homes

Post by Richard » Sun Jan 19, 2003 1:31 pm

My experience is one that I need to share in hopes that others WILL know what to look out for. The dealers, the manufacturers, there are too many holes to stumble into. Castle Manufactured Housing of Knox, PA. looks to be the best built MH that I have ever looked at and checked out. They are number one for my next living quarters, IF I can just get out of this horrible Skyline.

mdguad

Re: Mobile homes

Post by mdguad » Sun Jan 19, 2003 2:15 pm

Contractor's Accountability? That's a joke! We found what we thought would be a terrific stick built house in AZ - signed the deal and picked out colors, etc. Nobody, realtors included, told us that the contractor was about to go under. Which he did and took our money with him. Accountability? NO. We were first in line, behind the tradesmen and distributors he deliberately deceived. Contractor filed bankruptcy, moved out of AZ and escaped without any consequence. We did pursue the legal route, but that only added to our expense. He escaped into the red tape and his bankruptcy left us all holding the bag.

Now, we've got a GREAT Silvercrest - terrific quality and our dealer still lives in the same town and has for 20 years.

Richard

Re: Mobile homes

Post by Richard » Sun Jan 19, 2003 4:03 pm

And so too can the MH manufacturers. I had a realtor get the wool almost over my eyes when she took us away from the builder that I choose and tried to get us with 'her' builder. More money in her pocket. Not when I found the lies. Her builder did not get my business, she did not get the sale of my then townhouse, and when I finished my complaints and filings with the state of Maryland, she and the realtor are no longer in business. I'm talking the realtor no longer has a business in Maryland. If you get stuck with a MH (dealer, manufacturer, installer, etc.) that is not right, you are stuck with the US government. These MH manufacturers have a perfect skirt that they hide behind. There has not been one item in my Skyline MH that I have had fixed or tried to have fixed that I have not had a 90 degree uphill battle. The factory is responsible, no the dealer is responsible, no the installer caused the problem, on second thought, the transportation company did it. Opps, none of the above are responsible. Even the SAA in my state has had lawsuits filed and ruled upon in the favor of the plaintiff for not doing their job properly. Seems as though someone has the SAA in their pocket, along with the rest of the 'authorities'. Anyway, the builder of my stick built was a 16 year veteran company, operating in 3 states, and we were never so happy in our lives. Hind sight is great, There were a few things that we did financially that put us in the position that left us unable to keep the 'dreamcome true' home. That was then, this is now. The manufacturer that built my HUD shack HAD a good product back before 1976. I know, I owned one, and we never had a single service call. That was then. There are good and bad everywhere the consumer goes today. You cannot trust someone that you knew yesterday. You need to go and check the manufacturers out all over again on a second purchase of their product. I did not do that. I got hurt real bad by the manufacturer, dealer, etc. etc. etc.
It is a dog eat dog world. It is BUYER BEWARE.

rmurray

Re: Mobile homes

Post by rmurray » Mon Jan 20, 2003 6:15 am

Seems like you have terrible problems with housing..you said "

"Her builder did not get my business, she did not get the sale of my then townhouse, and when I finished my complaints and filings with the state of Maryland"

Do you bad mouth townhouses on the various townhouse forums and newsgroups like you to manufactured homes...

Seems like you are kissed with bad luck or ?????

Paciolilady

Re: Mobile homes

Post by Paciolilady » Mon Jan 20, 2003 8:12 am

Penny has every right to be angry, especially if she dealt with the type of people I did when I bought my home 3 years ago. We were lied to repeatedly, got nothing but a run around from the manufacturer (they would not honor the warranty) and are currently embroiled in a lawsuit. I know that not all manufactured homes and/or dealers are bad, but don't dismiss her anger. I have watched as the homes in our 3 year old park have gone up for sale and have stayed up for sale while the dealer/owner undercuts prices on brand new homes so none of these people could get anything close to what they owe. The dealer has violated truth in lending laws, discrimination laws, has been cited repeatedly by the health department for violations in this park and many others the company owns. The company hides behind a bevy of sub-companies and plays a shell game with which one is responsible for what until home owners are so fed up they spend even more money making repairs which should have been covered under their warranty. Many manufactured home owners are in these homes due to unforseen circumstances, divorce, poor credit history etc., and have been led to believe that their homes are every bit as good as a stick built home. A forensic engineer, a builder and a home inspector have all verified that the one I own is a gigantic mess, and definitely should not have qualified for the HUD seal. Heating and cooling are undersized, framing is warped, nothing was measured, appliances are installed wrong, the cheapest possible fixtures were used (and this was supposed to be a top of the line model), plumbing is connected wrong and not pitched correctly, venting is inadequate, ground fault circuit breakers are overloaded and don't trip properly, and on and on. Yes, I have some neighbors whose homes appear to be just fine, but they are very few. Of the 75 homes by Four Seasons in this park (all doublewides less than 4 years old) over 30 are for sale. One went on the market 2 weeks after the couple moved in! I don't know about anybody else but that in itself says an awful lot to me about the quality of these homes. I have heard countless horror stories and am aware of at least 3 other lawsuits just in this park. So don't write everyone who has a complaint off as a nut case and to anyone looking to buy, make sure you have an attorney from the start, get everything in writing (and I do mean everything), and be very, very careful.

Darlene

John

Re: Mobile homes

Post by John » Mon Jan 20, 2003 12:34 pm

Darlene:
Penny was not rational with her post. To comdem an entire industry because you had a problem is just not rational. To say they are deathtraps and burn down in 10 minutes and should be outlawed? With that kind of logic all frame homes should be outlawed Any home will burn and if it all wood it will burn faster. It is unfortunate that you have a problem but most of the problem seems to be from the park owner. I have a 1978 DW as a lake house and I have less problems with it that I do my primary home so there are some good ones out there you just have to find them and you need to be very selective with the dealer you are buying from. Try and sell a site built home that does not include the land and you will take a major beating on price if you can sell it at all. My brother in law sold a small stick built home that would have brought $50K with the land for $6K so you are not comparing apples to apples.

Mrs X

Re:What's wrong with anger?

Post by Mrs X » Tue Jan 21, 2003 6:36 pm

Although I do not agree with Penny's assertion that m-h's are fire-traps, etc., I object to the attitude a lot of folks have these days about anger. What's wrong with being angry? this is not a rhetorical question - somebody answer it. please.

If she's had a bad experience with m-h's, or Fords, or cats or men - or whatever - she has a right to be angry. Anger is a normal human emotion, folks, and the people who really scare me are the mild-mannered types who go around in their bland little worlds, never showing any "negative" emotion, and then one day they go ballistic and shoot somebody.

But, Penny - I believe you ARE wrong about manufactured housing. There are just too many people out there who are pleased with their "Hud shacks" - to use Richard's expression.

As for stick-built - lemme tell ya'll - they are NOT necessarily superior. I was talking to a builder the other day who is putting up houses starting at $390,000 and he's only putting 2 x 3's in the wall, and they're 18 inches o.c. I could also name a couple of very well-known national builders who are throwing up rather shoddily built "townhouses" (middle-class ghettoes), according to the local building inspectors I work with. Just trust me. Stick built is not the superior product you might think.....

I think manufactured housing is a fantastic bargain!

Richard

Re:What's wrong with anger?

Post by Richard » Tue Jan 21, 2003 6:59 pm

I did not make it very clear. My townhouse was good and I had no complaints. I only states that the realtor did not get to keep the 'sales' contract (selling the house for me).

Lance Nerland

Re:What's wrong with anger?

Post by Lance Nerland » Mon Feb 03, 2003 12:44 pm

Heh, 12 inches of snow where I live today. Some poor schmuck is paying 400 K for a house that has gaps in the foundation and now has its wood and electrical wires exposed. Manufactured housing is the way to go.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 43 guests