96' PH , can't even give it away

[rmurray]

Richard has a manufactured home in a park...Right now is the WORST time in the market to try to sell in a park...You would be competing with thousands of reposessed homes in the market place.....The supply is high and the demand is low...That makes resale hard to do...

Even in parks many homes in the country appreciate with time...but this is only a function of location....The fellow from CA is right...You can find 30 year old double being sold for over $ 100,000...This is all location...

If you buy a stick built home and decide to sell it without the land...How much appreciation do you think you will have....Of course..you would never think of doing this....If you expect your manufactured home to "appreciate" like a stick home...it must be treated like a stick home...Remember the stick home does not appreciate...the stick home on the land it is on in the location that it is in apprciates....Even this is not always true...We have a once nice subdivision that has turned into a crime area..the homeowners are trapped....

Just remeber..expect your home to be a home...treat it like a home..it will treat you like a home..

[Peggy]

Okay, thanks. I've been checking the multi-listings on a certain website and "monitoring" the manufactured homes for sale to see how long they stay on the market. There are some that've been there for quite some time (90 days or more) but there are plenty of site-builts that also remain unsold so I'm not sure if my informal study will prove anything. It may be that the market OVERALL is bad right now (is it?). This is a difficult decision to make and with an older sister urging me to go site-built because of the m-h "depreciation" factor, I'm really confused. If I buy a site-built on my budget I'll have to settle for less square footage, smaller bathrooms (probably), smaller kitchen, and probably lots of repair bills.Thanks for your input.

[rmurray]

Sorry...but I have to comment...

If you buy a stick home today the same way most of our customers are buying...that is
NEW land from a developer at top market price
NEW land improvements and utilities
NEW home
Includes drapes and blinds, all appliances even refers (not included in most stick homes) and often NEW washer and dryers..many homes are now showing entertainment centers including TV and Stero..Often the homes have $ 3000 to $4000 in furniture
All of the above with NO money down...less than $ 500 out of pocket..finance the whole thing and all closing costs ($ 3000 to $ 5000)...All on a 30 year mortgage

You are upside down from the first day...by thousands..whether this is a stick house or manufactured home this is true..

If they consumer sells out in 5 years and breaks even...including resale costs..they HAVE gotten a huge appreciation in such a short time...

When ever folks finance 6 to 12 thousand above the real market price of the home..stick built or manufactured home...one should not be surprised that it take years to come out ahead...

The only way to beat this is to pay cash for all the soft goods and clsoing costs as you probably would have to in stick homes...then our product would be on an even comparison...

[Peggy]

Well, now that I've written the above message, I just read Mr. Murray's response which makes sense, but if the above poster, John, can't make a profit on his DW on his own land and AT A LAKE, that DOES raise some doubts. On the other hand, maybe he just doesn't know what price he could get because his house is not actually for sale.

On the other hand, folks, John may be a MOLE planted on this forum by the developers of site-built houses! (ha ha)

[Richaed]

There is a study on the web, I believe was done in one of the Carolinas'. It concluded that, after a MH park was started within less than a mile of a nice subdivision, the nice subdivision prices started down. Yes, I beieve that in California the prices readily increase, maybe even in another state. I think you'll find that California is the exception, and not the rule. If these MHs are so wonderful, why does the developer here instruct his sales staff to tell people that they are buying a modular? With all of my fighting with the developer and Skyline Corporation (and still not fixed), why would the influx of MHs slow down, and the developer start throwing in stick built housing? There have been no less than six owners who have tried to sell their MHs using realtors, and to no avail. With my talking with MH dealers, they do not believe that these houses will ever sell (anytime in the near future). What do they know that we do not know? There are now sixteen other owners in this developement who have filed complaints with the state SAA, and pending investigation. Skyline has been sent a letter from HUD, directing them to report on the findings of the problems in my house. Skyline has still never contacted me. Great MH builder.

[Richaed]

P.S.: Mr. Murray, The developement which my MH is in is a community of all permanent foundations for the 75 MHs that are currently in here. We have 1/4 to 1/2 acre lots which we own, and the developer is also putting stick/site built homes among all of the MHs. Home owners assoc., protective covenents, etc. are some of the amenities. Years ago, when I lived in Houston for a few years, my wife and I had a perfect single wide mobile home in a perfect rental park. This was before our government gave the builders a 'skirt' to hide behind. Enough of my personal thoughts, distressed in West Virginia.

[Ron]

Well, reading all of this sure makes perfect sence considering that I have been trying to sell my 1995 16' X 80' Shultz M/H in Dickinson, TX. for about 10-11 months with plenty of calls. People expect you to give things away, or like you all said, your taken to the cleaners as soon as it is driven off the lot. I was military at the time, and I was only offered (Qualified) for a 2 bedroom Apt in Corpus Christi. TX. . (N0 Dogs) I refused to get rid of my dogs, so we bought this mobile. The gov't since moved it to Galveston County and we lived in it for 4 years here. We moved into real property do to needing more room with dependant parents. And as you have said, I can't even give it away. I thought of a couple local churches that might purchase it for the needy which cannot afford. It is on rental lot and I am paying still. I have excellent credit and I refuse to default. 30k is the payoff and it is in excellent condition with all appliances. Thank you for all of your insight. I thought I was the only one. God willing, it will sell sooner than later.
Ron

[John]

Peggy:
You caught me and I am a mole working for a builder (LOL)
I have had the home appraised so I have an idea as to it's value. I due not view a home, either primary or second, as an investment but as a place to live or a place to play. With this mindset if I break even I am ahead and I would break even if I sold it but only because of the land. If I tried to sell it to move I would take a bath, which I will probably do. Now if this were a site built home, I feel it would have appreciated but I would also have a lot more into the home in the beginning. Our home is a 1976, low, flat ceiling, panel walled home that has served us well. I had more trouble with our site built lake home in another state than I do with this one. After owning 11 homes in my life, this is the first mobile I have owned. . When you are trying to sell a six year old mobile, that has to be moved and reset that interest rates will be higher and you are competing against the new home, placed and financed for slightly more than the used unit it is tough to sell the used unit. This will always be the case with mobiles because you will always be competing against new units.

[rmurray]

You said
"If I tried to sell it to move I would take a bath, which I will probably do. Now if this were a site built home, I feel it would have appreciated "

Do you really thing the site built home would return more money than the manufactured home when sold without the land????

Actually I know better...this is not what you meant...Manufactured Homes must be thought a homes...not camper trailers...and sold with the land and improvements to realize their best return...

This is precisely why the industry makes such effort to eliminate the term "mobile homes"....Manufactured Homes today are no longer mobile..

[rmurray]

Richard...your subdivision is exactly the type of subdivision that is haveing good resale experience in the market place..

Problem here is that you and your neighbors have made the public aware of your problems...Just which buyer is going to buy into trouble...???..

I think you and your neighbors will have to resolve your problems...then hope the reputation of the subdivision goes up for better resale possibilities..

There are many subdivisions nation wide that have had horrendous problems form the stick builder developers that built them...in which resale is impossible...I live in one now...that had 80% of the original buyers foreclosed because of the inability to resell...Does that mean all stick built homes are bad...I doubt anyone would say that..They would say a builder is bad...Same goes for your situation..

Sorry..