Great variations in price of homes

[Linda Osborne]

I'm in California. Two years ago when shopping for a newer model manufactured home already installed (in mobile home park) the cheapist was $122,000. Now in perusing the ads out of state, in Utah & Arizona, for example, I'm seeing the same new homes going for about $35,000. Does it really cost $87,000 to install a manufactured home on a flat lot that already had a mobile home on it? Where does the money go?

Thanks for any input.

Linda

[rmurray]

Just CA...everything there is more expensive than the rest of the country...I actually doubt the same home is 87K less in AZ...but it will be many tens of thousands less..

Housing prices are location specific..Set by the local market...Now all you have to do is move to AZ or Utah....Many CA residents are doing so now..

This same effect will be found in stick built homes as well...The home that sells for 500K in CA will be selling for 125K or so in Utah..

[Linda Osborne]

>>Housing prices are location specific..Set by the local market...Now all you have to do is move to AZ or Utah....Many CA residents are doing so now..

[rmurray]

Margins for all home builders in CA are much higher than the rest of the country..Manufactured home dealers are not an exception..

[trmimo]

Not only are margins higher in California,but operating costs are higher. For example freight in California is 2 to 3 times the rate in other western states.

[Linda Osborne]

Thanks to both of you. I appreciate the info.

Linda

[rmurray]

There is one other thing...income is higher as well....I floowed the grocery stike in southern CA...my wife works for Kroger Company here in GA...highest pay scale for new hires after years of service is $12/hr...same job same service in CA pays $19/hr...

[Diane]

I live in Calif. close to the AZ border. So would it be cheaper to buy a manufactured home over in AZ?

[rmurray]

Shop with in 100 miles of your home...if you are close to the border prices will be similar in AZ to those in your area...CA is a big state...I think the original post referred to sale prices in the high cost areas of the state..

[Dr. Craig Whisler CA]

Linda, what part of California do you hail from?

I'm about 10 miles west of Palm Springs, in Cabazon, and can still find old single & doublewide wide mobile homes on small private lots for $30k-$35k or less. I sometimes get them for half that amount or even less still, but I have many years experience. Bare lots typically sell for about $12k. They are, of coarse, zoned for mobiles.

It is still possible to find 1/10 acre lots with all utilities already installed, by previous owners, for about $25-$30k. These aren't exactly the upper crust neighborhoods but this is still very cheap for anywhere in Southern California.

I can develop new or nearly new doublewide mobiles on larger (1/4 acre) private lots in nice areas of Cabazon for $60K 1000K. They would sell for $140k to $200k.

$122,000 for a mobile alone???? Geez Linda, some folks could retire on $122k. It could draw 10% from any hard money mortgage broker in the country and many folks could live on the $1,000 a month in interst. I could live on less than $500 per month here in California, if I wanted to. I described how to do it, in a debate on creonline.com, a year or so ago. I'm not saying that I DO live that cheaply but my basic NECESSARY costs rarely exceed that. I'll admit that I am probably one of the worlds biggest cheapskates. I bet I get more freebies than Carter has pills. With $500 a month I could retire in the Philippines and have a full time cook/housekeeper, a full time nanny for the kids, a full time driver//groundskeeper AND still have a hard time spending all of $500 each month. In P.I. with $500 a month one would be in the nation's top 2% income-wise (that stistic is 4 years old). I have a small but comfortable winter home there that cost me about $6k, 4 years ago, and I overpaid for it at that. Well I guess some folks pay $122k for fancy sports cars too, but I drive an old (free) 84 Camry that still runs fine.

Different strokes for different folks.

Regards, doc