First time Manu Home buyer needs advice, help

[Eric]

Greetings, all! I love the Internet - anything you want to talk about you can usually find a Forum on it somewhere

So, my wife and I are seriously considering selling our mountain home in the Smokies in East Tennessee (anyone interested please please please email me!) and moving back to Central Florida. We moved up here outside of Knoxville, TN about 5 years ago from St. Petersburg and really miss it. We rented down there and when we started considering moving back recently we were very shocked at the cost of housing in the area. So we decided to look into Pasco county - cheaper costs, convenient, lower taxes, etc. We don't have any kids (and won't be having them) so schools weren't a concern.

Well, we still didn't like the costs we saw for existing homes either. I hate having high mortgage payments and my jobs in the past have been up and down with regards to pay and longevity. We've been averaging about $50,000 a year combined income now for about 5 years and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. So we started looking into manufactured homes.

We've looked at Fleetwoods, Palm Harbors, and have just discovered the website for Homes of Merit. Our foremost concern is a nice floorplan, about 1200 sq. feet, 3 BR, 2 BA - I'd like regular sheetrock walls and a really good insulation package. Wife wants a nice kitchen and master bathroom. We're hoping that the cost savings on this would allow us to then add a nice deck, maybe a garage, and perhaps even a pool. We're hoping for anywhere from $20,000 - $30,000 in pocket after the sale of our house. We're also considering buying some land right now in Florida so we'll be ready to go when we sell the house.

Does anyone have some opinions on the Fleetwood, Palm Harbor, and Homes of Merit?

How much should I expect to spend on a permanent foundation (and is this really needed or recommended?)

What should I look for when buying land?

Any other help would be appreciated. If anyone has any land for sale in the Pasco county area let me know. We're also thinking of buying a used MH first so that we could then have the time to move down there, get new jobs, etc. before getting our new MH.

[Randy Eaton]

Hello Eric,

I would first recommend my two books, which will answer most of your questions. You can order them on this main page. Click on the bookstore link and you'll see them there. Homes of Merit are good and so is Palm Harbor. A concrete foundation is recommended, this will allow you to get the best interest rates and your home will appreciate with a concrete foundation. You'll need to get bids for your foundation but a rough number would be around $8K to $12K.

Randy Eaton

[Eric]

YEOUCH! 8K-12K for a foundation? Damn, what do they do, line it with 24k gold?

Is it simple a concrete slab poured? I'm looking at about a 1200 square foot home. When I got my garage floored (was dirt floor) as well as some sidewalks done (quite a bit of work) it came to about $1200 - that was for about 400 sq. feet total of concrete.

[Tracy]

My reaction was the same as Eric's! Maybe I don't understand what a concrete foundation is. Is that the same thing as a wall of concrete blocks holding up the house and then covered with stucco? If so, I've been told that adds about $3000 or $4000 to the price of the house - nowhere near $12,000. Or is a concrete foundation different from what I just described?

[Randy Eaton]

Hello All,

In my book, " How To Buy A Manufactured Home And Save Thousands Of Dollars" I encourage people to pit-set there home on a permanent foundation. This means a contractor will come in and excavate down 16” or more and then pour a concrete runner system or a complete slab. Once the home has been delivered the set-up crew will block the home. Once the home has been blocked a cinder block wall is erected around the home. Another way of doing this is to pour the concrete runner system and perimeter walls at the same time. It varies from state to state. Bottom line the home is sitting on a permanent foundation that is level with the ground just like a site-built home. This type of foundation is very popular in the northwest but in other parts of the country it’s not seen. Doing it this way does increase your resale value because your home looks like a site-built home and not some cheap trailer sitting 3 feet off the ground. The prices do vary depending on where you live but probably 8K and up would be a normal bid for a larger double wide or triple wide. A 1200 sqf double wide would probably have a bid around $6,500 to $7,500.

Randall Eaton

[Eric]

Sounds a little more reasonable

My wife and I are still a bit befuddle when it comes to foundations. Is there any website that actually shows what the various foundations look like? How they work? Pictures and/or diagrams? Is it in "THE BOOK"?

My biggest concern is to make sure that if we need to get under the house to get to the plumbing we can do it without having to tear up flooring. I'm so spoiled on having a basement

[Peggy]

Not to be negative, but it seems to me that everytime I turn around there's something else you have to do to a manufactured home to ensure its appreciation, and every one of those things just adds to the price. If a permanent foundation is as much as $8000, that's a considerable increase. By the time you add on all the other things (i.e.,. better insulation, better flooring, wall studs, etc.), you're up to the price of a site-built home - which defeats the whole purpose of buying a manufactured home in the first place! The big attraction of a manufactured home is the lower price, but with all the add-ons, there IS no lower price.

[Randy Eaton]

Hello Eric,

Yes, in my book I go over four different types of foundations with pictures and diagrams.

Randy

[Randy Eaton]

Hello Peggy,

Yes, you're right the main attraction to owning a manufactured home is the price. But for many it's not all about price. Even with all the up-grades and a concrete foundation a manufactured home is still going to be less then having someone build you a site-built home. In my case I saved $10 per sqf compared to having a home built. My home is over 2200sqf that worked out to over $22,000 saved by going with a manufactured home. My home looks like a site-built home and appreciates at the same rate as a site-built home. I understand that for some going this extra mile seems to cost too much but if you're planing on living in your manufactured home for more then 15 years and are looking for some equity down the road then doing it this way makes sense.

Randy Eaton

[rmurray]

I think these things are very regional in scope...Pit sets and basements are not possible in most of Florida...because of the high water table...

As a matter of fact...GA and SC are just now enforcing a mound rule...The ground prep MUST be mounded UP from the ground level about 9 inches..

What is very important is that the home be set to the requirements of the set up manual....