Plam Harbor

[Randy Eaton]

Hello Lea,

Your comments about Palm Harbor are great. I know of many people who have purchased a Palm Harbor and had an enjoyable experience. There are sale centers that have their act together and properly present their homes in a way that offends no one.

Randall Eaton

[Dan]

I just visited a Palm Harbor dealer in Ocala FL , bypassed sales pitch to look at homes. Compared them to many other brands, landed on one particular model, and this seems to be the best buy and quailty! Have many concerns on dealing with them on financing as I have over $30K equity in acreage. They want a survey with only 5 acres verses the 11.8 we own. They wanted $1000 down to order and lock price, which was NON NEGOTIABLE?? as this was a special price home ??? 2003 32x80 Cherokee Model (claims it sold in the past for over $84K but is priced at $69,900??? with all the upgrades included as shown on dealer lot??? Claims to have sold 8 (of these models) and ordered all of them in the past 10 days. But still claims to meet delivery in 4-6 weeks???? (Plant City FL Plant.)

My experience with other MH dealers was they may lower the price but almost all added it back in on setup & other fees.

I failed to tell any of these that I built homes for the last 8 years and know pricing in depth along with fees associated with closing costs. I am just not up to physically building another home for myself.

Any knowledge or experience in using their financing? Things to watch out for!?

Note: this will be my first experience with a Manufactured Home

[Peggy]

Hey, Dan, I was at the Palm Harbor dealership in Dalton, GA yesterday and they also showed me the "specials" which they called "promotionals" One of those houses was only $49,900 !!! I couldn't believe it - a Palm Harbor for under $50,000? It must be a sign of the economic times.

Don't know about their financing, but why do they only want 5 acres surveyed? And wouldn't you have to sub-divide your property in order to put up only part of it as collateral?

And since you're a builder, I'm interested to know your professional opinion of manufactured housing vs. stick-built. I'm assuming you're sufficiently confident in the quality of manufactured housing or you wouldn't be buying one, but would you mind elaborating?

[Dan]

Hi Peggy:

I will have to determine their meaning of the 5 acres only for I refuse to subdivide.

As to manufactured vs stick built. It all deals with the quailty of materials used.
ie sheetrock thickness, laminate sheetrock vs textured, flooring, plumbing, capet, etc. all this has to do with material cost and the final cost of any house/home.

In theory, a manufactured home gets greater discounts by buying materials in bulk and supposedly passes those savings on to the consumer. I would say in the next 10-15 years you will see many downsizing in home cost. Any "home" manufactured or stick built is made by material quality and asthetics and will be a place of comfort and pride, however it takes an individual effort and willingness to put "personal" efforts into how much you are willing to invest in time and money doing the decorations/landscaping etc over a conventional homes.

The frame and wheels are only a method of getting the home from plant to site location.

Next is how it is fastened to the final site location vs a slab built home.
All these factors deal with toal home cost.

A quick note is that many manufactured home dealers "play the numbers game" I equate some of them to "car salesman" Many may give you a low home price but make all of it up on the "install costs". Most installs are sub contracted and vary greatly in quality and workmanship.

By knowing the actual cost of these items by "reputable installers in your area" will always give you a better advantage than just accepting "their word".

[rmurray]

Remember...you can finance outside of the Palm Harbor group...This price sounds indeed very low fo a Plant City built Palm..Be sure the standard specs have not changed...

Shop financing with the major mortgage companies...Regions Mortgage is particularlly good now...So is Chase, Irwin, SouthTrust..There are many to choose from in Florida...

I would be sceptical of the preasure to commit today with a deposit...

[Anne Moses]

Hello to the Forum,
I have been in mortgage lending for 20 years, so maybe I can answer the 5 acre question.
For lenders, their statistics show that land over 5 acres does not make a home more desirable. Mentally, people think 5 acres is "enough." Also, the financing programs that have the 5 acre limitation are for suburban and urban financing, not farms.
The value of the acreage over 5 will NOT be used in the appraised value. It is considered escess. This may skew your land value.
As an alternative, there ARE farm category loans that will count the acreage. They are just as attractive, but not every lender uses them.
You should all know that the installation of a new or used manufactured home is called a construction-perm (permanent) loan, where there can be one or two closings. As a MH home buyer, you get extra engineering inspections.
If anyone has specific questions, please email me, or call my office between 10 AM and 8 PM 813-908-2625. This is Tampa, FL.
I can arrange financing in FL, NY, NJ, PA, and CT.

[Lynne S]

We got caught in the 5 acre rule ourselves. Seems a shame really, we initally were going to get 11 acres, but only 5 *counted* in tha appraisal, it makes it hard to get the numbers you need to get a loan. We ended up getting 7, which made it a bit better, but still...

[rmurray]

The 5 acre rule only is involded with some lenders...Regions mortgage is one that we have done larger tracts with often..always at good rates....

[Mike]

$69,900 is the real selling price for the Cherokee at any Palm Harbor Village store in Florida. It is the most incredibly value packed home ever offered in Florida by Palm Harbor and was designed to be a "category killer". in other words offers more value, features, and pure dollars per square foot than any thing previously offered by PH or their competitors. If you would truly like to see just how powerful the Cherkee is then take a factory tour. Find out how the Cherokee can be such an incredible value and still be Energystar ready and built to standards that can "weather the storm" as proved in hurricane Andrew. PHH truly offers value added features throughout ie. 2x8 floors, 2x6 sidewalls and 3/4" tounge and groove 5 ply plywood floors, and oh yeah, it really is only 69,900 delivered, set, a/c etc.Wishing you all the best!