Help! MH or dumb condo?

[Julie F.]

Cheryl,
My husband told me about your message post and the replies you were getting. Can I just appoligize for how negative people can be. Keep your head up & keep looking.
When my husband first mentioned the mf thing I pretty much laughed. He is very stubborn & made me go to a dealership & check em out. Wow I was in shock & I instantly fell in love with them. I don't know if I would buy other. Just ask your husband to just look & if he doesn't like them then you will drop it,but it doesn't hurt to look & you won't turn to instant trailer trash by simply walking into a dealership.
If he goes take him to a dealership that has some nice ones doubles & triples. I can understand that he doesn't want to live in a park & also doesn't want to commute. We are going to have a short commute but when you are driving to your very OWN HOME it is worth it. Good Luck to you both especially to your husband getting hired on the force, my husband is also in law enforcement. Be patient, that is the best advice I can give you.
If you would like to talk more feel free to contact me!

[Cheryl in Cali.]

Wow, thank you so much for your support, I knew someone out there would understand my situation! That sounds like a good idea going to a dealer, that's why I asked if anyone knew some good dealers in my area so I could show him how nice MH's are. Im going to talk to him this weekend to see if he is up to going to look at some. One of the main reasons he didnt want the long commute is because he didn't want me to be alone in a house so far from everyone we know, plus the wear & tear on his car isn't good either. I wish good luck to you and your hubby as well, thank him for telling you about this post, all I needed was some help and support not another "you're too young to know any better" lecture!

[Cheryl in Cali.]

Thank you for your help Dan, wow it's expensive there in Napa! The places around here there are some plots of land for around $50,000 but there are a lot of restrictions on what you're aloud to build and plus they are really hilly and would need a lot of work to make them suitable to build on. Some of the rules are: the house cant be more then 13' high, you have to have a 14' wide driveway, you can't build on land that's less then 1 acre, pretty strict rules.
I look pretty much everyday on realtor.com, homeseekers.com, and ziprealty.com to look for land. The best property I found was 2 acres with a 1344 sq ft MH on it for $109,000 in Corona. It was listed on 12/17 and sold on 12/20! Before we even got a chance to go see it. Any land for sale in Corona sells really fast cause it's the only close "boonies" to the nearby main cities. It only takes about 30 minutes to get there, but the problem is the traffic makes it take over an hour because there's only oe freeway to get in and out of it. No streets or other freeways, unless you go way north which would take longer.

Anyway, thanks again, I'll let you know how things go!

[rmurray]

I am sorry Dan...I am the moderator of this group..and made the first comment about waiting and renting until the relationship settles out...
You see..I have been in the housing business for over 30 years and have sold hundreds of young folks like this one..With few exceptions most have had little understnading the housing is for the long term,,,How can a 20 year old even think about 10 years from now...

Your case if much differnet...there is worlds of difference between 25 and 20...think about it in your case...I am sure you will have to agree..

Even your statement about "future appraised at $ 262,000" makes it clear that you do not clearly understnad housing...There is NO way to appraise the future value of your or any home...All value is determined buy the market at the time you sell...In the last few months, there has been large DECREASES in property value in some parts of the Bay area..Average loss on homes has been about 25%...Not so good for those who bought a year ago...

[Art Rigsby]

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $416,000 last month. That was up 2.0 percent from $408,000 in October, and up 13.0 percent from $368,000 for November last year. That year-over-year increase was the strongest since March 2001 when the $386,000 median was up 17.3 percent from $329,000 a year earlier.

The above is from a real estate trends article written last month. The decline in prices you mentioned was mainly in the million dollar plus homes that suffered from the dot.com crash. Since March of 2000 the median price for a Bay Area home has gone from $329,000 to $416,000.


Art

[Dan F]

Hi murray,
Just to explain "future appraisal", it is the figure the lisenced appraiser gives the mortgage company based on a combo of your bare undeveloped lot and the brand new home you have a P.O. on. This is known in CA as a "future appraisal". with out this the mortgage company cannot figure any Loan to value ratio's make sense now. this happens with every land home puchase I've heard of. I believe not many young people can pull this off but, These folks were seeking advise and knowledge from this site which has helped numerous people accross the gamet. the simple fact she is doing reseach and asking for help shows maturity. In my opinion this not an aol chat room, it is a manufactured home forum and giving relationship advise is inapropriate, follow me?

[Dan F]

Murray you hit the nail on the head with this one. I can't believe anyone can afford the median home around here. I am sure that because of the affordability MFDhomes are the next big thing here. As a matter of fact when i was looking for a contractor they were all 2 to 3 months out from being able to start a new job. the dealers here base their price on supply and demand not a basic markup from the wholsale price. I have posted this here before but by buying out of state even with the added freight I saved between 16-20 thousand on my home.

[Cheryl in Cali.]

Age doesn't make a person smarter, of course I'm thinking about 10 years down the line. If I wasn't I would have bought a house a long time ago, or wasted over $10,000 a year for renting an apartment like all the other 20 year olds I know. But instead, I've been researching MH's for a year now online and have read a lot of posts here to answer some questions I've had. Through reading a lot of posts however, I've found a lot of people with rude comments and attitudes towards other people. This is a "FIRST time home buyers" forum, how much are first time home buyers supposed to know? Do you make assumptions based on race and gender as well? Or just on age. Everyone is different, I'm not some ignorant 21 year old, so I'd appreciate if you spoke (typed) to me as an equal.

[Mrs X]

Cheryl - and all others who don't like "negativity" - I never said you were too young to know any better. Sounds to me like you're a very smart young woman - I just pointed out a couple of FACTS to consider. I think we'd all be interested to know whether you can persuade your fiance to look at m-h's so I hope you'll let us know.
Seeing is believing and I think he'll change his mind.

I guess I struck a nerve with a few folks - but anytime you speak the truth, certain people start yelling for censorship.

[Carol]

In defense of Mrs. X's earlier post, Cheryl in Cali wrote about her family situation - living with her parents, etc. and asked for personal advise She states "My fiancee wants to buy a condo...But I dont want a condo, they're small, ugly, and you have common walls with your neighbors...Problem is, my fiancee has never been inside one and wont even consider buying one because he has the whole 'trailer trash' mind set about them. I guess my question is what should I do? What can I say to convince him a MH is the way to go?"
Cheryl, there is no answer to this question.
Mrs. X very generously offered some thoughts based on her lived experience. Murray and The Refiman did the same. I'm sorry Cheryl and others, but 20-somethings, in love, are not always the best judge of these matters, no matter how "mature" they are.
Cheryl, I wish you the best, but you and your fiancee should first consider the foundation upon which you are building this relationship. If you are serious, get counseling.