Thinking of purchasing a Manufactured Home

[Bill Beebe]

Thanks a lot for all the replys. We are still undecided and will look at cost for stick built as well as manufactured homes. One factor in our decision will be time to construct, but the overriding factors will be quality and costs.

Bill

[Scott]

I am a Manufactured Home dealer in Texas and worked for Palm Harbor for some time although not with them anymore. I am only speaking for the Texas region and there is no comparison between either a Fuqua/Silvercrest product and PH. The Fuqua or Silvercrest products are far and above a higher quality home than any PH in Texas and PH has 5 factorys here. The person who spoke of theirs from NC sounds like they had to upgrade quite a few things to get to the same quality point that some of the other manufacturers out there. (IE: Karsten, Patriot, Fuqua, Silvercrest, etc...)

[jgn]

Scott, what Don said about PH is what I have found without a lot of upgrades and that is from the Austin plant . Granted Fuqua builds a nice home but imho so does PH, Karstan and Franklin. The PH select runs in the $42psf range which is comparable if not a little less than Fuqua. I am leaning toward Karstan because they have 2x4 interior which only the Fuqua Next Generation offers at a significant increase in price., but you sell them so you would know better than me

[mac]

Mary, I wouldn't buy a MH in a park. It's the land that appreciates; the dwelling, outside California, perhaps, depreciates slowly whether stick-built or manufactured.

[Scott]

The PH Austin 05 is a great house however I was more referring to 2x6 walls, Hardi siding, and they do not do 2x4 interior walls on 16" centers. I am actually a Karsten dealer in Abilene and we are installing all of our Karsten homes as a ground level set with a concrete slab underneath the home. Karsten does have 2x4 interior walls with 2x6 exteriors, 8' sidewalls, hardi siding, 2x8 floor joists, 12" eaves along with a lot more standard features that most in Texas don't offer. Give me a call if you are serious about looking closer at the Karsten product
(325) 672-4220

[janie]

Art, I believe you about CA homes not depreciating, where else in the country do you think this applies? I never said I considered MH's a trailer, I said many, many other people do, I hear it all the time. And maybe I'm crazy but I think anyone spending that amount of $ on a home, manufactured or not, would be interested in that home keeping it's value, retired or not. It's not a car, it's a home. As they say your home is the biggest purchase, biggest investment most people will ever make. You might as well be renting if you're not concerned about appreciation in my opinion.

[rmurray]

Having worked for PH you know that PH builds different homes in different plants...The Boaz plant that would be supplying this man does offer full 16 inch centers...2x6 exterior walls..osb wrap..hand laid ceramic tile in the wet areas, 3/4 inch plywood floors...Energy Star compliant (can be energy star certified by the dealer if he uses the right a/c)..on and on and on...

All of that plus factory finish on site..seamless close ups..and 5 year factory warranty...Documented CSI (customer satisfaction ratings) in the 90% range..all done by a third party survey firm..

To top it off...Boaz does build the 3000 square foot Gotham (although not a 2 story like Siler city has done)..The home is stunning..All of the above for less than $135K for 3000 foot home..

[Scott]

Mr. Murray...I was referring to the Texas PH product only. They do not build their homes in Texas like they do in Boaz. They do however build the Gotham in two of their Texas plants. In Texas they don't do 2x6 walls as a standard feature or 2x4 interior on 16". Building an energy star rated home may have set them apart a few years ago, but there are many others who have jumped on board since(Champion, Clayton, Oak Creek) to name just a couple.

[Mary Stanley]

thanks Scott for the feedback!

[Mary Stanley]

Thanks mac for the feedback! What I'm finding is due to huge zoning restrictions, it's darn near impossible to find a lot to put a home on. See, what I'm trying to do is finance the cheapest method to keep costs down while I finish school. Renting is always an option, but I have animals to tend. Also, many town homes don't allow animals and I'm finding the cost of a town home in Corvallis is around $180,000!! It's absolutely ridiculous. So with a well-kept home in a park, I could keep my lot pmt and home pmt combined to around $600/month. The park has been kept up beautifully. My biggest concern is when I go to turn it in a few years - finding people who can get financing and qualify in a park is troublesome. Many lenders won't touch a home in park. And the other thing is if the park goes downhill, turning the property will be next to impossible. I've heard the stories about people who had to walk away from their homes and, literally, sell them to the park owners for next to nothing. Then the park owner, relists the property at a higher rate than at what they purchased it for, and they make a nice profit.