First time buyer of a MH & some concerns

[Fernando]

Help! I have been reading some of the discussions about appreciation and depreciation values of MH's and which manufacturors are better. I am considering buying a pre-owned MH in the city of Cypress, CA but I am clueless about what to look for. I am looking at a very clean and nicely maintained MH park. What are some pros and cons about making this purchase? Considering that the housing market is outrageous in Orange County, CA and have a wife and 3 kids who need more space than a two bedroom condo, I am somewhat hesitant of what I don't know about MHs.

Here is what I may have to lose or maybe take advantage of. I currently own a 2 bedroom condo with approx. 1100 sq. ft. located 4 miles from the beach in Huntington Beach, CA. As I mentioned earlier, I am married with 3 young children. My wife stays home with the children and one that is going into 2nd grade. I am a 6th grade teacher looking to move into a larger home but cannot afford a stick built home (I guess this is your standard built home. I got this lingo from the discussion boards.). I have lived in this condo for about 7 years and have got about $250,000 equity on my home. I am only making this guess from what others around me are selling their homes for. My thought is sell my condo, buy a newer, pre-owned MH ( 2000 or newer) with the money I get from my condo, pay off some debts and save the remainder of the money in a CD or mutual funds.

Finally, my biggest concern. Between now and lets say 5-10 years when my kids get a little older and my wife returns to work, we save some money and we decide to sell, will my MH in a mobile home park be worth almost nothing compared to what I payed for it? I have heard from several people including some realtors that MH's depreciate somewhat similar to a car. I do understand that the value of a MH may appreciate or depreciate as the housing market changes but how much more does the MH depreciate its own value over time? Here's an example I am looking at now. I went in to see a 2000 Cavco model with 4 bed., 2 bath, at about 1512 sq. ft. listed at $175,000. The MH has a car port long enough to fit 3 cars perfectly. Other than that I am going to be getting more info. about all of the manufacturor details. (THis is the part I am not sure what I should be looking for or asking about.) After all this said and done, 5-10 years done the line I decide to sell, assuming the housing market stays roughly about the same or gets better (which I am not sure it can since the market is very high in CA) will my MH only be worth about $50,000. It much harder to forcast this loss or equity, if there is any, compared to a condo/townhome or a stick built home. I am not only having to worry about the housing market but the depreciation of the MH.

Can anyone help? I am sorry about the long explanation but I am afraid any realtor trying to make a deal with me is not going to be as honest as someone not trying to sell me anything. The one realtor I spoke with today did say he did not like to sell MH's and always recommended a condo or townhome when possible but if it was not possible a MH was also good. HMMMM? This didn't sound too positive considering my worries about purchasing a pre-owned MH in a MH park.

Thanks for any tips.

[Fernie]

check

[Tanya]

I'm no expert, but I do live in a home in a park in Las Vegas. Generally, my personal advice would be not to get a home in a park unless it is a very good deal on a used one (a reposession for example). I don't know about California and your housing market in particular, but generally speaking, from what I've seen, too many people who buy a MH brand new or at full price in a park end up having to abandon them because they can't sell them. We have a great view of the sunset these days due to the empty lots around our house. Many of them are old neighbors that had to abandon their house or declare bankruptcy because the value had gone down too far from their purchase price. We had fool's luck: we bought ours as a repo, mostly because our credit wasn't good at the time and that was all we could get. Not because we were savvy about the MH market. Since we didn't pay a lot for our house, we are in pretty good shape now that we want to sell it, because we hope to at least break even on the principal left on our loan, even make a small profit, especially since the housing market here has gone up so drastically.
We are in the process right now of doing a land/home package with a brand new MH. MH's converted to real property are a different story. They tend to hold their value and often appreciate. If you can possibly go that route instead of a park, do it. Another obvious advantage is that all of your monthly house payment will be going into something you own, rather than half house payment, half rent.
However, if the choice is between condo or MH in park, I must say we are much happier in our MH (than we were in an apartment). Providing you get it at a very good price, again used or repoed, there's nothing like having your own little yard, and no neighbors on the other side of the wall, ceiling or floor.
We've been very happy with our little home in our park, but we were lucky. Now it's time to move on to something newer, bigger and on land we can call our own.

[rmurray]

Your real estate friend always recommends the copndos...of course he does..his commissions will be higher..

You have almost answered your own question here...that Cavco used home you mention would be selling for more than 100K less in most areas of the country...Resale is all in the location...there is no way to compare the Orange County market with any others in the country...Most of us read these posts from your area scratching our heads...wondering why a guy with a quality teaching degree..three kids and stay at home mom..and $250K equity in a condo..would even think about staying there...Florida for instance is hiring teachers in every district..pay is low...BUT..this home with land of its own would be selling for less than 100K...no rent..no fees..no income tax..real estate taxes less than $600 per year..land of your own..play room for kids...beaches near by...you with 150K in the bank...Oh well..

Homes in parks do appreciate well in a few areas...this is one of them..just like any home location is all that counts...

In the listing service here there are 39 CA homes listed for sale..all far over the original selling prices..and none are 4 bedrooms...the 4 bedroom part of this home can only help in future resale...

Go for it..

P.S....In some places in the country..3 kids in a 2 bedroom home would be considered child abuse...especially when they get older...

[Fernie]

Thanks for the pointers. The child abuse law is not in affect here in CA but then again my kids are very young with the youngest still in our bedroom. This is one of the reasons why we are looking to buy something bigger. My first thought was to buy another condo with 3 bed rooms but the turn around for selling ours and getting another condo doesn't make sense to me. I am nearly trading in one for another. I quess making no profit now is better than losing later.

I am going to look into purchasing a new MH and finding a nice park to put it in. The alternative you mention about placing it on private land is very nice however here in Orange County I am not aware of any property space where I can do this. The land I have seen is usually out in the Valley area somewhere away from most civilization. It is not as common or easy as it is in Florida from what it sounds like.

I think I will be doing a lot of homework here in fiquring out the best deals.

[helendanpm]

My suggestion would be to go ahead and get the HM, My son and future wife are looking at one-he has 2 kids and here they can get a 5 bedroom/3 bath custom built -moving a wall etc. with large rooms and living room with a den that has a nice fireplace in it the size is 32x80 and it is beautiful-sheetrocked inside like a built house. For this size built it would be at least $150,00.00 or more in this area. But he does have land to put it on. But with the more room and a place with a yard for the kids and all. I think you'd enjoy it in the next several years a lot better. He was too worried about the deprecation of it, but with the well built homes of today and the space they will have inside -I think that is their best buy for the money. And yes we live in Ar-and a home like you descriped would be a lot less here-they found one at Dick Moore in West Menphis and for their new it was only $62,000.00 made,moved set up and Ac and all hook ups included-Boy things are really different in others areas aren't they? But do not think you would regret the choice and later you could always rent it out,too. Wish you luck in you choice,but my kids were raised in the country and a yard for kids is great believe me-Mom of 4 and grandma to 14 and they love our acre of yard to run around in-mine grew up on 50 acres out in the sticks and loved it,too. Good Luck [email protected]