Am I being lied to?/

[melissa]

Hi, I want to buy an awesome doublewide I found. Its unlike all the other ones I have seen. But I am hesitiant because I think the sales man is lying to me. I think there might be a huge benefit to him to selling me the one off the lot instead of ordering it. Im not sure. I asked how much to upgrade cresdeck floors to plywood he said 5000 and I asked how much to upgrade to 2-6 walls he said 7000. This is a southern home. Zone 2 and 3 .28-66 I think. 3/8 sheetrock walls. asking 68,000 or 73000 total w/ tax they said. They want 11,000 down. Should I do it? I love this floor plan and the extras in it. Rock around the stove hoodtop, rock columns and rock fireplace and rock steps to the tub. looks very fancy also has wood wainscotting around the walls. But its not tape or textured. Would be through vanderbuilt morgtage.

[trmimo]

He is definately not being straight forward with you.
The honest approach is to explain that the option cost to upgrade might be about $2000, but when you order a home you will lose the discount they are offering on the model so it winds up costing you $5000.
Another $7000 on top of that for 6" walls is outrageous. He is simply telling you a fib to get you to forget about 6" walls and take the model.
I would look for another retailer that sells the same brand of homes. The manufacturer probably has a website that will tell you where else you can buy this home.
Even if the price for the model is fair, if you can't believe him before you give him any money, you sure won't be able to believe him after he has your money.

[Ann]

I agree...find the same home w/another dealer. I've done that several times when I was looking and found way different pricing.

[rmurray]

Best advice..hope this person listens.....

[melissa]

Yes I am going to listen. Thanks very much for the advice

[rmurray]

Good luck..

[Lisa]

Melissa,

I don't know the manufacturer of the home you are looking at, but Palm Harbor builds with plywood and 2x6 walls in most cases. I am sure there are other manufacturers that do the same. You can also have a home custom built.

The reason the salesman is trying to sell the model on the lot is that the owner of lots have to buy the homes from the manufacture for the home to be delivered to the lot, even if it is a Fleetwood dealer and selling Fleetwood homes. He is pushed by the owner/manager of the lot to sell what is in inventory.

The size of the home and not knowing if this is a new home or used home by what you put in your message, the upgrade cost that you mention are not out of line from my experience of over 15 years in this business. I am not a salesperson for any company but an independant broker.

I do agree with the others though, if you are leary now, you will always be leary if you purchase this home from this particular dealer. I can also tell you that Vanderbilt Mortgage is an excellent choice for financing and they will also appraise the value of the home higher and be willing to possibly give you better finance rates, etc with 2x6 studded walls and plywood.