Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[albatross2aces]

My wife and I are looking to put a manufactured home on our land which is owner financed. Vanderbilt has a program known as silver key that packages all of it together at about 7.9%. Does anyone have any experience with that program. We have also been looking at the quality of various homes and are trying to determine what upgrades are important. The dry wall interior walls seem much more solid.... is it important to have dry wall interior walls. Is it important to have ceramic bathroom features? Is it important to have plywood flooring. These salesman all claim different things and it is difficult to get educated as to what is really important. Does putting a mobile home on a foundation really make that big of a difference in the appreciation of the home? One last question lol.... I know I have been all over the map here but I am a little overwhelmed and want to make sure that we make the right decisions. How can I find out how much room these dealers have in each of these models. I know the price is negotiable but should I be looking at a 15% drop? I would appreciate any advice that we can get in these matters.

[rmurray]

Tall order....7.9% fixed rate is a little high for current rates for a first mortgage...If your credit is good you should be able to do better...Remember 1% is over $30,000 over the life of the loan...Real money to most of us..

These forums are a great place to start your education...There are years of questions and answers already posted..You should spend a few hours browsing through for topics that might help you...or use the search function above and search for key words(such as "floors") that might be in topics that interest you....The one most important piece of advice you will read is the best deals go to educated buyers..It might be worth a small investment in the book store above on one of the buying guides listed there..They will cost less than $50..A small cost in comparison to the thousands at risk...Most of the guides have extensive sections on construction and features that you might want to have.Grissim's books also have extensive sections on getting the best deals and choosing the right dealer.Just remember salespersons cannot lie to educated buyers..They will be scared of you

[Texasbob]

Lots of questions, so let's start at the top.

1. The Vanderbilt Silver Key program does have some advantages over standard MH home financing. For example, it's required to have masonary skirting, sidewalks, landscaping, gutters and a few other features. You get a better interest rate on this loan than a standard MH home loan because the home is more valuable, and less likely to foreclose with these features. And 7.9% is a good rate for a manufactured home loan, depending on any credit issues that you have.

2. The tape and texture dry walls are much more sturdy. The more high end manufacturers use 5/8" sheetrock, that is screwed and glue to the walls. This also ties into your question about the foundation. I always recommend that a home with tape and texture be placed on a foundation, as it is MUCH less likely to settle, causing cracks in the sheetrock.

3. Both plywood and OSB make great floors. Whatever you do, don't get talked into Novadeck.

4. As for how much as dealer will negotiage, most of the time it's based on the age of the home. Generally a lot model that is over 180 days old will be nicely discounted, and if it's over 300 days old, most dealers really want to move it.
Many floorplanners require dealerships to pay cash for homes that hit their one year anniversary, and you can really get some serious discounts on those models.

Don't mean to be wordy, but you asked several good questions.
Thanks
Texasbob