Not really BotB related: Housing options...

ChristyML · December 2012

So my husband and I are living with my mom right now to save for a down payment....I'm 23, he's 24 and we have an almost 3 month old. We are planning on ttc LO2 in April. Our price range for buying a home is $150,000. For building it may be different.

Basically we have three options: Buy, build, or buy a manufactured home.

We went and looked at a 15 year old manufactured home that had 20 acres of land with it for under 150K. It was a piece of crap (the pictures online made it seem like a much nicer place). I am wondering if the ones they build now are definitely much nicer. I'm sure they are, but I'm wondering what the differences are now. Does anyone live in a manufactured home that is less than 5 years old?

Any advice is welcome! TIA!

ks3pink · December 2012

We just moved in a new modular home and love it! We haven't had any issues other than the paint being thin and you can have that with a stick built home. I will say that we decided to go with this one because it was better quality than the other one we looked at. It is manufactured by Holmes building systems and when you walk into their homes they do not feel manufactured versus the cavalier builders models we were looking at. Ours is 4 bedroom 2 bath, 1800 square feet and we paid a little over 100,000 for it. It took about 4 months to get it up and that was with pushing everyone along so we could get in by the time the twins arrived, we were only 2 weeks shy due to the power company. I would say 6 months would be the normal time frame. Definitely a good idea if you are needing to get out on your own quickly! GL!

Cindal · December 2012

We don't currently live in a manufactured home but I can tell you they have improved immensely in the last 15 years. Some of the nice ones you can't even tell they were manufactured and sometimes they come with more amenties than a regular home like a large bathroom with whirlpool tub. It was something we looked into when we were moving, but our price range was much lower than yours.

btaylor19 · December 2012

Playing my naive card, what is a manufactured home?

sweetpea2003 · December 2012

I think it depends on your area.

I am from an area where manufactured homes decrease in value. If you have land, that may increase, but the home itself is almost a liability. And they aren't in high COLA areas at all (I am from the DC area and you have to drive about an hour outside the city to find them at all).

My husband and I own two homes that are both rented out as investments. Both were purchased with long term goals in mind (making money on the home) - so location location location and then quality of the home.

A lot of newer homes are built very poorly these days (not just manufactured). I am of the mindset that if you are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, it should be something that is going to stand the test of time. And even if the quality of manufactured homes has increased in the last 15 years, the reputation hasn't. So you will still lose A LOT of future potential buyers for the exact reason that you are feeling apprehensive in this post.

PERSONALLY, I wouldn't buy one unless I was solely purchasing the land and had plans to rebuild on it. If this is a home you plan on spending many decades in, I would definitely look for something more solid.

The first house we purchased was built in 1942 and we learned from renovating how incredibly poorly homes of today are built (in general, by average builders). Our second home was built in 1998 and it took a LOOOONG time (and touring many hundreds of houses) to find one built that late that was quality construction and not just thrown up in 2 weeks by a mass producer.

Whatever you do, make sure to do all of your research (especially surrounding your precise area) and don't settle because it is "cheaper". Cheaper doesn't mean better, and it doesn't mean a brighter financial future either. While real estate isn't necessarily the investment it was in the 80s, it still can work for you if you are smart about what you buy, when you sell, and how you take care of your property.

ks3pink · December 2012

sweetpea2003:
I think it depends on your area.I am from an area where manufactured homes decrease in value.nbsp; If you have land, that may increase, but the home itself is almost a liability.nbsp; And they aren't in high COLA areas at all I am from the DC area and you have to drive about an hour outside the city to find them at all.My husband and I own two homes that are both rented out as investments.nbsp; Both were purchased with long term goals in mind making money on the home so location location location and then quality of the home.nbsp; A lot of newer homes are built very poorly these days not just manufactured.nbsp; I am of the mindset that if you are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, it should be something that is going to stand the test of time.nbsp; And even if the quality of manufactured homes has increased in the last 15 years, the reputation hasn't.nbsp; So you will still lose A LOT of future potential buyers for the exact reason that you are feeling apprehensive in this post.PERSONALLY, I wouldn't buy one unless I was solely purchasing the land and had plans to rebuild on it.nbsp; If this is a home you plan on spending many decades in, I would definitely look for something more solid.nbsp; The first house we purchased was built in 1942 and we learned from renovating how incredibly poorly homes of today are built in general, by average builders.nbsp; Our second home was built in 1998 and it took a LOOOONG time and touring many hundreds of houses to find one built that late that was quality construction and not just thrown up in 2 weeks by a mass producer.Whatever you do, make sure to do all of your research especially surrounding your precise area and don't settle because it is "cheaper".nbsp; Cheaper doesn't mean better, and it doesn't mean a brighter financial future either.nbsp; While real estate isn't necessarily the investment it was in the 80s, it still can work for you if you are smart about what you buy, when you sell, and how you take care of your property.

I really think you need to do your research on manufactured homes. They are built inside a factory so unlike stick built they are not exposed to the weather. They are designed to withstand winds from up to a category 4 hurricane. They are nothing like a mobile home, a single wide or double wide, which do depreciate rapidly in value. Maybe that is what you are referring to but not what I think OP is asking about. There is a HUGE difference!

ChristyML · December 2012

btaylor19:
Playing my naive card, what is a manufactured home?

https://www.marlettehomes.com/

This is the company that is closest to our city.

sweetpea2003 · December 2012

ks3pink:
sweetpea2003:
I think it depends on your area.I am from an area where manufactured homes decrease in value.nbsp; If you have land, that may increase, but the home itself is almost a liability.nbsp; And they aren't in high COLA areas at all I am from the DC area and you have to drive about an hour outside the city to find them at all.My husband and I own two homes that are both rented out as investments.nbsp; Both were purchased with long term goals in mind making money on the home so location location location and then quality of the home.nbsp; A lot of newer homes are built very poorly these days not just manufactured.nbsp; I am of the mindset that if you are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, it should be something that is going to stand the test of time.nbsp; And even if the quality of manufactured homes has increased in the last 15 years, the reputation hasn't.nbsp; So you will still lose A LOT of future potential buyers for the exact reason that you are feeling apprehensive in this post.PERSONALLY, I wouldn't buy one unless I was solely purchasing the land and had plans to rebuild on it.nbsp; If this is a home you plan on spending many decades in, I would definitely look for something more solid.nbsp; The first house we purchased was built in 1942 and we learned from renovating how incredibly poorly homes of today are built in general, by average builders.nbsp; Our second home was built in 1998 and it took a LOOOONG time and touring many hundreds of houses to find one built that late that was quality construction and not just thrown up in 2 weeks by a mass producer.Whatever you do, make sure to do all of your research especially surrounding your precise area and don't settle because it is "cheaper".nbsp; Cheaper doesn't mean better, and it doesn't mean a brighter financial future either.nbsp; While real estate isn't necessarily the investment it was in the 80s, it still can work for you if you are smart about what you buy, when you sell, and how you take care of your property.
I really think you need to do your research on manufactured homes. They are built inside a factory so unlike stick built they are not exposed to the weather. They are designed to withstand winds from up to a category 4 hurricane. They are nothing like a mobile home, a single wide or double wide, which do depreciate rapidly in value. Maybe that is what you are referring to but not what I think OP is asking about. There is a HUGE difference!

While I am sure there is a huge variety of manufactured homes, generally speaking, they are valued (and depreciated by insurers) at the same rate as mobile homes. And mobile homes as well as modular homes are manufactured homes - just different types. And I know that while some manufactured homes might boast that qualities you say (category 4 winds, etc), it is misleading to imply that they do as a general rule.

To insinuate that a manufactured home (generally speaking) is more valuable or better quality than a stick built home (generally speaking) is dellusional. And if you want me to do my research, thats fine. I have done a ton of reading on real estate and not a single bit of it has been a brochure from a manufactured home builder (who I am sure is SELLING their homes, and therefore makes light of a lot of the serious problems that come with purchasing those kinds of houses).

OP can do whatever she wants, but historically you cannot deny that manufactured homes are not as good of an investment as a stick built home.

ks3pink · December 2012

sweetpea2003:
ks3pink:
sweetpea2003:
I think it depends on your area.I am from an area where manufactured homes decrease in value.nbsp; If you have land, that may increase, but the home itself is almost a liability.nbsp; And they aren't in high COLA areas at all I am from the DC area and you have to drive about an hour outside the city to find them at all.My husband and I own two homes that are both rented out as investments.nbsp; Both were purchased with long term goals in mind making money on the home so location location location and then quality of the home.nbsp; A lot of newer homes are built very poorly these days not just manufactured.nbsp; I am of the mindset that if you are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, it should be something that is going to stand the test of time.nbsp; And even if the quality of manufactured homes has increased in the last 15 years, the reputation hasn't.nbsp; So you will still lose A LOT of future potential buyers for the exact reason that you are feeling apprehensive in this post.PERSONALLY, I wouldn't buy one unless I was solely purchasing the land and had plans to rebuild on it.nbsp; If this is a home you plan on spending many decades in, I would definitely look for something more solid.nbsp; The first house we purchased was built in 1942 and we learned from renovating how incredibly poorly homes of today are built in general, by average builders.nbsp; Our second home was built in 1998 and it took a LOOOONG time and touring many hundreds of houses to find one built that late that was quality construction and not just thrown up in 2 weeks by a mass producer.Whatever you do, make sure to do all of your research especially surrounding your precise area and don't settle because it is "cheaper".nbsp; Cheaper doesn't mean better, and it doesn't mean a brighter financial future either.nbsp; While real estate isn't necessarily the investment it was in the 80s, it still can work for you if you are smart about what you buy, when you sell, and how you take care of your property.
I really think you need to do your research on manufactured homes. They are built inside a factory so unlike stick built they are not exposed to the weather. They are designed to withstand winds from up to a category 4 hurricane. They are nothing like a mobile home, a single wide or double wide, which do depreciate rapidly in value. Maybe that is what you are referring to but not what I think OP is asking about. There is a HUGE difference!

While I am sure there is a huge variety of manufactured homes, generally speaking, they are valued (and depreciated by insurers) at the same rate as mobile homes.  And mobile homes as well as modular homes are manufactured homes - just different types.  And I know that while some manufactured homes might boast that qualities you say (category 4 winds, etc), it is misleading to imply that they do as a general rule.

To insinuate that a manufactured home (generally speaking) is more valuable or better quality than a stick built home (generally speaking) is dellusional.  And if you want me to do my research, thats fine.  I have done a ton of reading on real estate and not a single bit of it has been a brochure from a manufactured home builder (who I am sure is SELLING their homes, and therefore makes light of a lot of the serious problems that come with purchasing those kinds of houses).

OP can do whatever she wants, but historically you cannot deny that manufactured homes are not as good of an investment as a stick built home.

She asked about homes built in the last five years. Historically you may have a point but more recently they have become better and better. And they don't depreciate unless they aren't kept up, just like any other home.

ks3pink · January 2013

GhostMonkey:
ks3pink:

She asked about homes built in the last five years. Historically you may have a point but more recently they have become better and better. And they don't depreciate unless they aren't kept up, just like any other home.
All assets depreciate. Go take an accounting class.

Yes, that's why people are able to sell their homes for more than they bought them for....

JCWhitey · January 2013

They have really improved. But keep in mind that houses can sometimes be like cars. If you buy used you can invest a little money into improvements and increase the value of the home. If you build you will likely end up with a home you owe more on than it's worth in this market.

I looked at everything when house hunting and the only thing I didn't like about some manufactured homes is that they don't always have a foundation. It made it more difficult to get financing on those houses. So if you do go that route I'd work hard to get it on a foundation. It'll make insurance more affordable and financing easier to get, at least in CA.

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Not really BotB related: Housing options...

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