Had a double wide put up in VA with my ex around 2007 in VA. It was a really nice unit, top of the line with huge rooms and fancy bathrooms. While it was actually a really nice house, it didn't really hold up in the end. Visited there a few years back and the floors were bowed and it was falling apart. The wiring isn't standard and each outlet/switch just kind of taps into the wire passing by that area. Really glad I didn't end up living there. Nice at first, but didn't hold up well at all. For the money, you can have a real house.
Debating on a newer Manufactured / "Mobile" Home ... A Doublewide
- Thread starter SwampSurvivor
- Start date
Manufactured homes have come a very long way in the last 30+ years. We've lived in 2 and were happy. It depends on the manufacturer. Deer Valley and Silvercrest are good, but expensive. Champion and Fleetwood are bargain and for the budget minded. I'd personally stay away from older site-built homes.
The double wide I worked on was built and laid out well enough in my book
I'm not sure how the "floor bones" were made but since there was carpet (cheap rubber backed) covered particle board for the outside porch, I must conclude they'd use it throughout.
The only real clinker was the "grand master porn movie" FRP oversize platform bathtub. The entire thing was roomy otherwise.
I understand no cast iron but there's got to be a better way. At least there was a separate shower stall.
Booming or transient workforces was once a measure of economic health. Hastily constructed mobile homes was a factor used.
What they sell for depends on is young people in the work force or well financed retirees.
This double wide was rented to two consecutive "family charity cases" (with mediocre results) then a young college grad. After that it sold to a state worker who liked solitude. The 4 acre strip of land it sat on and the well and the septic system is where the value lies.
Also, this particular one was in a super quiet park region.
The devil is in the details.
I'm not sure how the "floor bones" were made but since there was carpet (cheap rubber backed) covered particle board for the outside porch, I must conclude they'd use it throughout.
The only real clinker was the "grand master porn movie" FRP oversize platform bathtub. The entire thing was roomy otherwise.
I understand no cast iron but there's got to be a better way. At least there was a separate shower stall.
Booming or transient workforces was once a measure of economic health. Hastily constructed mobile homes was a factor used.
What they sell for depends on is young people in the work force or well financed retirees.
This double wide was rented to two consecutive "family charity cases" (with mediocre results) then a young college grad. After that it sold to a state worker who liked solitude. The 4 acre strip of land it sat on and the well and the septic system is where the value lies.
Also, this particular one was in a super quiet park region.
The devil is in the details.
FIL is a contractor who does mostly windows. He hates manufactured housing because they don't use fiberglas batts for insulation but rather expanding foam, which makes servicing replacement windows and probably a lot of other stuff a huge PITA. I picture an industrial sized tank of "Great Stuff" at the factory.
What is your budget ?
I would call a few banks and ask them what their current policy is regarding manufactured homes. Lots of times the problem in the past was that it was hard to get financing for them which is why lots of people stayed away. They might have relaxed it a bit but maybe not worth it if you can't easily get a loan from any bank or if the rates are higher.
Fannie/Freddie etc buy mortgages secured by manufactured homes.
Yeah, there are 203k loans out there too, but I don't known many banks that actually do them. Just saying he should check around for rates and banks that actually do them and have done them. VA and FHA loans get done all the time too, but they're no fun/easy to do. Just something to look into. I've never had anyone actually do one, but most of my stuff is in the city.
Well I happen to agree rules/codes that municipalities have to enact to keep their area desirable . Nobody wants to look out their window and see junk vehicles parked on lawns or rusting away at the street
Nobody wants the junk collector near them in the country either .
I have nothing against poor people , your don't have to be rich to be prideful of your condition .
Nobody wants the junk collector near them in the country either .
I have nothing against poor people , your don't have to be rich to be prideful of your condition .
Living in a single wide all my life......
If you must, get a double wide, with a rocked pad, with vapor plastic, and poured pillar foundations. Setup on a crest of a hill.
I am leaning toward a hybrid brick/wood home on a concrete pad. I would get a 'modular' home before a double wide. Manufacture homes are very difficult from keeping out the rodents.
...and you can build a home cheaper than a double wide. There is one guy that has a 400sf home. Really small.
If you must, get a double wide, with a rocked pad, with vapor plastic, and poured pillar foundations. Setup on a crest of a hill.
I am leaning toward a hybrid brick/wood home on a concrete pad. I would get a 'modular' home before a double wide. Manufacture homes are very difficult from keeping out the rodents.
...and you can build a home cheaper than a double wide. There is one guy that has a 400sf home. Really small.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
It seems like he's looking at MY 2000 - 2005 dbl wides on site not new ones. He mentioned his buddy getting a new one.
What is the lesser evil, a 20 YO double wide or a 75+ YO house?
What is the lesser evil, a 20 YO double wide or a 75+ YO house?
In Ozarks in missouri live on 60 acres very rural surrounded by cattle farms. There are no building codes.16 years ago purchased a house knew it needed work but it has been a money pit. What I've learned either buy a manufacturer home or build it yourself that way u know how it has been constructed.
Goodness, I forgot about the rodents. Apparently my mother's double-wide was built on the local Field Mouse Grand Central Station, as we had chronic problems with mice, despite having cats around. The mice would come out even when we were sitting in the same room.
A cousin got a modular home some years ago. It's built much better than these double-wides and is holding up well, but it cost a lot more too.
Looks as if older single-wides (before 1980) were built better than the later ones. At some point around then the manufacturers switched to rubbish like particleboard flooring instead of plywood.
The 75 year old house hasn't treated me too well.
The floor material will be a big one I look for - I definitely don't want the weird particleboard stuff.
Mice. That's just the way things go here. I'm always fighting with rodents in my crawlspace. Our 3 cats and dog will just let them run around if they get in the house.
Personally I do not think a double wide is comparable to a modular home if I am understanding this correctly. Modular would be superior I think.
$180,000 sounds very reasonable for upstate NY but I guess the catch for you is your desire to be outside of a community setting and its the communities that homebuilders economically build up to date and up to code stick built homes.
Outside a community I can see how it can get costly, finding a builder to build one home and be able to profit.
$180,000 sounds very reasonable for upstate NY but I guess the catch for you is your desire to be outside of a community setting and its the communities that homebuilders economically build up to date and up to code stick built homes.
Outside a community I can see how it can get costly, finding a builder to build one home and be able to profit.
Speaking of single-wide. Years ago I came across a single story ranch where the owner dropped a single-wide in a U-shaped slot they cut into the roof. They then cut a hole in the steel floor and installed a circular staircase into the home below.
Tried to pass it off as a 2-unit (duplex). It has since been torn down.
Tried to pass it off as a 2-unit (duplex). It has since been torn down.
I’ve owned a manufactured home and I was not a fan. I’d opt to rent a home rather than purchasing one ever again. They don’t hold up and will depreciate in value rapidly over time. The land it’s on will up go up while the home goes down and you likely break even at best. If that is all you can afford I understand as I was in the same position. But you must understand it’s not equal or better than a “house”, house. It’s just not.
The newer ones are nice and even use standard building materials if you buy one made by the right company.
I'd rather have a mobile home with a big enough space underneath for maintenance before a slab home with all the plumbing in places where you have to tunnel under he house or break up the concrete to fix.
They even have 2 story mobile homes now as well. But a triple wide installed costs as much as the equivalent stick built house. I suspect that the lead times are way less for a mobile home right now.
Here is one with a nice attic that I'd use for storage:
I'd rather have a mobile home with a big enough space underneath for maintenance before a slab home with all the plumbing in places where you have to tunnel under he house or break up the concrete to fix.
They even have 2 story mobile homes now as well. But a triple wide installed costs as much as the equivalent stick built house. I suspect that the lead times are way less for a mobile home right now.
Here is one with a nice attic that I'd use for storage:
New stick built houses use tons of OSB everywhere, and have so for at least a couple of decades. So they are just as bad.
