Doublewide. How bad are they?

[Whiskey]

Terry:

Your getting a lot of good advice here and you said this was for camp property but, could also become you perm. resident let me give you a little twist on thinking here.

1st:
Would I like to live in a 3 bedroom /2 bath block home w/2car garage, you bet your sweet bippy I would, do I want to pay the taxes on it, not on your life. I'm tired of paying for Tampa to be the next great city and a new football stadium that seats less for more money.

2nd:
Will a twister or hurcaine level my home, yes it will although they tell me it will stand 130 mph winds I ain't about to find out like the tooth less masses that say there going to ride it out in there trailer, you know who I'm talking about we've all seen them on T.V.

3rd:
Do I look at my home as an investment, well, I'm very differant that most on this subject, The land under my trailer I see as an investment the home I don't. I see it this way I can have more of my money in my pocket and less in the goverments hands. My lower cost allows me to invest and save for my future and yes I can say I will be able to aford to keep my home when I'm retired, unlike so many of my friends.

4th:
My trailer, carboard box with doors and windows, mobile home or what ever folks like to call them these days works well for me. As for how its built, 2X6 16" oc exterior walls / 2x4 16"oc interior walls / osb sheathing / vinyl siding / 3/4" t/g plywood flooring / tape and texture on drywall / doubble paine windows, one thing I don't like is no solid truss being it comes in two halfs but, all an all it's as close as I could get to a stick built home and still bring it in on wheels with trun singles /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My investments stay free and clear of my home (meaning I don't have to sell my home to get at my cash) and if it blows away I could still build or just buy another one /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif hope this helps a little, it's just a differant way to look at it.

Whiskey

 

[Whiskey]

Terry:

One thing I read after I was finnished typing all that out is you said "snow" being I live in the south I don't worry that one much but snow load on a trailer roof is something I would worry about a little.

Whiskey

 

[Docsknotinn]

All good points but the one I like best was that it was paid for in the first year. The true secret to building wealth is not to keep paying interest by amortizeing WAYYYYY to many years to get that payment low. I recently looked at one with sheet rock walls, cedar log sideing, 2x6 etc 2,000 sq' for the mid 60's. I don't care how you slice it that is a bargain. Take a look at the cost of a class c winabago ouch, just as much for a 30 footer /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a link to a manufactured home site and it shows some of their construction techniques.

 

[B7500]

I have read many post on a whole gamut of subjects but I do believe this one has been the best. Absolutely excellent pro AND con viewpoints. Both sides have very valid arguments.
Man, I love this group.
Thanks all,
-Terry

 

[fivestring]

Terry, just sit back and relax.... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif.

We'll live your life for you!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

How's that for friends????

 

[Docsknotinn]

Yeah, buy that camp and invite all of your new BEST FRIENDS !!

 

[B7500]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Terry, just sit back and relax.... .

We'll live your life for you!!!!

How's that for friends???? )</font>

Cool!!
Now, you got $100,000 you don't want???
I sure could use it............... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[fivestring]

Alright now,
you got that retirement pension fund kicking in!!!!

 

[Briarwood]

My attorney's pat answer for everything is: "It depends!"

It depends on your preferences, how you want to live, how much you want to spend, etc., etc.

Here's what we did. My wife and I have been very fortunate and lived quite well in a suburban environment in a 2800 sq ft ranch. Before our retirement, we bought a small 90 acre farm about an hour and a half from home. We bought it for a getaway and also for hunting, especially deer and turkey. My inlaws had a trailer (mobile home) for years in Florida as a vacation home that served them well and we decided that would also work for us in this situtation. We bought a used 14x70 mobile home much, much cheaper that any other option. It served us well for five years. After we retired, we sold our 2800 sq ft home and moved to the farm and into the trailer for a year. We stored our furniture in a new barn that we built on the farm until we could have a new home built. Then we donated the trailer (oops, I mean mobile home) to the local fair board. After living in a very nice conventionally built brick house with a basement for so many years, makes life in a "trailer" seem very cramped and spartan. Yet, it worked great for just the two of us. Generally, everything in the trailer seemed to be built much more cheaply or should I say not as substantial as a conventially built house. Lower price = less quality, but then we understood that. It just a matter of how you treat it. Some people can wear a pair of shoes for years and they always look nice, others can buy the same shoes and they are worn out in a few months.

When we "built" our house we chose a 2350 sq ft modular. As far as I am concerned, you really end up with the same product once the house is finished with either stick built or modular. As someone already pointed out, the modular is just built in sections in a factory environment and then transported to the site on flatbed trucks (not with wheels on its own metal frame). We chose a modular constructed house because the construction was much higher quality than the locally stick built homes here. Our home sits on a concrete foundation with a full basement and has an attached conventionally built porch, garage and sun room. Also, we are in a county that does not have a building code and therefore no local building inspections for anything. As long as you can get a permit for a septic system from the health department, you can build anything. One of my reasons for choosing the modular was because it was built in a factory with quality control conditions and it had to be built to conform to state building codes that are pretty strict. The modular we chose was built as good or better than a stick built home. I would do it again.

The only drawback that I found to the modular is that you are somewhat limited to the design parameters of the models available from any given manufaturer. However, they are coming out with more and more designs and options all the time.

Now, let me point out that there is a range of quality among mobile home manufaturers as there is a range of quality among stick builders as well as modular companies. You usually get what you pay for so you need to shop around no matter if you go mobile, modular or stick built. Is this going to be a temporary "camp" or a permanent home? What is your life style? How much room do you need? How rough are you on a house?

If you decide on a mobile, make sure you get one that is built for the local climate (amount of insulation, snow load, etc.) I think there is a sticker on the inside somewhere that tells when the trailer was manufactured and shows the temperature zone it is made for. I wouldn't want to buy a mobile home made for Florida and use it in Upper Michigan!

Good luck with whatever you decide. Life is an interesting adventure. Enjoy.

Briarwood