Has anyone here bought a modular home lately?

leeinmemphis · May 30, 2006

We are thinking about buying a modular home/house trailer to put at the farm. This will primarily be a weekend home but would like something that my wife/family can be comfortable in.I have a few questions for anyone that has bought/dealt with purchasing one lately:

1. Did you purchase a new or previously owned unit? Do they offer warranties on new ones like a car? Am I better off trying to find a used/previously owned one(say 1-3 years old) or am I better off purchasing new to have a more current model?

2. Did you have them do the site prep work or did you do it yourself? How much work is involved with site prep?

3. How much work was involved in hooking up the plumbing, electrical, LP, sewer? Did it run out the back side or did you have to actually get under it to tie into it? I'm an electrician by trade so that work will not be a problem but was wondering how much is actually involved???

Is there anything else that you had to do that I am not thinking of? Also if you don't mind me asking do you know how much a nicely equipped small single wide unit would cost? We are looking for something for me the wife and the boys to go out on the farm to stay for the weekends. Not looking to spend a great deal of money.......trying to see how much I can get for the money.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

leeinmemphis · May 30, 2006

We are thinking about buying a modular home/house trailer to put at the farm. This will primarily be a weekend home but would like something that my wife/family can be comfortable in.I have a few questions for anyone that has bought/dealt with purchasing one lately:

1. Did you purchase a new or previously owned unit? Do they offer warranties on new ones like a car? Am I better off trying to find a used/previously owned one(say 1-3 years old) or am I better off purchasing new to have a more current model?

2. Did you have them do the site prep work or did you do it yourself? How much work is involved with site prep?

3. How much work was involved in hooking up the plumbing, electrical, LP, sewer? Did it run out the back side or did you have to actually get under it to tie into it? I'm an electrician by trade so that work will not be a problem but was wondering how much is actually involved???

Is there anything else that you had to do that I am not thinking of? Also if you don't mind me asking do you know how much a nicely equipped small single wide unit would cost? We are looking for something for me the wife and the boys to go out on the farm to stay for the weekends. Not looking to spend a great deal of money.......trying to see how much I can get for the money.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bird · May 30, 2006

1. I bought a new doublewide in '97 to put on 10 acres. Had to move back to town for family reasons, so sold it in '02. Then in '03, bought a used '97 single wide. As with a house, there's some tremendous differences in quality of construction, materials, options, etc. So you can get exactly what you want if you order one built to your specifications, as we did with the double wide. And yes, new ones come with a warranty, but it's the dealer instead of the manufacturer that you'll be most concerned with. And as with cars, you can come out far ahead financially if you can find a good used one.

2. I did the site prep myself when we bought the new one. I think few, if any, dealers will do the site prep, although they might recommend a private contractor if you want to hire it done. I think the majority of complaints with manufactured housing has to do with the installation and they'd like to be able to blame it on the site prep. Personally, I don't think I'd ever buy another one without having a concrete slab poured for a foundation to put it on.

3. The utilites hook up underneath so nothing shows if you skirt it. So someone does have to crawl around under it. But it's actually pretty easy to do and doesn't take long. Of course if you buy from a dealer, you may be able to negotiate with them to have that done. If you're an electrician, you'd have no problem doing it yourself.

I have not kept up with prices much lately, but a brother-in-law recently bought a one year old 40' park model, fully furnished, with 3 slide-outs for less than $20k. In '97, I paid about $54k for a custom built double wide, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1500+ square feet. Then in '02 I bought the '97 single wide, 2 bedroom, 2 bath for $19k and know that the original owner paid over $36k for it new.

Bird · May 30, 2006

1. I bought a new doublewide in '97 to put on 10 acres. Had to move back to town for family reasons, so sold it in '02. Then in '03, bought a used '97 single wide. As with a house, there's some tremendous differences in quality of construction, materials, options, etc. So you can get exactly what you want if you order one built to your specifications, as we did with the double wide. And yes, new ones come with a warranty, but it's the dealer instead of the manufacturer that you'll be most concerned with. And as with cars, you can come out far ahead financially if you can find a good used one.

2. I did the site prep myself when we bought the new one. I think few, if any, dealers will do the site prep, although they might recommend a private contractor if you want to hire it done. I think the majority of complaints with manufactured housing has to do with the installation and they'd like to be able to blame it on the site prep. Personally, I don't think I'd ever buy another one without having a concrete slab poured for a foundation to put it on.

3. The utilites hook up underneath so nothing shows if you skirt it. So someone does have to crawl around under it. But it's actually pretty easy to do and doesn't take long. Of course if you buy from a dealer, you may be able to negotiate with them to have that done. If you're an electrician, you'd have no problem doing it yourself.

I have not kept up with prices much lately, but a brother-in-law recently bought a one year old 40' park model, fully furnished, with 3 slide-outs for less than $20k. In '97, I paid about $54k for a custom built double wide, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1500+ square feet. Then in '02 I bought the '97 single wide, 2 bedroom, 2 bath for $19k and know that the original owner paid over $36k for it new.

MLinOleMiss · May 31, 2006

There is a lot of difference between a modular home and a house trailer, so everything will vary greatly between dealers and builders. I don't think that you can purchase and move a previously owned modular home as they are basically a house put together in modules on site rather than stick built on site.

MLinOleMiss · May 31, 2006

There is a lot of difference between a modular home and a house trailer, so everything will vary greatly between dealers and builders. I don't think that you can purchase and move a previously owned modular home as they are basically a house put together in modules on site rather than stick built on site.

Bird · May 31, 2006

( a lot of difference between a modular home and a house trailer )

You're absolutely right, of course. I know he used both terms, but in the context used, I think he was talking about the latter. Now of course we also no longer have any house trailers; they were replaced with "mobile homes" and since many of them are no longer "mobile", they were replaced with "manufactured housing". /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Bird · May 31, 2006

( a lot of difference between a modular home and a house trailer )

You're absolutely right, of course. I know he used both terms, but in the context used, I think he was talking about the latter. Now of course we also no longer have any house trailers; they were replaced with "mobile homes" and since many of them are no longer "mobile", they were replaced with "manufactured housing". /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

leeinmemphis · May 31, 2006

Well to be honest we have been looking at both modular homes and "mobile homes" plus some cabin kits that come premanufactured as well. In this particular case though I meant "mobile home". Sorry for the confusion. I have been told that I can likely get a "pre owned" mobile home in the 10-12k range that would be in fairly good condition. If that is the case then I would likely try to do that instead of trying to build a small cabin or something like that. This way I could build a house a little later in life when we can really afford what we would want and have a better idea once the kids move off etc.

Some of the info I found online last night indicated that some house trailers have come a long way in the last few years. I saw a couple single wide units that were for sale for around $20k. I wouldn't mind evening maybe doing something like that. The main thing is to have a place where my wife/family will be comfortable out there. Our little hunting cabin that I use now out there isn't gonna cut it for my wife. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif .......afraid we're gonna need running water, shower, and a bathroom at the least.....not to mention heat/air conditioning /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif .............thanks again and sorry for the confusion.

leeinmemphis · May 31, 2006

Well to be honest we have been looking at both modular homes and "mobile homes" plus some cabin kits that come premanufactured as well. In this particular case though I meant "mobile home". Sorry for the confusion. I have been told that I can likely get a "pre owned" mobile home in the 10-12k range that would be in fairly good condition. If that is the case then I would likely try to do that instead of trying to build a small cabin or something like that. This way I could build a house a little later in life when we can really afford what we would want and have a better idea once the kids move off etc.

Some of the info I found online last night indicated that some house trailers have come a long way in the last few years. I saw a couple single wide units that were for sale for around $20k. I wouldn't mind evening maybe doing something like that. The main thing is to have a place where my wife/family will be comfortable out there. Our little hunting cabin that I use now out there isn't gonna cut it for my wife. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif .......afraid we're gonna need running water, shower, and a bathroom at the least.....not to mention heat/air conditioning /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif .............thanks again and sorry for the confusion.