Sonotube questions Please respond if you know

[stevenf]

NOTRESSPASSING
I thought that was the perfect solution a year ago I had a used mobil home guy come out he really wanted to sell homes so he was happy to come he took one look at my winding, hilly road on the way to the ranch and told me he didn't have anything he could sell me and get down the road. He said I'd have to go with a new one to get the required sq footage (min 3 bedrooms about 1500 sq ft) and get one in the 40' long multiple piece type. We went and looked and to get something that appeared to be well made it was darn near 100K time they got it setup. For a 100K I can build a pretty nice house with regular thickness walls, doors, plumbing and electrical. Besides when I get thru I'll know exactly what I've got since I'm planning on doing all the work myself. I don't remember where you were from but around here what they do is they go back and look at what the mobil home cost new regardless of condition and thats what you pay taxes on if its on your property it wouldn't surprise me if you are in the same boat and just don't know it because I have lots of friends out here living in mobils about 1/2 pay taxes and 1/2 don't the ones that don't are careful about mentioning anything around county officials and they are back in the sticks like me where the tax man don't know.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Steve, got your PM but figured this is as good a place as any to answer. The tax laws are obviously different in this county/township. As I said before, anything not on a foundation here is not taxable. I talked to the assessor when he came to our property.

You should have a look at our homepage and check out the hill we pulled our home up. It took a fullsized 4x4 tractor hooked to the front of the semi, and a 2x4 tractor hooked to the back of the home to keep it from pushing the semi into the creek.

Up here in Illinois, you can get about 1200 sq. ft. 3 bedroom, 2 bath 2"x6" exterior walled home for under $30K. (about 8-10yrs. old.)

Good luck with whatever you do. Fixin that cabin up a little sounds easiest /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kevin

 

[stevenf]

Dang Kevin I need to move to Illinois in a lot of counties around here if you can live in it they'll tax you for it, as a matter of fact my folks have a place in Medina county where they have a house and in the driveway they had a 18' 1970's model travel trailer they wanted to tax them for it because it seldom moved as they also had a big new RV they ended up selling it to avoid paying taxes on it.
As for fixin up the cabin imagine a grounds keepers cabin that has been added onto for 100 years here and there indoor plumbing, living room, bathroom, bedroom after all that it still only around 1,000 sq ft, no insulation, rusty galv tin roof and exterior walls and some interior walls. pole built living room no upright studs just nailer slats from old pallets no central air or heat and etc,etc,etc. I don't think anything short of complete demolition and rebuild would put it into a shape that would make my honey smile very often. "But" in the meantime in order to keep her from killing me when she wants to say paint some walls or replace a faucet you better believe its yes mam smile and get after it. She is enduring this well considering we lived in our beautiful custom built 2,000 or so foot house in town for 20 years.

 

[bgott]

Nowdays in Texas it's a little harder to get away without paying taxes on a mobile home. They've gotten real sticky on moving permits and to get one you have to have paperwork from the county assessor's office showing that the taxes are paid up. Once you get the permit they know where to find the house to tax it. The repo inventory is sky high so you can find 3 and 4 year old houses for way under ten grand but you better get a tax certificate before you bid on one.

 

[Bird]

Right, Brad, and for those who don't know it, last year they changed from "titles", much like automobile titles, to SOLs (Statement of Ownership and Location), and while they used to only track those used as residences, they at least claim to now track those used temporarily at construction sites, etc. as well. I had quite a round with the Dallas County Tax Assessor this year as a result. For a Homestead Exemption, their paperwork asked for a copy of the SOL, "title or other proof of ownership" but their computers would only accept SOLs, and their employees didn't understand it, so three times they told me I had everything done right, but then later mailed it back to me asking for the SOL (I still had the old title).

 

[sendero]

You can imagine the mess I got into /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I bought my mobile in OK just across the border in June of 2002. The dealer over there either didn't know or didn't care about the new (at that time) laws that required a "third party closing" to effect the sale properly and register the title.

I was admittedly derelict myself, taking a few months to get around to worrying about getting a "title". I called Austin and they told me about the "third party closing". The attorney who handled my land purchase said 'if you can't find any other way to get this done, I'll look into it, but I'd rather not'. (How many lawyers do you know who will turn away business? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) I talked to a couple of title companies and finally found a sympathetic ear - she told me a procedure I could try.

I got so completely frustrated with the whole process I handed it off to my wife, generally a capable administrator, and she promptly put it on the back burner.

Really long story a bit shorter - a few months ago I lit the proverbial fire under her you know what and she got on the web and lo' and behold, in the intervening year or so the rules had changed completely *again*.

Even though we had also not gotten the required inspections, we sent in the heavily notarized paperwork and the Cert. of Origin and believe it or not we got our SOL.

It goes against every principle I believe in to have procrastination offer such a great payoff, but obviously it happens occasionally /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( in the intervening year or so the rules had changed completely *again*. )</font>

Yep, September 2003 I believe. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Sometimes I think the whole world just keeps getting more complicated. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[bgott]

I'm glad you posted that. The MH sales lot I used to work for shut down so I haven't had a place to hang around and hear of all the latest silly stuff from the state. I hope they don't decide I need to get a SOL for the old junkers that I own, that would be a PITA. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Bird]

Brad, if I understand all that mess of laws, you don't actually have to do anything with your current titles, although you can mail them in and get a new SOL at no cost. If a title is lost and you need to get it replaced by an SOL, costs $55. But if you ever sell the unit (or even move it, I think) you'll have to get an SOL to replace the title at that time.

You can probably find some interesting reading on the topic here.

 

[stevenf]

Kevin you got me thinking so I broke down and called The Kendall County Taxing Authority and talked to the boss. She said if I bought a used Mobil/Manufactured Home she would consider the sales price if I brought her a Closing Statement but if I had gotten a good deal on one it wouldn't help the taxes because she would also refer to the NADA mobil home book if it did not appear in there then yes her only option was to find a comparable new one and tax it accordingly regardless of what a great deal I got on it because it was a repo or sold cheaply for some other reason. If I could find one that was 3 or 4 years old for under 10K it still might be an option as long as it was in the NADA book because she did say that they usually depreciate some from their original new cost.