Manufactured/prefab/mobile home vs. a house

[dlbleak]

i have a friend that was making seperate land and house payments. the house was a mobile. they went to consolidate to pay off some debt. the lender gave almost no value to the house at all and its a nice place purchased new and only about 12 years old

 

[-Pjackso]

I agree with most post so far.
If you're approaching this as a long-term investment - then a real house is the only option.

Upfront costs aside - other things to consider is reselling:
Mobile homes and non-typical construction (pre-fab/modular/underground/container/etc) are very difficult to SELL (most buyers don't want it) - and more importantly - it's also difficult for the buyer to get a LOAN for (which may kill any sale or at least reflect in the selling price).


If the short-term budget is the problem, then the idea of building the barn with a livable area is a viable move.
It's a good excuse to 'justify' building a larger barn and the livable area is also good for later on when you kick the kids out!.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Look up Cargo Container housing, they can often be done by yourself with little to no construction knowledge, the steel ISO container is 9x stronger in engineering models when built correctly inside, than any stick frame home....with 2x4 construction.

These will often be built for substantially less than ANY builder will quote, for equal or more square footage, depending on type of footage added or included e:g bathrooms: and included extra expense for longer pex tubing and electrical runs. Those 2 things as well as spray foam insulation are your larger expenses excluding containers themselves and land purchase/site prep.

Just for reference you can get 8'Wx9'Hx40'L High cubes brand new for 4180 directly from china. Each cube is 320 square feet, depending on family size the shell for your home (WEATHERPROOF) can be as little as 2 up to budget allows. They can also be stacked 9 high linked together with standard clips and remain just as strong as 1 story.

http://www.infiniski.com/world/
http://8747house.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-02-22T11:54:00-08:00&max-results=7
http://seacontainercabin.blogspot.com/

And if designed correctly on Pier column footings you can unbolt your house from it in the event of moving, ship them for a nominal fee on the RAILROAD, and set your house back up exactly as it was, no worse for the wear.

I've planned on building a house this way ever since I saw an engineering show about a firm in England doing it years ago. Great ideas to recycle what is normally trashed.

 

[10Seconds]

I have lived in a mobile home for several years before and its not bad at all. I got a single wide brand new for $24000. Sold it for $18000. So it cost me $1500 per year to live in a brand new place with brand new appliances. That is very hard to beat.

I would say if you are ok with a trailer then do it and use the extra money saved for other things like your workshop and barn.

 

[Fredkrueger100]

I was thinking this same thing. I would rather live in a house but I want 5+ acres. And to build a home on that much land is going to cost an arm and a leg. But I am not a fan of trailers either. I much more prefer a house. With that said, my foreman at work has a double wide and it is very very nice. He has built a porch on the front with a huge deck and landscaped it very well. He has also built onto it and made it even bigger. All in all it is a really nice home. He runs propane and has a generac generator. He has a pretty nice setup. I much more prefer having more land rather than having a huge home with no land. Me and the wife make good money but I don't want to owe on something for the rest of my life. But that kinda scares me away from a trailer or prefab hearing how they are hard to get a loan for and to sell. Thanks for the insight.

 

[ZombieHunter]

I agree with most post so far.
If you're approaching this as a long-term investment - then a real house is the only option.

Upfront costs aside - other things to consider is reselling:
Mobile homes and non-typical construction (pre-fab/modular/underground/container/etc) are very difficult to SELL (most buyers don't want it) - and more importantly - it's also difficult for the buyer to get a LOAN for (which may kill any sale or at least reflect in the selling price).


If the short-term budget is the problem, then the idea of building the barn with a livable area is a viable move.
It's a good excuse to 'justify' building a larger barn and the livable area is also good for later on when you kick the kids out!.

Disregard this, incorrect false information, I can build a 640 sq foot house, that looks EXACTLY like any stick frame construction on the inside and out, the only difference is I can do it for $40k and its worth double instantly, while your stick frame construction will cost you 20-30% more and be worth the same . You need some insight into the world of homes and how it is shifting.

If you spend $3k on site prep, and $5k out of pocket on the pier column footings, and purchase the containers as well for cash for a total of say $20k out of pocket, and you put said containers onto said pier footings, any bank will THROW money at you, obviously we have armchair foreman who understand how lending and construction work, I am impressed.


And if you are dismissing this technique of building based on "it wont sell if I want it to" then you need to just rent places. Building any home is WORTHLESS unless you plan on spending a decade at minimum in the home, as well as to accrue value, based on cost of construction and market fluctuation, as well as people's tendency to be greedy and price homes %200 above what the actual hard cost of the home was.

Modular construction allows you to almost entirely eliminate waste and increase actual energy efficiency of the home %30 over any stick frame, just because of the way it is pieced together, there are less air gaps and voids for heat or a/c to escape.


And if banks dont lend for them, how is it that the modular companies that do exist for container homes, have orders payed for and waiting to be built...from 2 years ago, The aforementioned companies cannot begin to keep up with demand.

http://www.hivemodular.com/
You could not even begin to afford one of their houses, their designs usually start in the half million range, and I am positive if you actually had the credit or income, a bank would be MORE than happy to lend on a home designed by award winning companies.

http://zigloo.ca/

http://inhabitat.com/starbucks-open...-thru-made-from-recycled-shipping-containers/
Multi-National companies using them for retail! Say it ain't so!


http://inhabitat.com/the-box-office...iners-into-12-colorful-offices-in-providence/
Massive office space in Rhode Island, did a bank lend the company the money, or do you think they had 5-7 million just liquid?

http://inhabitat.com/containers-of-hope-cool-costa-rican-shipping-container-house-only-costs-40000/
You mean to tell me you think the above house is unlendable?!?!?!?
That is far more conservative, and minimal while being attractive, for on the order of %60 less for comparable new construction.

 

[OKCShooter]

Disregard this, incorrect false information, I can build a 640 sq foot house, that looks EXACTLY like any stick frame construction on the inside and out, the only difference is I can do it for $40k and its worth double instantly, while your stick frame construction will cost you 20-30% more and be worth the same . You need some insight into the world of homes and how it is shifting.

If you spend $3k on site prep, and $5k out of pocket on the pier column footings, and purchase the containers as well for cash for a total of say $20k out of pocket, and you put said containers onto said pier footings, any bank will THROW money at you, obviously we have armchair foreman who understand how lending and construction work, I am impressed.


And if you are dismissing this technique of building based on "it wont sell if I want it to" then you need to just rent places. Building any home is WORTHLESS unless you plan on spending a decade at minimum in the home, as well as to accrue value, based on cost of construction and market fluctuation, as well as people's tendency to be greedy and price homes %200 above what the actual hard cost of the home was.

Modular construction allows you to almost entirely eliminate waste and increase actual energy efficiency of the home %30 over any stick frame, just because of the way it is pieced together, there are less air gaps and voids for heat or a/c to escape.


And if banks dont lend for them, how is it that the modular companies that do exist for container homes, have orders payed for and waiting to be built...from 2 years ago, The aforementioned companies cannot begin to keep up with demand.

http://www.hivemodular.com/
You could not even begin to afford one of their houses, their designs usually start in the half million range, and I am positive if you actually had the credit or income, a bank would be MORE than happy to lend on a home designed by award winning companies.

http://zigloo.ca/

http://inhabitat.com/starbucks-open...-thru-made-from-recycled-shipping-containers/
Multi-National companies using them for retail! Say it ain't so!

You lost me after your claimed $80,000 house that's 640sf

 

[ZombieHunter]

You lost me after your claimed $80,000 house that's 640sf

Really my ****** stick frame house that is 700 in the SOUTHSIDE of OKC is taxable value at 35 I bought it foreclosed in 2006 for $8 and added 400 sq feet for $8k, you are saying a 640 sq foot house brand new in say Portland, Oregon or Denver, Colorado wouldnt be worth that!!! You sir have no concept of LOCATION! Sure not in OKC because the property is nowhere near that valuable, the city has NO desirable lifestyle or sense of individualism, its plain midwest and thats it, of course it isnt worth that here!\

But in Denver for instance that 640 sq feet brand new is $180k minimum if done correctly and designed attractively. Again I am speaking of say 3 blocks from City center walking distance in uppity neighborhoods like Colorado Springs/ Aspen Portland, Oregon, Any city in Cali, Miami. Places where people want to be, but cant actually afford it. I only live in Oklahoma because I can and do own a RIDICULOUS amount of land for someone my age, and I did it free and clear with cash and built, designed, and used recycled materials as much as possible in the process. Even if my own personal home is slightly ugly, does not matter it is mine, and the value exceeds the cost by %50 average at minimum.

 

[-Pjackso]

Hey Zombie,
Take a breather and relax a little.
The OP was looking for input.


World-Wide-Web Internet Disclaimer:
I'm no expert - but I still stand by my opinion.
hahaha

 

[Mitch Rapp]

Have you looked at repo mobile homes? We got ours as a repo from 21st Century, its a year 2000, 2200 sq ft double wide, and mainly just needed paint. We payed 25k for it, moved it, painted, did carpet in half of it, re did the kitchen floor just for cosmetic reasons and ended up with right at 35k in it. If you took a person into it blindfolded they wouldn't believe you that it was a "trailer" when you took off the blindfold.

PM me if you want more info on bid lists and such, as I might be able to point you in the right direction. My house sold brand new off a dealers lot in 2000 for 75k, and if I wanted to list it right now it would probably go for about 40-45k and won't really ever drop under that as long as I maintain it. So, yes they do depreciate, but like many things if you buy them right you can always make money. A dealer would have bought it, slapped paint in it cleaned the carpet and put a sticker on it for 50k.