3 years ago
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Justin Becker ·
Comments Off on How to Buy a Mobile Home Already in a Community
Homes that are already in a mobile home community offer a good option, especially since you can buy them for a lower monthly payment cost than most apartments for rent.
The good thing about a mobile home in a community is that all of the utilities, and other aspects that make them stand out, are already taken care of.
This article will focus on buying a mobile home in a manufactured home community, including the considerations and processes to follow.
Buy a Mobile Home Already in a Community
Let’s focus on buying a manufactured home in a community.
Where to Check for Mobile Homes in a Park
If you want to buy a mobile home already in a community, the first place you should check is online. While searching for homes in Michigan, you will be presented with a long list of quality options at the click of a button.
Checking online, therefore, is the best option for you to familiarize yourself with the available home options, and their prices, in the real estate market. A good website to start at is MHVillage.com.
Another option would involve checking out mobile home parks in your local area and giving them a call to inquire about the available mobile homes for sale. You can either look in the telephone book or do a quick Google search of the real estate market.
Finally, you can decide to approach a mobile home dealer in person for inquiries. They might have great mobile home deals that they keep for select clients. However, ensure that you are dealing with a licensed dealer.
Inspect the Mobile Home Park
Even before you buy a home, you should familiarize yourself with your soon to be community and decide whether it’s up to your standards. It would help to understand that parks have unique responsibilities and rules for their residents.
Although the rules are laid out in the lease agreement, some parks distribute rule books freely. It would be best to realize that you aren’t just moving into a new manufactured home, but also into a new community.
For example, if you are into pets, you should check whether they are allowed and what types you can have. There are even some manufactured home communities that charge a pet fee. It is things like this that you should find out before jumping into a new community.
Prices of Mobile Homes
The price of a mobile home varies, depending on many aspects. For instance, an excellent second-hand single-wide unit could go for $10,000.
Double-wide units, on the other hand, go for between $30,000 to $60,000, on average.
A great thing about buying a manufactured home already in a community is that you save the cost of needing to move and set the home, which can get quite costly.
Is it Possible to Move a Home Out of a Mobile Park?
Whether you can move a home from your manufactured home community depends on the type of park in question. Most parks don’t allow tenants to move homes while under a lease.
Even if you were buying a home from someone in the park, and not from the park itself, you’d most likely still be forced to keep the home within the community, because they would have you sign a lease with them.
Most parks have rules that prevent people from buying homes within the community and then moving them out.
If you plan to buy a home and move it, you should first confirm from the management team whether such an arrangement is possible. However, even if they were to grant permission, moving a home, as we stated earlier, is expensive, and may not be worth it.
It may make more financial sense to buy another home, instead of moving one. If you move a mobile home, it could lose its HUD status, along with its potential to qualify for a loan.
Understand the Expenses You’ll Incur While Buying a Home that is Already in a Community
Since the home you want to buy is already in the park, this means it isn’t located on private land. Because of this, you won’t be paying property taxes!
With that said, you will be paying monthly for the real estate that the home is located on, which is known as lot rent.
Some communities implicitly state that lot rent involves gardening services, garbage collection, utilities, cable and other levies. Other home communities will charge these services separate from the lot rent. You should, therefore, find out more from the management staff.
Things That Every Responsible Buyer Should Check Out
● Check all door frames and windows for small gaps or cracks
● Inspect the home to check for signs of water damage
● Locate the HUD plate that shows that your home was developed as per the HUD code.
● Check the state of the flooring in the home; it should not bend in specific places
● Inspect to make sure the manufactured housing unit is level; if the home is unlevel, it can translate into a major problem down the road
● Check the home anchoring to make sure it’s fastened to the foundation,that it’s in good shape, and that it’s secure
HUD Compliance
Before you buy a home, you should ensure that it complies with the HUD Code, home construction and safety standards. This is an essential aspect that affects the safety, legal standing and value of a home.
All manufactured homes, since 1976, are developed according to the HUD code and have improved their overall safety, compared to older mobile homes. For instance, it isn’t easy to experience fatal fires in manufactured homes, as it is in mobile residences that were built back in the day.
Paperwork Involved When Buying Mobile Home that is Already in a Park
It would help if you understood the documents that are involved in mobile homes for sale. Let’s look at them below:
Sales Contract
A sales contract stipulates the terms of your transaction and includes the home’s condition, the amount to be paid, and the parties involved.
Mobile Home Bill of Sale
This document outlines the rights of the seller and buyer of a home. The document is required by lenders when you make a loan purchase.
Lease Agreement
The lease agreement outlines your park rules, payments, lease term, and rights as a tenant, along with responsibilities.
Certificate of Title
This is a document that proves ownership of a property. It is required by the lenders, as well as local authorities.
Home Occupancy Document
There are certain states which require you to have a home occupancy document that shows that your home is fit for occupation. Be sure to check if you reside in one of these states.
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5 years ago
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Justin Becker ·
Comments Off on Tips for Buying a Manufactured Home
Manufactured homes are now the most preferred homes for boomers seeking to downsize for their next home, as well as students struggling with their loans.
Manufactured homes have grown popular thanks to being low maintenance, customization ability, and affordability, compared to a site-built home. Manufactured homes are also easy to develop, as opposed to site-built homes.
Even though people are now opting to go for modular homes and manufactured homes, there are certain factors that they need to take into consideration before purchasing them. For instance, home maintenance considerations, choices about land, and acquiring a mortgage for manufactured homes differ from other home options.
In this article, we will focus on everything you need to decide on buying a manufactured home.
Tips for Buying a Manufactured Home
Before you buy a manufactured home, there are several factors that you must put into consideration. Here are some tips for buying a manufactured home:
What Does a Manufactured Home Involve?
A manufactured home, which is otherwise known as a mobile home, is a prefabricated home, developed/manufactured away from the site, in a factory, and then transported to the final location. They are constructed under the mandate of the HUD Code for manufactured homes and are modern improvements of mobile homes.
You can either place mobile homes on a permanent or temporary foundation. The technology behind the development of a mobile home has been around for many years.
Land for a Manufactured Home
Manufactured home developers understand that people are looking for a beautiful and comfortable space that offers luxurious upgrades and fixtures.
Before buying a manufactured home, you need to have land to put the home and foundation on. Manufactured home dealers do not sell you land together with a mobile home.
However, those buying a mobile home can have it placed on leased land from different home communities. There is also an option of having the manufactured home on your own private land if you don’t want to incur extra costs with mobile home parks in Fenton, MI.
Buying a mobile home and then renting space lowers the initial cost. However, it makes it difficult to take out loans.
Owning your land may prove to be expensive initially, but cost-effective in the long run. If you don’t have enough money, place your manufactured home on a rented piece of land.
Understand the Profit Margin
Manufactured home dealers use the same commission system and mark-up as a car dealership. The average dealership commission for these homes is $11,000 for each home, where the salesperson gets at least 20% of the money. A salesperson, therefore, makes roughly $2,000 on a manufactured home.
Understand What You’re Seeking in a Manufactured Home
If you’re seeking to get the best manufactured home deal, you must understand your manufactured home financing options and target price before approaching a dealer. Doing comprehensive online research on manufactured homes should be your starting point.
For instance, understand your favorite floor plan and the type of manufacturer that you like most. Floor plans vary widely and you must choose the one that is best for you.
Consider Smart Upgrades and Features
Some certain upgrades and features can extend the life of your new manufactured home. These features can also make the home more comfortable and cost-effective.
The smart upgrades for manufactured home maintenance tips include:
- The best idea is to have better insulation
- If possible, choose a shingled roof rather than a flat one
- Ensure that the eave is 6”
- Never go for particle board subfloors
- The exterior wall studs should be 16 inches apart
- Exterior walls must be 7 ½’ in height
- Always select vinyl siding as opposed to hardboard or metal siding
- Each plumbing fixture must have a shutoff valve
Three Classes of Manufactured Homes
For manufactured homes, you always get what you pay for. There are three classes of manufactured homes, including single-wide (a single family home), double-wide, or triple-wide homes. For instance, don’t expect to get a $150,000 triple-wide home if you paid for a $50,000 double-wide home.
There are also differences in construction aspects, materials, and fixtures in the different units. Always go for well-constructed manufactured homes where your expectation aligns with the price.
Never Go with the First Dealer or Home
Even though you might have selected your manufacturer of choice, there is a high chance of getting a better deal from another one. Here, you must ask for customer testimonials or use online reviews.
It will help if you don’t just pin your hopes on a single dealer or home. Compare prices from several brands and dealers. Checkout our list of the top five double-wide mobile home dealers in Michigan here.
Always Have the Home Appraised
An appraisal from NADA is very important. The cost of an appraisal when buying a new manufactured home is $20. You can then use the appraisal to negotiate a better price.
Learn About Your Comparables
It wouldn’t hurt to learn about the prices of substitute home buying options in your location, including condos, apartments, and houses for sale. Don’t you want to know if mobile homes are cheaper than apartments? This can be very helpful, especially in areas with rapidly decreasing or rising real estate markets.
Understanding the required monthly costs and lot rent helps you acquire a larger perspective of the average monthly costs.
Investigate Financing Options Before You Visit the Dealer’s Lot
Before settling on a home to buy, you should first investigate your available financial options. It involves checking the available credit unions, credit banks, and traditional manufactured home lenders.
Here, it would be best if you always avoided dealer financing. If it’s the only available option, make sure you understand everything about it inside out.
Dealers will finance your mobile home with chattel loans or personal property rather than mortgage home loans. Such home loans come with high interest rates. Always avoid loans that have a higher interest.
Think About the Location of Manufactured Homes
It’s important to understand and carefully consider the site where you’ll place your manufactured home. If you locate your home in a rental community with mobile homes for rent in Fenton, MI, it will experience a reduced gain in equity.
There is a chance to place your home on your own piece of land instead of a mobile home park. Having your home on your land reduces the financing costs, you don’t have to worry about lot rent for a mobile home, and it raises the stability of your tenure.
Never Worry When it Comes to Monthly Payments
Similar to negotiating for a car, it would help if you never let a dealer force you into naming a monthly payment or price that you’re willing to pay. Always ask to be given a total cash price and start negotiating from that.
It’s also important that you ask for the invoice price. It’s harder to negotiate down from the retail price than to negotiate up from the invoice price.
Never Pay a Deposit Until You Visit a Minimum of Three Lots
It can only make sense for you to pay for a home when you’re 100% sure that you’re ready to buy it. If you pay and change your mind about buying the unit, you might find it difficult to get a refund.
Never Wrap Lot Rent or Insurance into Your Loan
One of the best things that you can ever do is to avoid adding additions to your loan. Items such as insurance premiums, stereo systems, furniture, and prepaid park rent are allowed on chattel loans for manufactured homes – never do it!
This cuts your equity in the house, and given the high interest rates on chattel loans and your personal property, you’ll spend more than the value of the item in the long run.
Never Allow High-Pressure Sales
Do everything within your power to resist high-pressure methods, employed by salespeople and dealerships, to convince you into buying mobile homes for sale in Fenton, MI. You have to understand that there are no unique or special sales, and these are just tricks used to sway you into making a purchase.
The Salesperson and Manager aren’t Your Friends
Purchasing a site-built home takes a lot of paperwork, along with various attorneys and agencies. However, a home manufactured in a factory typically goes to a community that has a manager and salesperson. Point Blank: Neither of them cares about you.
Never Rush into Buying a Home
Most dealers will have you approved, and even have a contract ready for signing, within a few hours. It would be best if you resisted high-pressure sales approaches at all costs.
- Respectable dealers will still be available to sell you the home the following week
- Always be skeptical of freebies, enticements, and special prices to sign quickly
- If you feel uncomfortable at any particular time, feel free to walk away from the deal
- Always carry with you someone that doesn’t possess a strong emotional investment – this means that they can point out things that you might miss out on
Go for Factory Dealers
There are two types of dealers available: Factory and independent dealers.
Independent dealers sell a variety of brands, while factory dealers sell only one brand. You’ll experience fewer problems if you purchase from factory dealers.
Prepare and Install the Site Properly
You can ask your manufacturer or retailer to examine the lot and certify that the preparation meets the required standards.
Never spend any money on utilities or site preparation until the loan has been sealed and signed. This puts you in a position to walk away from the home, or loan, if it costs too much.
Avoid Signing Anything that You Don’t Understand
Never sign any contract or paper that you don’t fully understand. It is also critical that you don’t rely on representations, especially salespeople, when it comes to contracts. If there is something that you don’t understand about the contract, bring someone close to you along to help you out.
Conclusion
Buying a manufactured home, mobile home or site-built homes isn’t an easy thing. However, if you go through these tips carefully, you’ll be able to achieve everything easier.
Remember that salespeople and dealers aren’t bad, but they are also not your friend. The commissioned based salaries that they receive opens the door for cheating and lying.
Always remember to follow the above tips if you want to buy a home manufactured in a factory. We hope you get what you’re looking for.
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