You guys. R wants to buy a house.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Like, put in an offer. Today. I'm ok with the house, it's not far from where we live now, and he's head-over-heels in love with the barn/workshop space.



Yes, it looks like a mobile home. Technically it's a modular, but it's the builder-basic version of a modular, so nothing fancy. Carpet would go, paint would change (obviously, I have no desire to live inside an andes mint). Kitchen and bathrooms are liveable and could be worked on over time.

Would you jump on it too or am I crazy? We live HCOL and this house is really priced reasonably, especially for location and size of the lot - and given the four-car garage with full second story ...

[mrs.jacinthe]

Also, please don't quote the link. I'm going to DD it at some point.

[Susie]

The garage is bigger than the house, isn't it?

It's hard to say whether it'd be crazy without knowing what the options are. I mean, it's hard to love the mobile-home-esque exterior. But the interior is not so bad, and $190k in HCOL sounds pretty awesome.

How often do houses within your budget come on the market? If it's almost never, this would seem like a better idea than if there might be something else next month.

Personally I'd rather have more house, less garage, and maybe slightly less land to take care of, so it'd probably be no-go for me. But someone else with different priorities could easily think differently.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Andplus also ... yes, there is an emu in one photo. Meet the house's next door neighbor:

[thewop]

It's not terrible. The exterior needs some TLC to make it look less mobile home, but it's not the end of the world. My grand parents live in a modular with a really nice front porch and back deck. I'd see it in person and re-evaluate if you haven't already.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Dec 17, 2012 13:09:53 GMT -5 Susie said:

The garage is bigger than the house, isn't it?

It's hard to say whether it'd be crazy without knowing what the options are. I mean, it's hard to love the mobile-home-esque exterior. But the interior is not so bad, and $190k in HCOL sounds pretty awesome.

How often do houses within your budget come on the market? If it's almost never, this would seem like a better idea than if there might be something else next month.

Personally I'd rather have more house, less garage, and maybe slightly less land to take care of, so it'd probably be no-go for me. But someone else with different priorities could easily think differently.

Honestly, houses in this price range come onto the market rarely, and they're almost NEVER in this condition, this neighborhood, or with a barn that size. This is almost $100k below the top of our price limit, so it's totally doable, financially - and we can afford to make the changes we want. R actually is thinking that if we outgrow the house, we can sell it/have it removed (since it's modular) and build a new one on the same lot.

I'm having a hard time saying no, because I keep imagining what it will be like having 600+ extra square feet AND a 4000 sq ft barn for storage/R's workshop/etc.

Yard maintenance is easy around here - we can get some goats and mowing is taken care of. (LOL)

[pitterwoo]

honestly, I kind of love it. I mean, yes the exterior is blah, and lol at Andes mint but the layout seems like it is really functional. If you want space and garage, it seems pretty ideal. As someone who lives in a house selected solely because of the garage (for H) I know you sometimes just can't say no when an opportunity like this comes up.

[Deleted]

I would do it just because I would love to have that much land. I live in a prett inexpensive area and it is $60-80k for 1/4 acres with nothing on it. I would love the option of building MY dream home on MY land sometime later.

[wawa]

I'd want to see it in person obviously, but the modular home aspect wouldn't be a dealbreaker to me. And MH would go crazy for that garage/workspace area. My grandparents live in a modular home and it's adorable since they added nice front and side porches.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Dec 17, 2012 13:29:02 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

Wow seems like a deal! Have you seen it in person? If the property is so large, it seems like a reallllly low price - too good to be true style? Also with all that property, is that really the neighbors that close?!

Are you guys cool with well water and septic? In our area, all skeptics get updated at sale to the tune of $6K ish. If you have a well issue, a new one and pump could also run several thou (my parents well collapsed a few years ago. Average COL area and I think $2 or $3 thou)

Otherwise, I hope you plan on having chickens in the coop because it is SO YOU! I can see it. And gardens!!!! I think the house looks OK and could be nice with some landscaping.

Yes, we've seen it in person, although it was before it went through as a foreclosure. We'd see it again (this evening or tomorrow AM, most likely). We're cool with well and septic, as long as it will pass inspection. That's our current setup and the well water out here is great.

If we get it, we'd tear down the coop attached to the garage (chickens attract rodents. Rat problem in garage/workshop = no bueno), but we would indeed build a new coop. Preferably one that can be moved, so we'd control-free-range the chickens. We'd also get a couple goats and build them a little shed/shelter.

Yes, that emu belongs to the would-be neighbor. But that neighbor is a horse/cattle/llama farm (hobby, I'd guess) with a full-size operational vineyard. So no house close by. They just situated the house as far away from the road as possible. No huge backyard, but plenty of peaceful neighbor land to look at.

[kaylie]

I kind of love it. The price is low enough that you can change what you want to change, and how fun to have animals! I'm thinking adding a bit of a front porch could do wonders for its curb appeal.

[emoflamingo]

The great thing about modulars is they move. So yes, if you decide you want to stay put and need bigger, you build and sell that. My ILs built on their property and tore down the old farm house. FIL says it's better that way so you don't have to run utilities.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I think it was bought at a foreclosure auction, so the seller is just trying to offload for a profit. As far as I can tell from the photos, there has not been any change to the property since we walked through.

[sailorgray]

Mrs. J, I'd go for it Keep us updated. I think you could do a lot with it. I get good vibes from it.

[sjh722]

It's a manufactured, not a modular, according to the listing. There's a difference in the construction, even though people use the terms interchangeably.

Just so you are aware, manufactured homes are very difficult to finance. Do you have 20% down (if you can find a lender to do it), or are you willing to pay FHA PMI? Those are the only two ways to finance them where I live.

Also, you can't remove the home if it's securing your mortgage (so"just moving it" is a big deal).

If I had the $ and liked the location I'd look at it for a temporary solution, but not long term. They don't hold up well - and if you've ever seen how they're constructed, it would scare you. It scares me (staples holding it together instead of nails or screws, 1x4s used for framing, etc)

Slow your roll and talk to your lender and agent before you do anything. If you ever want to resell, that can also be an issue if your buyer can't get a loan.

[mrs.jacinthe]

sjh - in this area they're very common and have to be constructed to earthquake standards. We live in one now and while there are definitely down sides, they're made with 2x6s like a standard house these days. At least out here.

We'd be doing FHA anyhow, with PMI - we're not to our happy place downpayment-wise yet (since we weren't planning on looking again for 6+ months), so we have to go with the lower downpayment options.

We most likely wouldn't change out the house until the mortgage was paid off (10 years, maybe?)

[tarheels]

It seems like it's a great fit for you guys. I can't deal with that exterior, but curb appeal is one of my top criteria for houses. The floorplan looks great - I really like the kitchen.

[sjh722]

Okay, sounds like you have your bases covered. just wanted to make sure you knew, a lot of people don't and end up in trouble. :-)

Good luck!

[mrs.jacinthe]

Haha, sjh - I appreciate it. There are parts of the country where there is no freaking WAY I'd buy a modular. Also, believe me when I say there's already some "WTH are we doing?" going on in our household.

Half of me is hoping that we try for it and fail (because it seems like a huge thing to do right now), and the other half is like "bigger house! storage! Garden! hooray!"

[SusanBAnthony]

Modular homes in general don't bother me. That particular exterior does bother me. If it is a good price, I say go for it, but allocate some money to fixing up the outside too.

[FoxInFiji]

Yeah I was going to bring up the earthquake issue. I only know a minimal amount about the code in your area but residentially I don't think the standards are all that hard to meet because if you're under a certain size a lot of the requirements are dropped. Commercially the code is hit or miss...a few more flex joints, vibration isolaters with a wider range, etc. but it's not much more than how a well designed building should be to begin with. So the fact that it meets earthquake standards doesn't mean much to me. I might look into getting a separate structural engineer inspection because like sjh I know how they build those homes around here and I wouldn't use one from an unknown company for a dog house much less a house I would live in. It's not what the actual walls are made of that's my concern it's how everything is attached together. That said it's just like everything else some companies have higher standards than others. It's not that old of a house maybe you can find who built the home in the first place?

Other than that it seems like a good deal. A lot different than the home you were talking about building though right? The +4,000 custom built home with formal rooms and lots of beds/baths. Or was that someone else I'm thinking of...

[sjh722]

I agree with fox - make sure your offer is subject to a structural inspection/certification from an engineer. Your lender may require it, but it's good idea even if they don't.

[Deleted]

I'm with SJH and Fox.
I actually live in a modular house. However, on the outside it looks like your typical ranch house, is structurally sound, meets all codes and wasn't just "slapped" together. If you didn't know it was modular, you'd never be able to pick it out. Around here modular basically means framed inside and then moved onto the lot for finish work. My walls are all framed, regular beams, drywall, steel siding, quality windows on a basement etc. It appraises for as much as a regular house, I can sell it like a regular house, there's no moving it too easily etc.
A lot of my house is builder basic, but it's not cheap crap either (by builder basic, I mean standard, not high end, but not bad. Decent quality..just nothing overly special). We were 25, just getting married, half broke and needed a place to live. So we picked what we could live with and are now upgrading. I've survived one tornado, two straightline wind events, enough blizzards and a ton of wind on the regular and I feel perfectly safe and sound in it.

My sister on the other hand lives in a manufactured house and TBH it's a glorified trailer. Plastic walls with little behind them, cheap wiring, bad plumbing, cheap quality stuff (her counters are literal cardboard), the roof leaks in places, the windows have mold issues (and are this weird flimsy plasticy stuff) on and on. She rents for the time being until her and her bf get a few things together. She hates it but the rent is cheap and allows them to save for a better house. It's a rental becuase it's on a farmyard and the original owners can't really sell it for much becuase, it would need to be moved, and well a glorified trailer isn't worth anything at all. She's scared in a thunderstorm in that thing and everytime it snows she worries she can build frosty in her livingroom.

My neighbors also have a modular house (it's a cape style) and previously had a manufactured. They totalled the manufactured because a hailstorm ripped right through their walls.

So basically, I have no point. Just wanted to share and warn you to make sure the terminology is correct you know what you're getting into etc. If it is indeed modular and meets code, I say go for it. The land is great, the space seems functional, you can fix up a lot in it and make it your own. If it's a manufactured, it's fine but be prepared that it might have to go someday so you can build new or know reselling is going to be a PITA.

[house]

I love the open floor plan! I am not crazy about the exterior but seems like a really good deal! So is the offer in?

[mrs.jacinthe]

We checked today with our REA. It's a legit modular. The previous owners of the home apparently tried to DIY the siding on the house and the barn with hardieboard (hence the weird looking seams) to match. It would be a down-the-line project to have the house re-sided in hardieplank or something similar, but the stupid looking outside is just that - a stupid looking outside. It's got 2x6 walls, drywall, and good quality electric. The plumbing is standard PVC. Either way, we'll definitely have it inspected before close. R is excited, but not THAT excited.

That said, our REA is out of town until Friday (death in the family) so we may be up poo creek without a paddle anyhow. We'll see how it goes between now and then.