mobilehomerepair.com

1979 14X70 2/3 bedroom. Total price is $3650 in a really nice park. The washer leaked and caused major water damage to the particle board floors which are now soaking wet and sagging between the joists in the bedroom, bathroom and hallway. Additionally, there is also major water damage around and underneath the bathtub. There is actually a large fungus growing in the crack by the wall. The work that the current owner has done is shoddy at best. It needs to have the wall put back up between the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms. They started to fill in the cracks in the paneling and did a horrible job. The front door needs to be replaced as well as the screen door. All of the carpeting needs to be replaced. There is a bad pet odor. The water heater needs to be replaced, funace needs new blower motor. Both furnace and A/C unit are quite old and will need to be replaced soon. Shower stall needs to be replaced. It has no appliances. Bathroom window glass is broken. Roof has been patched. Water damage to the ceiling in 2nd/3rd bedroom. Some "bubba" wiring throughout the place. I think that is it...lol. I like the idea of owning outright, but should we invest in this older home or look for something newer that cost more but is already in good shape? The area has really got me hooked and it is a nice, clean respectable park. We have already qualified through the park, we just have to decide if we are going to take it or not. I have never dealt with a mobile home before, so I really need some advice. Please help!!

What you need to do is price out the cost of parts and labour to bring home up to par, then find what price is for comparable homes of that year that are in good condition and see if there is any potential for savings. by the sounds of it that would be highly unlikely. probably better to walk and spend more on home in good condition.

Challa:

As an investor in older mobile homes, I have to tell you that there is no way I would spend that much for a home that old and in the condition it is in....in MY area anyway!

If it truly needs the refurbs that you mention, I doubt that I would pay more than $500 - $1000, and closer to the lower figure!

Plus, you must consider ...can YOU do the rehab...or hiring it done!!

Please check on lot rent (current?)...and also paid-up taxes before you go too far into the deal, also.

Hi challa,

A lot would depend on to what degree of repair you are willing to do and be satisfied with. I repair mobile homes for a living. I made a very quick list of the items you mentioned and figured minimum costs in very generalized terms (since I did not see this home) to fix things correctly to a minimum degree.

I listed repair of subfloors 2 rooms, a wall, new bath enclosure, lot's of painting and sanding type repairs, about 70 SY of carpet & pad, a new water heater, a new dual pack AC-heater unit, new shower base & enclosure, repair of a couple of rooms of ceiling, base grade fridge and free standing stove, (no dish washer), some reframing/rearranging of kitchen cabs/counter for the stove, and installing a bathroom sized window.

I am figuring that you are doing all work except the AC & heater which is figured at an installed price of a very conservative $2800, and the costs so far is over $6500. This is not accounting for about 120 hours labor.

This is also not counting the roof, which could be anything from a DIY mop job of elastomeric at about $150 materials to having a roof company install a single-ply rubber roof roof-over at around $6000. This also does not include any wiring repair, because there is not enough info to even guess at how much we are talking about.

But you would be in about $10,000 without a roof. Now do you want new sinks, faucets, toilets? Are all the cabinets OK? How's the floor vapor barrier and insulation? Does it have the gray polybutylene plumbing? Are you going to level the home first?

And could you do this work yourself? Using very conservative labor rates, a contractor would be over $8000 to do everything (heat/AC included in material costs above), and probably another $750 to $1000 for P/O (profit/overhead) on materials.

To be honest, a home like you are describing could be given away if the person wants it off of his property. Even then he might be sitting on it quite a while in my area.

Again, this is a very generalized guess at what you might need. Cutting enough corners and living with some of the problems could cut this cost considerably.

Just my thoughts.

JD

The floor repair alone would make me walk away from it!

If you hire it out, it's gonna cost about as much as the home. If you do it yourself, it's very labor intense!

Like the other's said, in my area, you'd have to practically give this home away!

Maureen

Thanks so much for the fast responses. We have given this gentleman $1500 so far. The trailer was filled with other people's junk. Furniture and everything. There were boxes stacked all over, toys, clothes. You name it. Last night was the first time we saw it (relatively) cleaned out and were really able to see what was going on. That is when we noticed the floor damage, it had been covered before with junk. Initially we gave him $500 to hold it until we were approved through the park. He then wanted another $1000 to start moving the stuff out and give us the keys. The park already transferred the lot into our name and now wants the pad rent for March. We have not signed a lease yet.
I would still like to stay in the park if I could purchase a nicer mobile within the park. But, I will heed your advice and look for something better. Hopefully he will give us our money back. I am still open to opinions is anyone else wants to share.
Challa

Hi Challa,

Unfortunately my opinion is the same as everyone else so far.

I respect everyones opinions and thoughts on this site, but JD has hit the nail on the head. Honestly with all that needs to be done I do not see you being able to live there while these renovations are happening, so yet another expense.

You are not limited to a newer home, but take the knowledge from what you have seen at this home and the knowledge of others from this site and use it wisely when looking for another home.

Also if you are really looking at buying a mobile home I suggest that you purchase Mark's Mobile Home Repair Manuel and Upgrades. This book is filled with pictures and easy to understand instructions, just having this book will guide you thru buying a home and what is involved with repairs. Go to the top of this page and click on BOOKS/PARTS, you can order online or call the 800 #.

Good luck and keep us informed.

~Yanita~

Hello Challa,

I did not want to purchase the money pit that my girl friend bought but it was out in the country with neighbors paced far enough apart that the 1 acre property it sits on is surrounded by woods.
It is quiet and peaceful all this combined with a 46,000.00 price tag make it a deal she could not pass up.
The place is a mess and needs too many repairs to list, and thus far it has cost me allot more man hours than cash, but the cost of repairs are still expensive. If it were up to me I would have chosen a turn key job where the work is already done and the payments are higher. But with a lot of work and cash spread over a year or more we will have a nice place.
so the real question is, do you have the desire and drive to invest your time and money?
If the answer is yes, roll up your sleeves and dig in!

Good luck!

You have one of the best resources here at Mobile home repair
the people are friendly and giving. And that is worth more than money can buy, as it is priceless!

Tim

Hi Challa

Your concerns are very valid.

I would walk away.

I would negotiate with the park to recover your money. Start by discribing the HIDDEN problems that were only discovered after the JUNK was removed.

When it comes to mobilehome repair cost estimates I always multiply my rough estimate times 3. For every problem you see there's issues you don't see....this is my experience anyway.

Good Luck and keep us posted.

Challa, We bought the same type of home for our daughter, Plan on a total rehab. Floors, walls& ceilings plus other things that you will find. we ended up around $5000 with us doing all the work over a 6 month period.
If you have $1500 into it now you really have few options. If you talk to the owner or manager of the park they may give you reduced or free rent was long as you are rebuilding it. Greg

Well, we went to meet the owner of the home to get our money back and he wasn't answering his phone. He was supposed to meet us at the home, and is apparently avoiding us now. I don't know what our recourse is, he has $1500 of our money. We do have receipts. We found another place that looks promising but in a park that is not as nice as the other one. But the home is beautiful and clean, all new systems for $6000. We need the money that the other guy has if we wanted to put a deposit down on this other home.
Any advice on what steps we can take to get the money back? Anyone dealt with a situation like this before?
It just keeps getting worse...lol.

Hi Challa,

If you just gave this guy $1500 without signing anything, it looks like the home is yours. That depends on the laws in your area. It sounds to me like you bought it 'as is'. With out paperwork, I'm not sure that you will have any legal recourse.

One word of caution, if you haven't paid the lot rent, you may be also responsible for moving the home!

I'd need more info about the transaction. Has the title been transferred into your name?

Folks, please look and educate before leap! We all work hard for our money. It's heart breaking to get stuck with something that you can't live in.

There's a very old saying... if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.......

Maureen

Well, we haven't signed a lease for the lot and we don't have the title. We were making payments toward owning it with the right to move in after paying the $1500 that he has. Like I said, we do have receipts for the money that we gave him. It was after we gave him the initial money that he moved the other people's belongings out and the damage was discovered.
We are now looking to buy a different home in the same park, so we will see how that goes.
Thanks
Challa

Hello Challa,

From what I'm reading here it looks and sounds like you have been victomised. I'd recommend seeking legal counsel to see about getting your money back.

From the description you have given, the owner knew full well what condition the mobile was in and kept it hidden from you until he had money in hand.

Before signing any contract with the Park, have your legal advisor go over it with you. Contracts and leases are written by legal advisers for there clients, in this case the Park Owners, NOT the mobile home owners.