1989 Palm Harbor double wide - opinions?

[satter]

Hi all,

I hope this question is ok to post in this forum. If not, please let me know, moderators, and we can close it out.

My wife and I looked today at a 1989 Palm Harbor double wide home on a piece of land here in Ohio. The home itself looks almost pristine in condition. You'd never think it was over 20 years old. We love the property that it sets on, but I have concerns about the long term viability of the home.

We're wanting something to buy that will be fairly long-term (God willing), and with 20 years under it's belt already, I'm not sure how the double wide will age. With basic maintenance and upkeep, what kind of lifespan do you think I'd be able to expect from a Palm Harbor home from that time frame?

It's on a permanent foundation, and looks to have a nice roof. It was custom ordered (3 bedrooms, 3 full baths) in 1989, and this was the only property it's ever sat on.

Again, if this isn't the proper place for a question like this, I apologize... but it seemed to be the only forum where there might be people with useful input. IF anyone has any questions that would be helpful to know, I can relay them to the realtor, and get back with you.

Thanks for any help,
Ryan S.

[Greg]

Ryan, Hi & welcome. Glad you found us.

Homes are like people, It's now how old you are, it's how old you feel. Longevity of a home is TOTALLY dependent on how well it has been kept up. I have a home from mid 60's next door that is still in great shape, I have seen homes from the mid 90's that are trash. We bought our home new in '91 and plan on another 20 years. I have done upgrades like doors , windows, floors, kitchen and the master bath is next.

In the "Sticky" posts at the beginning of this section of the forum Yanita made a post with a list of things to look for when buying a used home. If it has fresh paint through out the home try and look past that and get a feel of how it was before it was painted. There are many tell tail signs that you can look for that Yanita lists. Greg





Others may add to this with their ideas as well.

[satter]

Thanks, Greg. Appreciate the words of wisdom.

I'll be printing out the "checklist" for next time we look at the property.

I'd love to here from anyone else who might have input as well.

-Ryan

[DCDiva]

The mobile home sound like it was taken care of and the perm foundation makes a big difference and it seems that homes made after the 70-80's are very well made and are lasting--most are made better than stick built--water is the cause of almost every problem with a home--if the roof is getting to the age of replacement I would replace with a metal --they have many colors--we just did this and it was so easy and fast and you do not need to take off the old shingles---the colors with the lighter colors--we did tan for one and gray for another reflect the sun and made a huge difference in cooling--and the snow slides right off--not sure what area of Ohio I live in WV but Ohio is my view--across the river and we got 51 inches last yr--hard on a roof--if the price is right I would go for it

[Brenda (OH)]

I would look into the local zoning laws, if something happens, (God forbid, like a fire) what type of mobile home or modular home would you be allowed to replace the home with? some counties and townships are so strict, you would have to almost put a brand new mobile home in its place.... some counties, no mobile home could go back in, it was
grandfathered. Those are worse case scenerios, but it is good to find out early in the game.

Installation costs in Ohio tripled in the last 5 years when they changed the installation regulations...

are there a fair number of mobile homes where you are looking, or is this double wide the only one? It can be harder to resell a mobile home if it is "unusual" housing for the area.

Remember, your buyer is going to have the same difficulties in finding a loan that you run up against, or more, since the home would be older when it is time to sell... If you know in advance that a family member would want to buy the home from you if you ever leave it, that is helpful.

is the home titled as a mobile home, or deeded as a house? one has higher taxes....

do you already have financing? financing a used mobile home is more difficult than finding a loan for regular single family home.....

search mobile home insurance on the website, short answer you want full replacement insurance for the home, before you look into insuring the contents, because you need a policy that actually pays out enough money to fix damages in the case of a claim....

any bad news you find about the zoning, financing, etc has a silver lining, you can use it to negotiate a lower price on the home....

it sounds exciting to be looking at a living situation that includes a little land... My friend chose to buy a mobile home recently so that she can have her goats, chickens, garden, and still have a yard for her kids to play in... she filled up her present yard with all of the above in a township, and needs to expand..... Obviously, a barn is in her future....



Brenda (OH)

[satter]

Thanks for the additional info... I really appreciate it.

I've got an email out to the realtor, but I've believe it's deeded as a home.

On the plus side, I found out the home and garage roof were installed new in 2006... and not because of any damage... just a planned replacement. It is shingled, but it looks in great shape.

Double wides are fairly common in this area, so I don't think it would be considered an unusual resale. My biggest holdup is just, after paying on the place for "x" amount of years, what am I going to have to show for it. A 36 year old double wide (assuming a 15 year mortgage)? I'm not so much worried about the place physically holding up, but just the hypothetical resale value of it.

I've talked to some people I know who say, "Sounds like a good deal, I'd go for it." and some others who are more heavily into the real estate side of things say, "Well, think of the future... may not be the wisest investment."

We both like the place a lot, but I'm just not sure how to proceed on it. Ugh, the fun of these big life changing decisions!

UPDATE: I wanted to update this post with some additional information that I found out. This place is actually deeded as real estate. Also, there doesn't seem to be any zoning restrictions in this area.

[Greg]

Ryan, take into consideration that the people that are "Heavy into real estate" do not usually think of a double wide as real estate. However depending on your payment, if the economy starts tanking again you may be in very good shape. The home value may not go up much, but the land value will not go down either. Greg