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dandjbarrett
Posts: 80
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:14 am

I'm new to mobile home living having only lived in stick built homes all of my life (and I'm a grandmother, so go figure). Anyway, back in the early spring my husband and I visited friends in Florida and one of them owns a lovely little mobile home in a retirement village there. I fell in love with it and the pricing seemed reasonable and as we are getting older, I thought it would be nice to have a winter home in a warmer climate (fewer achey bones that way). Our home is in Virginia and Florida is a two day drive (we won't even think of flying -- no, no, no), so I started a web search in March. In April I found homes in South Carolina in retirement communities and made a trip down there to look at them. Oh my goodness :shock: !!! I looked at dozens, but one of them was just exactly what I wanted in layout, floor space, and on and on. I made an offer and much to my surprise, it was accepted. My journey into mobile home ownership was beginning!! I love the area, I love the development, I love the home. Day 1: the dishwasher fell out into the floor -- no problem, I called a repairman and got a new one. Day 2, the dryer died -- no problem, I went to Lowe's and bought a mh approved one and they came to install it on Day 3. Problem: the dryer vent had fallen down into the belly of the beast. No problem, I had a plumber there to repair the bathtub faucet that was shooting water up the wall. He crawled under and fixed it and also fixed the big hole in the A/C duct. I have arrived.
My home had not been occupied for about a year due to illness of the owner, so it was dirty. I have never worked so hard in my life, cleaning walls, cleaning floors, cabinets, closets, carpet and more. My husband was busy outside raking, fixing broken pieces of skirting, repairing the walkway, hammering loose nails, rescrewing loose screws and cleaning out debris from the storage shed. We bought a place near the beach, but didn't see the beach for 5 days and then we were too tired to appreciate it. I spent another month there when he was on a 30 day work assignment refinishing furniture, cleaning (yes, it needed more of that) and just enjoying the home. I was scared to death when a big storm came and I could hear sounds on the roof that I'd never heard before!! I figured it out . . . metal roof, raindrops. Now I pray for a nice little rain when I've gone to bed. The sound is soothing. (By the way I had the roof alumasealed before I moved in). I've identified other problem areas, but just wanted to absorb living in the place. I LOVE IT. The floor plan is totally efficient and if I control myself by not overfilling it, the space is perfect. The past owner left all furniture (I gave a lot of it to people in need), linens, dishes, pots/pans, mixer, microwave, silverware . . . I mean everything. I cannot justify bringing in new stuff because these things are so nice. I've come to appreciate the "country cottage" look and miss it when I have to shut off the water, shut off the power to the hot water heater, lock the door and return to the stickbuilt place in Virginia. I want to move there fulltime and throw myself into repairs, redoing some of the things that need it. I want to build a big screened in deck and put in a nice little carport. I really love the mobile home. I appreciate my home and I am thankful for it. It is a blessing. I'm sure over time, I'll have to spend some money replacing bigger things, I just know it is worth it. I love my great home. Now that I've found this site, I feel even better about being able to do a lot of things myself. Exotic changes will have to wait until I feel good about important maintenance issues and about bringing my home up to good standards. I need to save for better skirting that cannot be broached by animals and vermin and for a roofover installation and on and on. In any event, I've enjoyed reading the fix it ideas and how tos that you all have posted and I really enjoy this forum. Two thumbs up to those responsible for its sponsorship.
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