Buying my first home.

[koda6966]

Finally found a place in a location I greatly approve of that's well within my budget.

It's nothing special, but has some potential I suppose.

It's a little over two acres bordering a stream out on the edge of stateland. Just about a hundred yards down a dirt road off from a very well maintained county road. I know the area quite well because I hunt around there often. It's actually just a few miles away from my local gun club.

Right now it has an older (70's) mobile home on it with a long wheelchair ramp and an addition on the back for an extra storage room. First thing I plan to do if I get approved for the loan is take out the ramp and put some regular steps in. It also has what the realty agency calls a "two car garage" but is really barely large enough to put my Ranger in. It has some potential as well, though.

I'm going to stop in and give it a full going-over this week. Check the structure of both the garage and the mobile home, and also make sure everything is in working order. If it looks to be worth my time I'll be stopping in to the bank and seeing about getting approved for the loan.

The only thing that I'm worried about is that it was built in the 70's. Since it's an older home my credit union might be a tad hesitant to finance me. I'm more interested in the land than I am the home.

It would only add about 4 miles to my daily commute too, since it's quite close to where I'm living now.

 

[Mark_88]

Cool...

Those older mobiles may be riddled with mold...did you have a home inspection done on it? If not I'd strongly suggest it and to specify your concern...mold isn't funny...and can seriously affect your health...especially if you're buying swampland...lol

 

[doorgunner]

Finally found a place in a location I greatly approve of that's well within my budget.

It's nothing special, but has some potential I suppose.

It's a little over two acres bordering a stream out on the edge of stateland. Has the land ever flooded because of the stream? Just about a hundred yards down a dirt road off from a very well maintained county road. I know the area quite well because I hunt around there often. It's actually just a few miles away from my local gun club.

Right now it has an older (70's) mobile home on it with a long wheelchair ramp and an addition on the back for an extra storage room. First thing I plan to do if I get approved for the loan is take out the ramp and put some regular steps in. The ramp might not be your "style", but keep it if it's in good condition--heavy stuff is easier to get into the mobile home to work on during winter monthsIt also has what the realty agency calls a "two car garage" but is really barely large enough to put my Ranger in. It has some potential as well, though. Yep...adding on to it would make a good workspace & tool room.

I'm going to stop in and give it a full going-over this week. Check the structure of both the garage and the mobile home, and also make sure everything is in working order. If it looks to be worth my time I'll be stopping in to the bank and seeing about getting approved for the loan. Since it's older...a benefit should be that it costs much less than a newer mobile home.

The only thing that I'm worried about is that it was built in the 70's. Since it's an older home my credit union might be a tad hesitant to finance me. I'm more interested in the land than I am the home. Yep...you can always wait for a good deal on a newrer home to replace the existing home in the future.

It would only add about 4 miles to my daily commute too, since it's quite close to where I'm living now. Close? it takes my son-in-law 2 hours to get home each day...count the extra 4 miles as wind-down time!!!!!

.

 

[Viva*the*Ranger]

I hope it works out for you Koda! By all means, have an inspector take a close look at it before putting in an offer. I recently bought my first house with my fiancee, and.... the inspector found quite a few things I didn't, and I thought I was pretty anal.

I really hope it checks out for you. If anything, the land is worth the investment!

 

[straycat]

Hmmmmm....log cabin!!! You have a nice area there with the stream and view!! I put one on my 70 acres up in Mississippi and it is so beautiful. Log cabins don't cost much and last a long time. Since we only get up there twice a year now, I have an uncle and sister who stay there several times a year to enjoy the fishing and camping and they give the lonly cabin company when we are not up there.

 

[koda6966]

Still working on checking it out. Calling the reality agent in the morning.

DG, It's never been flooded, the stream is at the bottom of a hill that the home sits on. I would assume that the lower portion of the property does flood regularly in the summer, but that is to be expected in the area.

 

[shane96ranger]

I agree with the home inspection suggestion. I had one done on a house, and I was pissed that it cost me $350...... PRIOR to finding out I was looking at a catastrophe. Turns out, that was money very well spent. They took pictures of issues in the attic, and pictures showing how unstable the roof on the garage was. They also found some leaks in the roof that were dripping right next to bare wiring on the recessed can lighting (dude just twisted the wires together and spread them apart).

So.... from now on, I'm getting an inspection.

 

[Beef52751]

I just bought my first home with my fiance as well, it was quite the process. I told her that we are never moving out because of the BS that comes with buying a place LOL but all in all any property is a good investment. They don't make new land
Good Luck Koda!!!!!

 

[BLOODBANE]

The home inspection is a good idea, because they are trained (or suppose to be) on problem areas. They can point out problem areas that you can ask to have fixed before you buy, or at least show them to you. My girlfriend and I just bought a place back in late Dec. and even though she comes from a construction (home) background, and I have a good knowledge of building, we still got one done. You have a little more ground to stand on with a realtor when it comes from an inspector. Best of luck to ya koda, now is a really good time to be buying.

 

[Will]

A home inspection on a mobile home?

I don't think so.

I've had to work on mobile homes before. They aren't built like houses. I've walked around with 2 home inspections on houses we've bought. Neither of them had any tools or training to look for mold. A mobile home lacks most of the things they inspect for. Crawl under the thing with a flashlight and see if it looks like there has been any water.

A home inspection is around $350. A mobile home that old is barely worth 10x as much. If you want to get it inspected, get a mobile home repair guy. They exist. Give him $100 to check it out. I wouldn't bother, though. A mobile home has a lot less parts and if there are problems, they show very quickly. Inspect it yourself, carefully. Make sure you go underneath and if you can, eyeball the roof.

 

[straycat]

Let me ask this: Are you talking about a modular mobile home (built on a permanent type of foundation) or a mobile home that can be towed to another location? Or a pre-fabbed home? Some people confuse these. at times. Yes, Will is right about the inspection. If you can crawl under the home to look for signs of decay or mold (fungus). This you cannot hide unless it has been cleaned before from flood damage. If seems to me you are far away from the stream and you have some decent elevation and I dought that there had been a flood there unless it rained for days on end and a river nearby breached and caused 30 ft high water levels to reach up to the elevation of the home. The money is well spent for having that peace of mind that nothing has ever happened there. Post some phots when you can, Bro.

 

[88_Eddie]

screw the inpspection, just do it yourself. if it's a good price, buy the land, sell the mobile home and build your own home. sounds like it's a real nice location.

 

[koda6966]

Probably wont have it professionally inspected. It's a 40 year old trailer, if it's not a problem some hillbilly construction can fix then it's replaceable.

And yes, it's the type you can hook up and drive off. The only thing I might have checked out on it is the axle system. If it's intact and functional it adds value (slightly) because I can always sell it to someone looking for a cheap place to live if I upgrade.

 

[Will]

I've built a trailer with a mobile home frame and axle. I know secret shit about it. Very valuable parts there.

I wish I lived in a trailer right now. My wife has been pressing me for 2 years to get our bathroom redone. I hired a guy and we've been working on it for 12 days now, with probably 5 to go. I've already spent more on it than on any car I've personally owned. My wife drives new cars, I should say. You can buy an entire 15 year-old mobile home for what it costs to remodel a bathroom in a house, unless you use stick-on tiles and such.

I plan to retire onto a shanty boat.

 

[dhinch279]

The bank won't even consider the value of the mobile home into your financing since it is so old. They will only consider financing up to what the land is worth. At least that is what I have run into in my current search for a residence.