All Forum Posts by: George C.

Brad,

The depth of the exterior doors & window frames will be two inches deeper with 2x6 construction, compared to a standard 2x4 home. I would be pretty easy to spot.

BTW, I ordered all my modular homes with floor trusses w/ the heat ducts already installed in them, so if you looked in the basement (if not finished), it would look a little different.

Hi Brad,

Modular homes don't go down in value, in fact they are built with 20% more lumber than a site built home, they over build them to go into any jurisdiction's local building codes. For instance, the ones I put up come standard with 2x6 exterior wall framing & R19 insulation in the walls, low E glass, etc... They are super efficient homes to heat & cool. I sell the fact that it is built better, never got wet while building & cheaper to heat as pluses over other homes. There might be some exceptions out there, but for the most part you should have nothing to worry about. Does the home your looking at have 2x6 exterior walls? That will tell you if you have a good one.

It all depends... :) I've done both homeowner construction loans and commercial builder construction loans on spec homes. It all come down to the bank, your credit and the local r/e market.

Yes, your mortgage is for a set amount. However, I've been in the position to go back to the bank and asked for more money than originally bargained for, it was no problem...then. Don't count on that working for you, though.

I dealt with a local bank, so it was real easy dealing with them and getting a fast answer.

I would ask for as much as they are willing to give you, better to have more in reserve and not used, than to need more and not being able to get.

I bought a home a year ago from Econhomes, It's not for the faint of heart, your buying with a quit claim deed only. I had a title search done before (and bought title insurance) from a local company so I went ahead and closed. You do wait months, about three months for me to finally get recorded... but it all came out in the wash. It was a great deal for me, a home with a little fixing that will realistically sell today for $65K, I paid $21K for, it rents for $950.

I know they offer to financing on their homes, the rate is pretty high, I paid cash.
I would buy again from them and constantly look over their site for another that would work for me.

I wanted to look at this house when it was listed by the bank as an reo for $35K, was told it was off the market, only to show up again for $25K from econo. It turns out that econo bought it in a bulk purchase of 100 homes, they paid $12K for mine, as I found out in title work that came later.

Econo does not pay anything on the home while they have it, no r/e taxes, hoa fees, etc... If you do buy from them, be sure to find out what is owed on it, because YOU will be stuck with it. Mine was just bought by them when I bought it, so nothing was owed. Some they are stuck with for a long time, so you might have to pay nearly a years back taxes & other fees at or after closing.

I had this idea, too. Ever since looking for a skating rink to bring my kids to, the closest one was an hour away. Growing up there used to be a bunch with in a 30 minute drive, now they are all gone. The one I found had been built in 1978, it was an easy build, just an open steel framed building, the kind you hear advertised pretty cheap & a concrete floor, the rink area had a coating over the concrete, but not wood. It probably hadn't changed since the 70's but is pretty well packed on the weekends. They had the snack bar & arcade & kids parties as well. They had both inline & quad skates for rent. I'm guessing they had about eight people working the place, and of course they were teenagers. This is the kind of business where you don't have to be there most of the time, it should be easy enough to find a couple of older folks & teens to run it. With cheap internet wired security cameras, you can check on things anywhere & anytime.

I was just thinking that with facebook and such, kids would be doing a ton of your advertising for you. They'd be sending tweets out, posting videos, etc...

This kind of building I'd bet would be cheaper to build than to buy an existing building to convert. Renting would be hard, I would think you would have to prove the finances to do all the work and cover, insurance, float the business etc.. Then there is the thought some would have about liability to the LL beyond insurance with the injury risks to kids involved, rowdy behavior, etc..

The old ones that used to be in my area (NJ), I'm sure the land became more valuable than the rinks that occupied them. They were replaced with either condo developments or malls.

I think insurance would be pretty hefty.

If I had enough money to do it all the way, I'd probably take a shot at it.

Great minds think alike :)

If you have 6', you don't have to dig down too far to get a legal ceiling height, a foot or so?. Egress shouldn't be too hard for the rear, if not in the front. You might not need added egress if not a bedroom? I would do it. How are the mechanicals, heating pipes or ducts? Are you changing systems anyway, have to move them out of the way? Got to figure all that in. You'd be adding a lot more living space that buyers & renters will value, even if it's not included as above ground living space.

Lee,

I can see carrying a negative cash flow for a while, your right that in X years it will be paid off and will be a boost to your retirement. Like others have said, you might have to rent first before buying another home while your old one is rented. Start checking now with lenders now to see if anyone will loan you money on a new home for your family with your old one being rented. Also, now might be a great time to get into a "contracted" rent-to-own house, maybe even seller financed?

Hopefully you don't have too long on your old mortgage to go.
Hopefully you are handy enough to repair and or replace anything that can go bad in the house, you'll save a lot of money that way. One thing you would have going for your "new" rental is that you already know the house, what it needs or what it doesn't so your not going into that blind with a new purchase rental.

I know too many people that have nothing beside ss for retirement, if they could've at least swung one extra house to live on or sell in retirement that would've been a life changer.

You better learn all you can from the landlord side of this site & other LL websites, grow a real thick skin, learn how to properly screen tenants, check credit. Learn that people suck, the worst of the worst will be at your door all gussied up like they were going to Sunday school & you'll have to see through them and their BS. Renting is not always easy money, a lot of us got our stripes before there was the internet, but new comers have the wealth of many years of knowledge at your fingertips, take advantage of it.

Assuming you already knocked on neighbors doors to find out the scoop, have you tried searching facebook with the last name? A lot of times, facebook has been great in locating people (or their relatives) or screening tenant applicants.

Having worked in the refuse business many years ago, they use them till they are scrap, keep welding, fixing till there is nothing left. Companies do steal each other sometimes, do a quick repaint & weld on the company name. Dumpsters are not like a car with vin#s. I remember one time our company radio lit up about a mysterious truck carrying one of our roll off containers, we got it rite back, they should've waited till after dark.

Belinda,
That's not a "big mistake", just merely a learning experience. A big mistake is getting caught with a hot potato you can't sell and or afford.