patio home vs manufactured home ?
 

I am considering moving to the TV as soon as this year. I visited TV a few weeks ago and looked at Patio Homes and manufactured homes. I was told the insurance on the mobile homes is very high. Any opinions about patio homes vs manufactured homes ? the pros and cons ? Price is an issue , I am trying to keep the costs down as much as possible in order to have more fun money in retirement. Any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

If your backyard view is important to you there is a much greater chance of having a golf course view or even a water view for less money than a patio villa in the historic area. The yards are also larger than a patio. There is no bond on manufactured homes in this area.

However the homes will be generally older; most seem to have been built in the mid to late 80's which could mean repairs/upgrades will be needed. They are more susceptible to some storm damage.
I got an insurance quote of $850/yr.

if you are only going to move and not planning on reselling than go with what your budget affords you...but i would go with a home first that is less than 10 years old than a manufactured home over 20 years old

Stay away from any patio villa that has a bond. When you start adding up taxes, insurance, the bond payment, amenities fee, utilities, etc., it all adds up very quickly. The bond payment is the only fee you can eliminate. Also, try to find a house with low taxes.

I have seen manufactured homes sell for anywhere between $39,000 and $130,000. Patio Villas seem to start at around $130,000.
Insurance for a manufactured home runs about $800-$900. I don't know what insurance is for a patio Villa is, but it's really only a factor if the price of the two homes is about the same. If the difference in the price of the houses is $30,000, it would take 80 years or so to make up the difference in insurance. If you're looking at a Patio Villa at $130,000 and a manufactured home at $130,000 it would make a difference unless the PV has a bond.
I live in a manufactured home in Silver Lake and would have preferred to have bought a Patio Villa, but would rather have kept and extra $50,000-$60,000 in my retirement account.
Don't get me wrong, I love my little manufactured home, and many of them are well maintained and won't need any more maintenance than a newer home.
It's a personal choice, but I think that unless the homes are of the same value, the insurance should make a difference.

Also, it appears that you are confusing manufactured homes with mobile homes. There is a HUGE difference.

Actually according to HUD, they are the same thing.


HUD- Manufactured Housing and Standards


A manufactured home (formerly known as a mobile home) is built to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (HUD Code) and displays a red certification label on the exterior of each transportable section. Manufactured homes are built in the controlled environment of a manufacturing plant and are transported in one or more sections on a permanent chassis.

I have assembled sections of manufactured homes which were removed from the chassis, and placed on a concrete foundation.

I live in a manufactured home and want to move out of it to get into a REAL home with good walls and floors. My house has alot of floor rot from moisture and it's hard to keep up with the mold growing on these things. I would go for a villa but go for a corner one or one that backs into a privacy wall or bushes. These manufactured houses offer no privacy.

who are you listening to when they tell you that the cost of ins is very high on a mobile home? if they used the term mobile home - that's your first sign that they don't know what they are talking about. the historic side is probably 99% populated by manufactured homes with very few original mobile homes remaining on their lots.

then I question who is the source of info re the cost of ins on a mobile home. is it a real estate sales person trying to upsell you to a patio villa? we know it isn't an insurance agent with experience in obtaining coverage for manufactured homes because they would not have used the incorrect term of mobile home.

our little 1,000 sq ft snowbird nest runs us approx. $650/yr for a homeowner ins policy. the most important/costly part of ins covg is to make sure that a home inspector or the homeowner can provide you with proof that the manufactured home meets the current requirements re 'tie-downs'.

the best advice you can get on totv re purchasing in the villages is to buy what you can afford and what you like - when you can get those two points to intersect, you have found the house for you! and if someone scoffs at the possibility of owning a manufactured house on the historic side - well, you can just guess at what all of us living there think about a potential friendship with them!

cubs - when was your house built? ours went in around '87 and we have no mold problems much less spongy floors! is there a problem with the water table or other drainage problem in your area? and how come you have no privacy? the historic side does not have homes with kissing lanais that I can recall and our lots are bigger there than in most of the newer villages - not to mention how the landscaping has matured into buffer areas between homes.

Njbchbum - your last paragraph regarding someone scoffing at the possibility of owning a home on the historic side is spot on and so correct about looking for a potential friendship with that poster isn't going to happen. Obviously, that poster is unhappy and rather than belittle, move on to your patio villa if that is going to make you happy. Something tells me they will never be happy and finding fault with everything is part of their makeup. So sad for them.

Hey njb! Ours was built in 85 and the floors are very spongy. We are high up on a rise, actually have to climb the driveway to pull in so it's not the water table. It's a very leaky house and I think it's the gutters. The privacy thing is a problem because we have older neighbors who like to wander the neighborhood and "peek" inside houses. Also, the noise level is odd. Under these carports, we think it actually amplifies sound. We can hear everything.

We had a manufacture home when we first retired here in Florida. Although, not in TV, it wasnt new (1992 Palm Harbor) and it was great. It worked good for as we were snowbirds and it was very affordable for four winter months. Our first home in TV was a neighborhood Villa. The front lanai was like having a front porch---almost. We actually had more square feet in the manufacture home. Insurance was about the same. It's all about personal preference. Good luck in your search. A good salesperson will be a great help to you.

OP posted in the Ask An Expert column
 

REMEMBER, we are not supposed to answer questions posted to Ask An Expert. If the OP wants our input she should have posted to Villages Discussion.

yikes! leaky gutters and peeky neighbors! ;0

my friend [and a non-peeky neighbor of yours] will be there in sept - if ya see a guy on the ladder cleaning his gutters, tell him I sentcha over to ask for help with yours!

:BigApplause:

Thank you all so much for answering the question. I am very impressed you would take your time to help me. wow. really blessings to you all

thank you very much for info, yes it was the real estate agent. you guessed it correctly.

Thanks , never thought of about the moisture mold potential problem. would you go with a patio home that backs up ( with a wall) to Morse Blvd? I believe it is called. Have seen couple patio homes for sale but concerned about the traffic noise potential. thx

From what I've always heard, the first rule of real estate is 'location, location, location'. Manufactured homes are only located on the historic side, patio homes are in just about every village. From the historic side by golf cart you must cross the Hwy 27 bridge to get to the squares and a lot of the restaurants. A patio villa can be found a short golf cart ride to the squares, shopping and restaurants.

When I looked at new homes in 2011, a 2BR patio villa with a vaulted ceiling was selling for $140,000 and had a bond of $10,000. I was just about to buy a new patio villa for $150,000 total when my salesman informed me about a huge discount in some masonry CYV's. The name of a 2BR CYV (courtyard villa) was being changed from 'Woodlawn' to 'Durham' plus Southern Star Villas were down to the last six units. A CYV that was $169,000 was now going for $157,000. I made the switch and bought the CYV over the phone without even seeing it. If you're interested, my salesman's name is Tony Trussler.

Now patio villas are selling for about $150,000 and new Durham's are selling for $180,000 to $196,000 so I feel like I've already came out ahead in just two years. I believe it's best to buy the most home you can afford since it may be your last home. Here are photos of my home, the ability to make improvements are greater than a manufactured home. My point is, don't rule out anything until you're actually ready to sign. My neighbor bought his 2BR CYV for $162,000 at the same time and listed it for sale in March of this year for $199,900 furnished and sold it two days later for $191,000.

http://imageshack.us/a/img708/8522/house21024x778.jpg

In Florida I would be concerned about having a crawl space under my home. Lots of opera unity for critters.

View
 

On the other hand if the view is important you can get one like this for a little over $100k in the historic area...

Its really about what your priorities and plans are. Manufactured homes do often have larger, more scenic lots, but houses in the historic side are older and tend to have have lower prices/appreciation rates. This can be a good thing if you plan to stay there forever, but not so good if you think you will want to move to something else later on. If both homes are about the same price to begin with, a newer patio villa will most likely be worth more and be easier to sell in 5 yrs than a manufactured home. If yard maintence and lawn/landscape watering costs are a concern, patio villas will be less work and cost less because yards are much smaller.

My family owns a manufactured home....same as mobile homes......business for over forty years in NC. There is no difference between a manufactured or mobile home. They are built to the same building code. HUD code. You can put a manufactured or mobile home on a concrete foundation. But most importantly is the insurance on manufactured homes. You cannot insure one once it has reached a certain age. 20-25 yrs old I believe. And there are only a couple of insurance companies that will even cover manufactured homes. So beware of older models even if they've been remodeled. Insurance companies go by the date of manufacture. Call TV insurance agent and confirm this information for yourself Before you buy!

i am so glad that i did not take your advice, but called another ins agent who was more than happy to insure our 1985 manufactured home - for a mere $650/yr!

Patio vs manufactured
 

Might be good idea to check with insurance companies regarding insurance costs for each structure.

Go to the source to get the correct information

Since I rent and have rental insurance I would not suggest the pros and cons.

Ron, Very nice view -- what village is this?

Village of Country Club Hills!

11th hole.

I would buy a patio or ranch home. I love the historic side with the winding roads, mature trees etc, but been checking into some open houses recently and learned a few things. It is hard to get an answer from a realtor about questions I've had. Talked to one just recently about mobile (manufactured) home purchase and insurance. Only a couple insurance companies will insure older 80's homes? What about if you're there a few years it would be like a 70's home now, probably won't be able to get insurance on them then. Also, replacement value will cover your home. What would it cost to replace a 1987 or some manufactured home? Certainly not even close to what you probably will have to pay for it in the Villages. The value mainly is in the lot the home is setting on (the lifestyle). As long as no major damage occurs to your home you're ok as insurance will cover it for a few more years. If your in your early 60's or younger, what will that home be worth in 15 - 20 years? It would be like buying a 1970 trailer today, even though it is in the villages. I would guess that the value compared to a patio villa or a ranch when considering growth in value would be a lot less. Something to think about and checking into. If you are not concerned about your home being some sort of an investment, then it may not matter. These are my thoughts and my reasoning. Not happy about it, cause I really like the historic side of the Villages. One other thing you also have a wood floor and only the newer ones (maybe 1988 and up I think) have good plywood floors. With the high humidity in Florida I would think that may create a problem, versus a concrete floor in villas and ranches.

Eliminate bond
 

Would you mind explaining how I can eliminate the bond fee?

Buy a resale patio villa that has the bond paid off. The realtor should know how much of the bond is left or if the bond is paid off.

Valid points.
That being said I did purchase a mfg home and found insurance with no problems. I'm not too worried about resale value; I just wanted a home with a nice view (and a grapefruit tree) and no other houses 20 feet away from my backyard deck. I'm willing to take a chance that insurance will still be there in 20 years.

if you got your info from a villages sales rep - i suggest you discuss the same with an mls agent - or better yet - discuss insurance matters with an insurance professional.

you'll be much better able to make a judgement after getting facts from the folks who represent the individual insurance companies.

If you did have a total loss though I wonder how much they would give you for an old mobile or manufactured home? Lots of them for sale in the area outside of the villages for cheap, so would that be what they would give you and not for what they are selling them for in the villages? That's a question I had. If that is true may not hardly worth insuring if you only get 20 -30K or less replacement value. It's not like a house where they have to rebuild it for you. That's what has steered me clear of them, just my opinion. I would want something in writing from the insurance company saying exactly what and how they determine the value of my home.
That do seem to be a good investment for investors. There is one now for sale by the Villages Realtors for 149,900. It was sold in Feb 2013 for 80K, then sold again in June 2013 for 110K according to Trulia and Zillow. I'm sure some extras have been added but that's pretty good profit for an investor. It seems investors were a big cause of the real estate crash that happened. Talked to one guy back then that was investing in condo projects. He purchased one at the beginning when they were just starting the project of the complex, by the time the project was completed and his condo was done and he would have to come up with the money, he would do a quick sell and make 100k. Lots of people got rich that way in certain parts of the country like Las Vegas etc.