Thanks Cobb! How's it going?

Fascinating Seattle Times article! Should be required reading for everyone considering buying a manufactured home from a dealer.

Yup yup! As I have mentioned before, buying a used/repo home is the best bang for your MH buck. MHs depreciate, often even when reclassified as real estate.

We paid cash for our home, and it was not from a Clayton affiliated company. The company, Forest River/Hart, has since been bought by Clayton, though. We were lucky and got one of the last full-sized homes they built, customized perfectly for us. We expect our home to depreciate rapidly, but we at least have only lost the depreciation in value, not depreciation plus interest. And we knew it coming in. We had good reasons to buy as we did.

OMG!! Glad we don't have Clayton on our radar, however I noticed 21st Mortgage advertised on several as a possible finance option. II told my husband, that will be an emphatic NO!!! This is a must read article. Thanks!

We are in Tucson now and have looked at 4 homes, the Desert Tails Community have almost 600 MH's there, the streets are narrow, their numbering system very confusing. what I don't like is all the rules and regs, ie: the # of indoor cats etc. I figure if one owns the home, they should be able to have 3 cats that never go out rather than just 2. More later, have some showings today.

have seen such parks from the road only, LOL! Yeah, I want to be able to have an occasional cold beer on my own patio and as to the kitties, well, we made a life commitment to their care, they were all rescues.

I will warn you that the 2 pet rule is pretty standard. Yeah, I live in a lovely, well-maintained park. But the lot rent is the same in that other horrific park as it is here!

What cathyyg said. Before I bought my MH I got a copy of the rules. I also found out the park ownership had changed hands about a year earlier and that most of the residents of our 38 home park thought the change was for the better. The prior park owner apparently never enforced the rules. The new owner immediately cracked down on two areas: yards and pets.

There were several households who never cut the grass (or weeds), who had junk in their yards, old cars included. There were also people who had way too many pets (dogs and cats) and who allowed them the run of the neighborhood.

I actually agree with the rules. The people who let their yards grow three foot high weeds and junk them up with debris and old vehicles are the people who give "trailer parks" a bad name. And the people who keep big numbers of cats and dogs and just let them run around unfettered through the community are being unfair to both their pets and to their neighbors.

I've no doubt that you are a very responsible cat guardian, as am I. My cat is indoors only. The little dog Joy (my daughter) is getting in September will never be outside off the leash until we build an enclosed pet yard.

Unfortunately, for every responsible pet guardian, there are five irresponsible ones. And we can't have one rule for responsible people and a different rule for irresponsible people. Enforcing the two pet rule is the only way to legally prevent irresponsible people from getting five dogs or multiple cats and allowing them to destroy other people's yards (and breed). Unfortunately, it hurts good people like you who rescue unwanted cats and give them loving forever homes. JMHO :-)

To circle back around, I second Cathy's suggestion to get a copy of the rules for each park you're considering. Furthermore, I suggest you find out how rules can be changed and how they can be enforced. My state, Washington, has very strict laws in place that prevent MH owners from wily-nilly changing park rules and from unfair, draconian enforcement measures.

You sound like a good person, someone whom I'd like as a neighbor. My cat is a rescue too, and so Joy's dog will be in September. I really hope you find a great park that will allow your cats to live with you in their forever home! :-)

P.S. I rented an apartment back in 1988 that had a no pets rule. I asked why no cats? The manager told me the reason was not because they had problems with cats while the residents lived there. Rather, it was the high percentage of people who just abandoned their cats when they moved, creating a huge feral cat population. So sad what some people will do to these precious little beings who depend on them. :-(

6 cats, 2 neutered, 4 spayed, all declawed and current on shots and meds, wormed etc. All are strictly indoor.

3 old cats are 15 yrs old, 1 is 5yrs (approx.), 1 is about 4 and the last one is 1 yr. (Mr. Trouble) a solid black cat with a bit of white on his chest: He almost got hit by a car last Halloween in front of our house. The 5 yr old (Squeaky) was literally thrown from a car; my hubby was right behind them and slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting her...she was frozen in fear. She was skinny & pregnant. We took her to vet within 2 weeks and had a spay,abortion & treated for roundworms.

The 1st 3 were from a mama, now passed on who brought 2 kittens w/ her, we had been feeding her, she disappeared for awhile but I guess she trusted us. 1 kitten stayed (Mr. Sneezy) 1 was feral and ran away, (Dopey), She was pg again and we didn't know it until she started showing. That produced Miss Pookie Bear and Miss Sassy and 3 males which I found good homes for. Yeah, I understand rules, but also idiots who dump their cats. 5 came with us from our country home in Southern Mo. to Butler, Mo. almost 4 yrs. ago. Rule for this town is 3 cats, so we are breaking the rules here too.

The park where we bought the Fuqua says 2, guess if they don't like it, we will buy an acre of land and move the MH. The park "rules" also say there is supposed to be a guard at the security gate, we went through there 3 times and never saw one. There are 538 homes in this 55+ community. Good news is former owner has solar shades on all windows and her partner who died 5 yrs. ago had a 1 chair beauty shop that was walled off the double garage, but she was eventually turned in for having a business in her home. That will now be designated as the new "cat house". I can either class it as a 501 3c or a house of ill repute. Sorry, couldn't resist that.. I'm old and a cynical sense of humor.

The home was only $28,000: It comes with high end stainless steel kitchen appliances, a dishwasher and double door refrigerator with bottom freezer and a Samsung washer and dryer. The heating and cooling unit is a Carrier industrial size. I think all this is worth the purchase amount.

O.K. this was a long post but would like thoughts on all, please.

Thanks again for a great forum!

It sounds like a fair price to me. Good luck with the cats and the rules!

Congratulations on the purchase of your home! Fuqua gets consistently good reviews on this forum. What's the square footage?

I second cathyyg's expression of well wishes with the cats.

In most states, The park, if they find out about the extra pets, (or any other rule violation) can legally give you a ten day notice. You have ten days to remedy the situation or be evicted. Know what your rights are in your state. Google "tenant rights in mobile home parks in Arizona."

Be aware that moving an MH is difficult and expensive. I'd figure on $10,000 and up for the move. Then you will have. to bring in water/sewer or well/septic, etc.

I hope you and the kitties enjoy your new community! I'm pulling for you! I know you and your partner love those cats and they are lucky to have you! Just remember, if you tell any of your neighbors, there are people who will act like they're on your side and turn right around and complain to management.

How are your windows sun shaded? I had thought about putting those UV blocking films on my windows, but I'm concerned about loss of light--I'm trying to brighten this place up, not make it darker. People can't see in, unless they're going to come right up to the window like a peeping tom, lol, so I'm not worried about privacy. Just thinking of ways to keep the house cooler.

Oh, one less thought. If you're trying to earn an income, a house of ill repute will bring in a lot more than a non profit cat rescue. Food for thought. ;-)

Here's another resource on Clayton homes & Warren Buffett; thanks, mama bear!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Homes

It is a 24'x45'....smaller kitchen than I would have liked but will try to stay out of hubby's way; we have a huge kitchen here & still manage to be in the same space at the same time! Here's the link to pics. http://usmobilehomebrokers.com/2013/listing/beautiful-active-retirement-park/

Also can someone tell me how to start a new thread on this topic; from Cobb Scout 4/16 to present. You-all have provided a lot of ideas and resources, I don't want to miss anything new. Thank you!

24'x45'??? That's over 1,000 sq ft for your kitchen?

To start a new thread, go back to the list of threads. At the top of the page, it will say something like "Ask a question." There is a space for the title of your thread, and a space for you to write your post. Then just click on "submit," and voilà! You've created a new thread. :-)

No Debbie, If you bring up the link I sent last post, you can scroll down and enlarge the pictures of the whole house. Pics 5 & 6 give you a better view of the kitchen and D.R. I will sit there and supervise...LOL!

OK, Not sure I'm in the right section, but I *think* I did it! Thanks, Debbie.