rhome, We tried to "give away" our mobile, and had someone who spoke for it, but then backed out. We tried to find someone who would move it or demo it and couldn't. My DH, DS and I demo'd it in less than one week (miserable since it was raining pretty much every day). For us it was a seasonal cabin that we knew we would get rid of when it came time to build our house. So we demo'd it ourselves, drilled out screws, removed windows, doors, etc. Not fun, but we salvaged all parts (aluminum siding, copper pipe, wire, steel, etc.) that we could and got some cash back. Here homeowners can dispose of asbestos so we bagged the pitiful amount of insulation that was there, and took the rest in a couple runs to the disposal site. A 50 foot trailer broke down into a comparatively small amount of debris. Of course having your own backhoe is a plus when it comes to breaking up the sections. But mostly it was dismantling and sorting and lots of grunt labor! I guess my point is, if you are faced with no other options, it can be done. But I'll hope that you end up with better luck than we did. Jill

The days of seeing gains like those in the above posts where an $80,000 purchase sells for many times that years later are over for at least 10 years. Don't expect any major real estate boom any time soon; real estate is going to return to what it's supposed to be for, a place to live and call home, rather then a slot machine that pays out. With that said, I got a super deal on a manufactured home built in 2003 with new 2 car detached garage on a .65 acre lot for under $40k. The modular homes in a new subdivision being built start around $100k and that's with no garage included and they are still selling! They don't look that much different, they have the same or less square footage, yet they are selling for more then double the price. I guess it depends on what you need. Do you need a basement? The manufactured homes around here will qualify for a traditional mortgage as long as they are anchored on a frost free foundation. Surrender the title and they become real property, treated as such. Why pay more for less in an environment where real estate is going to go down adjusted for inflation going forward? If you can find a good deal, go for it. A house is a place to live, a place to call home, that's the important thing.. not bling bling, unless that's your style.

I have figured out a budget for getting the house into good rental condition, and I think we can do that for $17K. We are going to proceed with getting a loan from Kevin's credit union (after I get my credit unfrozen) for $100K, $19K will go toward the price above what we want to pay in cash, and then $17K to perhaps $20K will go toward renovations. Whatever we have left over we will pay back to the credit union, but they are giving us a good rate at 3.7%. Whatever we pay off will decrease the amount of time we have to pay back the loan, but not the monthly payments. One repair we will need to make ourselves is the heater for the pool/spa. I estimate this at $3K, but it will be worth it because people have already told me that they are willing to pay the $40-$50 per day charge for heating the pool when they rent in the winter. In May through October, there will be no need to heat the pool, but we need to have that option to offer. The main renovation we will do will be to change the bathtubs to walk-in showers. That's what we want for ourselves, and people have told me that they do not take baths in rental properties and prefer the walk-in showers. Anyway, to answer my original question, it looks like we are going to use my brother's credit union (from Sony) for our loan, and I will be meeting with him tomorrow at 11:00 AM with the loan officer. Tomorrow morning Kevin will do the wire transfer for the escrow from his bank on the Sony lot, and I will meet him after that.

decoenthusiaste The door is steel by I want to replace it completely because it is very drafty and load of cold come in the house in the winter so we could go anything here. Do your top panels snap out for windows? You mean the garage? It will be nice, they dont right now but it is an idea I could keep for the future and replace the door. The fence is already there I'll add some pictures. It frames the back yard and its been weathered wood since 2005 :/ The tree is a crab apple, you are right that I need to change the landscaping, it is something I haven't thought about yet (so many things!) I loved those pictures with the day lilies the do very well in our climate, diverse the bed a little with different types of flowers. I will trim the tree and take it off the ground for sure. Thank you so much for all the ideas!! And these are the color I was considering to stain the fence: Which one do you like?