New Owner - Many Questions

[cuppaco]

My husband and I have recently obtained a 1970s era mobile home. It is a 2 bed/1 bath 12' x 60' Lamplighter. It is in very good shape overall - however, it needs some renovations. It is mostly level, floors and roof in good shape, and new appliances in the kitchen. A/C in good working order. It is tied down, "hurricane" rated, and is in a nice park with very reasonable lot rent ($1200 a year).

We are renovating the bathroom completely (new floor, new shower, hotwater heater, toilet, sink). The trailer itself needs skirting - there is none, and the roof needs to be recoated. There is a fuse box in the bedroom (I would like a breaker box), and it needs some electrical work (there appears to be a short in the porch light). It needs to be power-washed and painted as well. Right now the work we plan on doing is functional/necessary, with basic cosmetic improvements (i.e. paint). We plan to be living here the next 12-18 months, while saving money and paying off debt.

I have a few questions:
1) How much $ should we put into cosmetic changes (kitchen cabinets, countertops, new windows, and building deck area)? I don't think the place is worth too much ($5-6K), but I don't want to overdo the repairs/remodel.

2) How do we go about getting insurance? Do we need to wait until the bathroom is finished, because right now is in "construction" mode? Do we need to wait until the skirting is on and the roof recoated as well? If the MH itself can't be insured, can I get my contents insured?

3) How do I tell how old this place is? I found a label on the fuse box which states, National Mobile Homes Model FAF 301. I cannot find a date anywhere. I hear it is important to determine if the place is prior to July 1976 or later. My husband thinks it is late 1970s - maybe 1978 or 1979, but we have no documentation of that. (Our property tax/mobile home tax statement says 1970s - not a specific date).

4) The electrical work we can't do ourselves. How do I go about finding someone who will work/knows how to work on a 1970s era mobile home?

Thanks in advance for answering all my newbie questions!!!!

[JD]

I am not sure that these are questions we can truly answer. Money is a personal decision, but I would only do what is necessary to keep the home safe and protected if I weren't going to stay in it for long. Insurance and local contractors are very regional things. Hopefully someone will know how to research manufacturer info for you. I know it has been talked about here at the forum.

[DCDiva]

Welcome to the group and mobile home ownership. We have just done many of the things you have questions about,but we went extreme with our mh and gutted it all and rebuilt all,but we plan on keeping the mh for many years,first few years my daughter will live there to goto college and then it will be a rental for a long time as we rebuilt to last. If you want to see the total remodel just click on DCDiva and you can see my profile with all my past post I have many photo albums of it--if you can not see it just let me know and I will send them privately,I am sure everyone is tired of my photo albums lol. To answer some of your ?'s--
#1 not sure of the budget, for our 1973 MH the insurance company would only insure for 10,000 BUT we had to keep recipts for every improvment we made to it and they would increase the insured amount for every $ we put into it. So the outside,paint will not cost a lot--I did a mhmany years ago--like 21yrs with Benjamin Moore paint and it still looks new I highly recommend it,if u can wait until July to paint they sell it for 3-5 dollar off a gallon,paint covers many sins----kitchen--we got stock cabinets from Lowes and stained them and countertop,cost was under 400 for all and since they are stock you can buy as u can afford--windows--in one of the post u can see us putting them in--I got all of mine new for $25 each but many overstock place carry windows for 70-80 each--or you can replace windows as you can afford them like 2 a month--makes a hugh differance in utility bill--deck 300-400 is a nice one all would have to be DIY--if the plan is a max of 18 months then just do the minimum
#2 I called @ about insurance and got really high quotes like 500-700 a yr,higher than most of my rental homes--then I checked with who I use for my other rentals--same state just 3 hours away and they had an agent in that town, 200 a yr,so check with someone u r using for auto and yes we had so long to get the skirting around the house
#3--is the plate @ your front door or it is wrote on the fram the serial number,we replace all of our electric but did it ourself---most electican will fix the light BUT to total replace it all unless u r staying longer might not be in the budget,it was easy for us ,we took out all the ceiling and walls
I know when u buy a place you want it perfect,but you r working on getting out of debt not into more,do what needs done to live there,unless you do it all to totally tranform it you will not get your money back when you resell,if u plan on keeping it longer or renting it out then yes go for it,good luck please keep asking questions many have done what you r planning

[Seasider48]

If you are living in Florida (since you mentioned hurricane rating), you can only obtain insurance from one company and the most you can insure for is the purchase price.

[Greg S]

In the case of a 70s era home worth approximately $5000 you will not likely get any money back that you put into it unless you buy used cosmetic items dirt cheap.
I would make the best of what you have, be very frugal only to improve necessities to make life more comfortable and move on when you are ready.
The only caveat to that would be in the case of you owning the worst home in the best neighbourhood and in that case you could possibly get some money back from your upgrades.
If you did intend to stay long term the pay back would again probably be next to nothing but you might be happier living in a home you have made to your liking.

[DaveyB]

I'm following the assumption that you are in Florida, I found the following information on the BBB website:


National Mobile Homes
Phone: (561) 967-9195
Fax: (561) 967-6355
6383 10 Ave N., Suite C, Greenacres, FL 33463
http://www.nationalmobilehomes.com

The company website is expired and has reverted to Godaddy, but possibly the phone number may help you find the information you are looking for. The model number, coupled with the serial number, would help them locate the exact manufacture and installation or sale dates.

If you are planning to stay for only 12-18 months, then one must ask what you plan to do then? If you are planning on keeping the home and renting it out, then plan for that. If you are simply going to resell it, then plan accordingly. The aim should be to get the place looking nice, to attract a viable renter or buyer. The difference is that you will still be responsible for the maintenance if you rent it out, whereas the buyer would be footing the bill if you sell it .

Get the insurance now, not when the bathroom is done, and make sure that the insurance company covers the value of the remodelled bathroom, not the original. The last thing you need is to pop the bottle of champagne to celebrate the newly finished bathroom and the cork ricochets around and destroys the entire home! Murphy wrote the law, but he doesn't always play nice!

As far as the electrical work is concerned, you don't want a fly-by-night working on it. Replacing a fuse box with a breaker panel is fairly straight-forward, but a mistake could prove extremely costly. Perhaps asking around the park, you may find someone with the skills to do the work, perhaps in exchange for something that you can offer - I had an HVAC guy come in and replace my thermostat in exchange for ridding his computer of a bunch of viruses and malware and a memory upgrade. YMMV

The other consideration is that the wiring is 30-40 years old, and that short in the porch light could be either the switch, the bulb holder, or it could be some problem somewhere in the wiring. I would search the home for another (known good) switch of the same type and swap the switches to see if the probblem moves. If not, replace the light fixture with one borrowed from somewhere else in the home. This way you can narrow down the element causing the problem and replace it. Just hope it isn't the wiring!!

Hope that is of some help to you!

DaveyB