Another option is to simply find a open lot in town or at a trailer park to move the house to, but we are hearing numbers from 5-10k for moving the trailers.

I agree - that's a huge downside. If something unexpected happens, you're stuck.
I think to move and setup a trailer is about $7-12K around here.

I can get you a deal on a used refrigerator box.

I think to move and setup a trailer is about $7-12K around here.

Is that for a single or double wide?

I can get you a deal on a used refrigerator box.

Hey, you're in the trucking biz...what about a used reefer trailer? lol.

I doubt you could afford it

How many times are you two gonna keep making the same stupid mistake, ie: looking to buy real estate when only one of you is working and neither one of you has managed to retain a position longer than a single school year?

Well thats a good question. When we moved to NV and MN, we looked for a place to rent. That was our goal out here as well. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone that was renting out here and this town has a pop of about 8k people so there arent many rental options. Lots of buying and selling going on. Basically, if you have a house for sale, you are pretty much going to sell it much faster than many other places because of the number of people moving in to town; that and there currently aren't any new homes being built...there are some...but not nearly enough to even touch the demand.

I asked the second part of your question to the credit guy we talked to because that was also a concern. He said that can be seen as an issue, but more importantly is my work history...have I been continuously employed, no matter where, and yes I have.

You keep talking about the 'we' as if you're contributing financially to this operation, but how long has it been since you contributed anything significant to the family finances, Ziggy?

I still am. Our contracts were for the same number of days and in June, we got paid for the rest of the summer in one lump sum. In MN, I worked two jobs...both helped to pay the bills.

Do your own research into moving that trailer because you're gonna lose your ass on it if you don't. I'd be extremely surprised if you can even get what you currently owe on it if you sell.

Well that could be the case, but I don't think so. I guess we will see in a few days as we had a realtor come over here. Heres the facts of the situation: 06 model double wide...1600 square feet, front loading LG washer and dryer brand new, along with A/C and a storage unit at a pretty good location (albiet in a trailer park). Now, this is for sale in a town that currently has no new double-wides out there, and as far as I know, all of them are also taken. Also, the stick homes are very expensive and need lots of work. There is a demand for housing, no matter what...so the value of this house might have stayed the same or actually gone up.
As far as moving the trailer, I am looking into that. Before I start looking though, I need to find a place to park the thing. From what I have seen, there are no vacant lots at any trailer parks and I have only seen one lot for sale in town, so Im trying to get some more info on that before I do some shopping for set up and mover people.
For rural areas, there pretty much isn't any. Its this town (sort of like where we are now) and thats it, no small drive through towns or anything for quite a while in any direction.

Out of curiosity, why is it that Marcie's credit suffers while you say yours is in better shape? She's the one whose been working steady! Gotta love those huge motorcycle payments, hmmm?

lol...400 a month isnt huge. Anyways, with my bills, I pay them consistently on time. Marcies is lower because her name is on her moms credit card that we keep for emergency purposes...but her mom doesnt pay it on time so that lowered her score...we took her name off the card this week. She also has more debt than I do.

When are you gonna get your shit together, Ziggy, and start taking care of your responsibilities instead of digging the both of you deeper into debt?

I sort of figured finding a place to live was a responsibility. Maybe Im mistaken. Since we have been out here, we have paid quite a few things off and we are financially better off because of that. Out there, Marcie is getting a rather big pay raise as well and if I work in field Im thinking of...Id be making about twice what I made here. So this time next year, we could pretty much be out of the debt that is hounding us, outside of the car and bike. Id much rather have a stick built house in a town that is growing by leaps and bounds and the demand for housing is very very high, than a trailer where your chances are so-so. The only concern I have is IF we don't qualify for finacing next year...I just don't know what numbers they would want us to have for credit.

Trailers depreciate as fast as cars do- that is why the lending criteria for them is different.  I have heard estimates that a trailer will lose 50% of its value within 5 years.  35% of that is wihin the first 2 years.  Like a car, it loses about 10% value the moment it leave the dealer lot.

Um...are you serious?  $400 a month can go a long way if not wasted, especially if you don't have steady employment.

But, back on topic- I totally understand why renters don't accept pets.  All pets cause damage.  Even if the pet is well behaved, they still get sick and puke on the floor, they still cause extra wear from their nails, they still leave pet dander in the carpet no matter how well you clean.  Otherwise, a normal pet will end up destroying something- be it a cat that jumps at a screen door, or a dog that chews on the corner of a cabinet.  I love animals, but if I rented out a place, I wouldn't allow pets, either.

 

Trailers depreciate as fast as cars do- that is why the lending criteria for them is different. I have heard estimates that a trailer will lose 50% of its value within 5 years. 35% of that is wihin the first 2 years. Like a car, it loses about 10% value the moment it leave the dealer lot.

Right and this is generally in the case. But in an area where housing is very hard / next-to-impossible to find...the value can stay the same or even go up because of the high demand. There is trailer that is the same size as ours in the town we are moving in ...same year, 06 that is selling for 99k. Whether or not they get it is something Id have to wait and see. For trailers, the builder also carries some weight too, some homes are built better and the name of the builder helps as well.

Um...are you serious? $400 a month can go a long way if not wasted, especially if you don't have steady employment.

Im not arguing that 400 isn't a lot of money because its a good amount. But to say that 400 is a huge payment, I think thats an overstatement for a vehicle payment.

Anyways...I just got a call for an interview so I need to start doing some research. Who knows...life is full of surprises.

But, back on topic- I totally understand why renters don't accept pets. All pets cause damage. Even if the pet is well behaved, they still get sick and puke on the floor, they still cause extra wear from their nails, they still leave pet dander in the carpet no matter how well you clean. Otherwise, a normal pet will end up destroying something- be it a cat that jumps at a screen door, or a dog that chews on the corner of a cabinet. I love animals, but if I rented out a place, I wouldn't allow pets, either.

Well yeah, I understand too, but just like some places have special units for the disabled and such...it would be a good idea to save a couple units for pets. I mean...some places refuse pets, but at the same time allow smoking. When I lived in Fargo...the place I lived in smelled like smoke...you could tell from the walls and everything and Im sure it was in the carpet. Heck, I even had the apartment flood 3 times...one with water from a backup or something and two from a sewer line that overflowed or something and got into my place. They refused to change the carpet...instead they steam cleaned with some sort of bacterial cleaner. With most apartment complexes, they simply cheap out on everything. Many cities have requirements where a place is recarpeted AND repainted for each new renter. That takes care of most of the issues right there. As far as screen doors...I don't really see those on apartment complexes, mainly houses.

I got a 97% financed house, and the 3% was a gift.

Once your credit scores are in the 650-720 range, you can qualify for 'no money down' home loans and decent interest rates, until then, any financing you ARE offered is going to be a real cunt to keep up with, pardon my french.I find it telling that you don't even know for sure what your scores are when credit-monitoring services can be had for around $15.00 per month. Without that information, you're flying blind, trust me on that.

We know what our scores are...I just didn't post them. We got a print out of everything and there are some things we need to look into. Everything looks fine, as far as everything on there is what we owe and nothing unexpected...we went over everyting and at the time, just one thing didn't pop into my memory, I couldn't recall at the time what it was for and some things simply haven't cleared off the report yet.
The financing we are offered for the owner financing is locked at 6.5% for the year until we get our own financing after that. My main worry is the off chance that we don't get financing at the end of our one year term.

Then again, I always wonder why I even bother to offer you my professional advice (for that is what I'm doing here, and to think I used to get paid for it) when all you do is find excuses not to follow it, like telling me some dude told you that you'll get all your money back out of that trailer.

I never said I didn't want any advice....its your advice as well as opinion and I take that into consideration.

You let me know when that happens, Ryan, and if you can prove it, I'll kiss your fat ass on main street in apology.

I guess we will see what the realtor suggests when she calls back later this week.

I guess it is a matter of opinion -- but I think $400 is an outrageous amount for a monthly vehicle payment (unless it comes with a driver and then I might consider it!)



Actually, with all this subprime stuff going down, it is getting harder to get 100% financing -- or at least that was the story with my mortgage broker. She was telling me that their company was following a new Freddie Mac (I think it was Freddie Mac, but it could have been one of the other ones too) policy not to offer any 80/20 loans any more (where you take out a mortgage for the first 80% and then a 2nd for the remaining 20%) - instead, they were only offering 75%/25% to folks with immaculate credit ratings. Not sure how that saves them liability, but it does mean that you are paying a higher rate on a larger amount (2nd mortages are usually 2%+ higher than first).

Also, Ziggy, keep in mind that when you do go to finally purchase, there are going to be closing costs which can really add up. Actually, consider that about selling the trailer too (though, I don't know if it works the same) -- and closing costs for sellers are usually higher cause you have to pay the commission to the realtors.

Which would still put him at a loss, right? With all the fees to close and realtor commissions.

 

First, I'm pretty sure offering special housing for disabled shouldn't be compared to pet owners.  Second, smoking is almost impossible to enforce.  It is an action, not an extra creature living in the space. If you said that somebody couldn't smoke, you would also have to tell the Indians not to cook (that is a smell that also lingers for years....not bad if you like Indian food, though). 

huh?  Have you never seen an apartment on a ground floor with a patio (patio door)?  They typically have screens on them.

At the rate you're goin', you probably won't even be there in a year......  OK, that wasn't nice, but it's accurate when looking at your track record.

 

I agree.  I won't have a car payment over $300, and both my husband and I have decent jobs. 
And, when it comes down to it, anything is too expensive if you are short on money.