Chris Perosi
07-10-2006, 07:43 PM
Hey all, I've been poking around these forums today and it seems this is the right place to get my questions answered...
I've seen a lot of people knocking modular homes on this site, saying they don't hold their value, that sort of thing. I guess this is a function of the particular market and the particular home, but with the right home, nothing could possibly be further from the truth in my area, just outside of NYC. Sure, if it LOOKS like a mobile home (I know the difference between that and a modular) then it won't hold it's value. But modular homes in this area not only hold their value, but they generally bring the value of the surrounding area up. Most of the homes in this area were built by owners, not professionals, and the median age of a home here is 50 to 75 years. Brand new and good-looking modulars would increase the value of just about any neighborhood around here.
Anyway, getting to the point, I'm new to this whole real estate investing thing, and haven't yet purchased even one property as an investment. I guess that means that I've found something I like to do, cause so far it's cost me about $3000 in supplies and materials and I haven't made a dime on it... So if I can be happy about doing this in my spare time without making money, it will be quite nice when my efforts start producing some cash.
That being said, I'm specifically interested in purchasing a plot of land in my hometown, where median home values are in the $450 - $500k range. There are lots of homes in the $700 - $900k range as well. Anyway, the plan is to put a higher-end modular on the property then perhaps sell it for a decent profit. The asking price for the land is $250k for 52x173. Double the size of most lots in town. Very high price for most areas, but in this area, not too bad at all. The modular home I'm considering would be in the $150,000 range for the house, plus the foundation and utilities hookups and the driveway and other property improvements. A 50-year-old property with 3 bedrooms and two baths that needs some work would sell for over $500k pretty easily in that area. So my thought is that a brand new 4BR 2.5 bath with a full basement and maybe a garage would fetch a bit more, perhaps closer to 600k, especially with that large of a lot -- remember, that's HUGE for this town. There are several comparable modular homes in the area, I haven't yet done the homework to find out about their recent sale prices, but I don't think that $600k figure is too far off.
OK, so I said I'm new at this. What haven't I considered yet? What kinds of problems will I run into? Where can I find info on how much it will cost to run the sewer, water, gas, etc? Who's done the same thing before and can shed a little more light on it for me?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
I've seen a lot of people knocking modular homes on this site, saying they don't hold their value, that sort of thing. I guess this is a function of the particular market and the particular home, but with the right home, nothing could possibly be further from the truth in my area, just outside of NYC. Sure, if it LOOKS like a mobile home (I know the difference between that and a modular) then it won't hold it's value. But modular homes in this area not only hold their value, but they generally bring the value of the surrounding area up. Most of the homes in this area were built by owners, not professionals, and the median age of a home here is 50 to 75 years. Brand new and good-looking modulars would increase the value of just about any neighborhood around here.
Anyway, getting to the point, I'm new to this whole real estate investing thing, and haven't yet purchased even one property as an investment. I guess that means that I've found something I like to do, cause so far it's cost me about $3000 in supplies and materials and I haven't made a dime on it... So if I can be happy about doing this in my spare time without making money, it will be quite nice when my efforts start producing some cash.
That being said, I'm specifically interested in purchasing a plot of land in my hometown, where median home values are in the $450 - $500k range. There are lots of homes in the $700 - $900k range as well. Anyway, the plan is to put a higher-end modular on the property then perhaps sell it for a decent profit. The asking price for the land is $250k for 52x173. Double the size of most lots in town. Very high price for most areas, but in this area, not too bad at all. The modular home I'm considering would be in the $150,000 range for the house, plus the foundation and utilities hookups and the driveway and other property improvements. A 50-year-old property with 3 bedrooms and two baths that needs some work would sell for over $500k pretty easily in that area. So my thought is that a brand new 4BR 2.5 bath with a full basement and maybe a garage would fetch a bit more, perhaps closer to 600k, especially with that large of a lot -- remember, that's HUGE for this town. There are several comparable modular homes in the area, I haven't yet done the homework to find out about their recent sale prices, but I don't think that $600k figure is too far off.
OK, so I said I'm new at this. What haven't I considered yet? What kinds of problems will I run into? Where can I find info on how much it will cost to run the sewer, water, gas, etc? Who's done the same thing before and can shed a little more light on it for me?
Thanks in advance,
Chris