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[charlot22]

Right now my husband and I are doing okay. We're young, He is 24 and I am 23 and we have been together over 4 years (married 3 months). We started renting 6 months ago at $475 a month. It's an older trailer from the 80's but it's been redone inside to look nice. . . It leaks around some of the doors though and it has a bit of a bug issue- not terribly- but still. We were going to try and figure out if our landlady would sell us the place- she had mentioned selling after we were done renting and the value of the trailer and the .7 acres is about $40,000. We were hoping to get a good price on it and when it's paid off we could then buy a modular home and put that in place of the trailer.

Well. . . . . Never count your chicken's before they hatch of course- she never got back with us about it and has ignored the question so we're thinking she was hoping for a few years of us renting before she considered it. . . . With that said, my Mom has 14 or 15 acres of land. Mostly woods but there are 6 acres of cleared out space with a 5,000sq foot home with a basement on he back of the property on a very deep sloping hill. . . . I talked with her and my brother yesterday. She said (and has always said- specially now that my Dad passed away a few months ago) that she cannot take care of all that land and that huge home anymore. She wants to give us part of the land. Like if the land perks correctly she would try to have it so we each get roughly 2 acres from the 6 cleared out. We would make a new drive way that goes along the side of the woods and have 3 lots. One in the front, one in the middle, and one at the far end if it would work out that way. . .

My question is. . . Is this a good route to go? Could we afford putting a modular home down? I know it's not just the cost of the home either- and I'm thinking about two children so I want a place big enough to have all of us live comfortably- like about 1,200 to 1,500 sq feet but not to big so it's wasted space either. I know it costs to put in a road, to survey the land, to get a foundation I'm sure,and other expenses. . . . . My question is wold it be in our best interest to take the land that is free right now and use it to start fresh right now at this point in our lives, or should we keep renting and try to see if something comes along down the road? I just want opinions- - - but please only kind advice!! And especially from anyone who has ever gotten a modular home before!

Thank you

*** Oh, and about the other acres- the woods, we would spit that up between us so that it would help us all out. There is also the expense of out driveway, we would have to take down the current one to make a new one alone the edge of the woods- the hard part is that there are about 60 or 70 or maybe more large pine trees lining the driveway that would all need to be removed and the stumps gotten up. So it would be a lot of work, as well as tearing down the old and run down old 5,000 sq foot home (there is black mold, pests, and the roof is leaking and slowly falling down, the home is not as bad as it sounds- it is still livable but it is getting in need of major repairs that are not really worth doing because the people who originally build the place were inexperienced and the quality was lacking to begin with).

[kienan]

It's really cheap and easy to build a new trailer from scratch... I could do it for under 3000 USD.
Since you already have a trailer... in need of repair... Instead of paying someone to break it down and move it, I would completely deconstruct it and rebuild a better version using as much of it as possible, and buying what else is needed.
At that rate though, you might as well build an actual home, except trailers let you get away with special provisions that are less costly in terms of code enforcement.

Property is the way to go for sure.
Since you are family, you're mom can likely deed you the property without the taxes changing.
Property taxes on 2 Acres might be a thousand a year until you build something more valuable on it. I would love to have land like that. I would cut down some trees and mill them myself to build the structure!
I would want to have some rock available to so I could build the foundation.
I have some great ideas for off-grid power production... so I never have to pay for my needs again!

[baigh]

I have always said that buying is always better than renting! Every 475 rent payment can be 475 buying payment! You both are young, go ahead and start buying! GOOD LUCK IN THE FUTURE!!!

[jabin20]

You're going to have to figure out all the costs and legal issues involved with splitting Mom's lot and building both house and driveway, but you already knew that. But this sounds good to me. You're getting some land to own, more or less for free, and you can be nearby to help your Mom. All you can do is start making a list of what needs to be done, finding out what it all costs, and seeing if you can swing it financially. Owning is, in my opinion, always better than renting if you intend to stay in that area. I would certainly never buy a home and place it on rented land as you were thinking of doing. What happens when your landlord decides not to rent the land any more? You're stuck figuring out where to move a whole house to. Modular homes and mobile homes are cheaper than conventional homes and many people live in them quite well. Can you afford one? I don't know. I don't know how much you make. Find out the prices of ones that would work for you. Find out what financing one would cost if you have to do that.