Collect all the s and learn everything you need to know about purchasing a mobile home with Braustin.
Things to Know About the Land / Property for Your Home
From site preparation to finding insurance, we cover everything you need to know before you purchase land or property for your home.
Site Preparation & Base Pads
Making sure your property is properly prepared is one of the first things you’re going to want to do when buying a new mobile home.
If you’re looking to build a new mobile home in San Antonio or anywhere in the state of Texas, then a base pad will be required for your new home.
In this episode, we discuss the importance of site preparation and the Texas base pad requirements for your new mobile home.
Resources
- For more information on the site preparation of your new home, see the Blog on Site Preparation
- For a deep dive into base pads and the state requirements, see the Blog on Base Pads
Finding a Property
Finding land for your new home can by on of the funnest parts of buying a new mobile home.
Texas has tons of property to choose from so its important to know what to look for when searching for your perfect piece of property to make sure the land makes since for your new home and budget.
The three main things to look for are:
- Zoning
- Flood Plains
- Utilities
1. Is the property zoned for a mobile/manufactured home?
A lot of times this question will be answered right in the listing of the property—but not always. Ask your realtor or the managing real estate agent if a manufactured home can be installed on the property you are considering. Unfortunately, there are still many zoning restrictions, especially within cities, regarding factory built homes vs. site built.
2. Is it in a floodplain? IS IT IN A FLOODPLAIN?
Sorry, had to make sure you got that. Ask this question. Get a straight answer for this question. Because your property may be technically zoned for a manufactured home, but that doesn’t mean anything if in a thunderstorm it becomes the Rio Grande.
If being in a floodplain doesn’t outright disqualify you from installing a manufactured home, it will mean thousands and thousands of dollars in permitting, development, and months of extra waiting as you try to get straight answers from your county development office.
I am not trying to insinuate that seller’s or listing agents mean to be deceptive in their information. It really is a lack of knowledge, so it is up to you to require realtors to do some research in order to protect yourself from any unknowns.
3. Are utilities on the property?
There is a phrase used in land listings that really irritates me: access to utilities. This phrase means absolutely nothing. The moon has access to utilities if anyone wants to pay to get them there. You need to know if utilities are there, and, if they’re not, how far they are. Because they could be 500 feet or 5 miles!
For more information on what to look for when searching for land for your new mobile home, check out Rachel’s blog.
Resources
Finding a Mobile Home Community
Mobile home communities are a great option for first time home buyers looking to dip their toes into home ownership.
With a mobile home community, you can purchase your own manufactured home and rent a community space from a mobile home park.
Mobile home communities in San Antonio offer a number of amenities such as pools and community centers so its important to check their reviews on Google to get an idea for how current residence feel about the services offered from the community.
Mobile home parks are also a great option for downsizing empty nesters who may not want to deal with the hassle of maintaining a lawn.
There are a number of 55+ mobile home communities in and around the San Antonio area that offer a quiet place to call home while allowing for the freedom to pack up and travel.
For a list of the Top 7 Mobile Home Communities in San Antonio, check out our blog at the following link!
Resources
Utilities and Your Home
One huge factor that affects the price of land is the status of utilities, and utilities can be a big “gotcha” for land buyers. Learn more about utilities to be sure you make wise decisions when buying land for your new home.
Resources
Building Codes for Different Homes
Knowing your local building codes is important so that you make the right choices when deciding what property to buy or what kind of home you will install on your property. In this episode we fill in some details about building code basics you should be aware of when shopping for a mobile home or manufactured home.
Resources
Insurance and Your Home
Ensuring a mobile home is much the same as insuring a site-built home with a small, but important, difference. When deciding on insurance for a mobile home, it is important to realize that although the real estate market has proven that mobile homes appreciate, all insurance companies might not recognize this fact.
When insuring your mobile home, you will want to insure it for what is called “Replacement Value” instead of “Actual Cash Value”. Doing this will mean the insurance company reimburses you for what it actually costs to purchase and install a mobile home of a comparable size instead of what an insurance company decides the value of the home is after accounting for its “depreciation.” Where with a site-built home, ensuring the Actual Cash Value means a homeowner receives what the home was worth plus the fair market value appreciation at the time of loss.
