Where Do We Deliver Mobile Homes? (Hint: Not Just San Antonio)
Do You Deliver to _________, TX?
My favorite thing to do here on the blog is answer the frequently asked questions we receive from potential home buyers. A couple of weeks ago I got to talk about all things used homes due to the overwhelming amount of questions we receive about them.
And today, I am talking all about mobile home delivery. Where we deliver, how we deliver, what it costs to deliver, and what delays a mobile home delivery.
We Deliver to ALL of Texas
On our Facebook page we often see potential home buyers ask if they must live in San Antonio to purchase a Braustin Mobile Home. Not only do we deliver to the entire state of Texas, but Braustin home buyers don’t even have to travel to San Antonio for any reason when purchasing a mobile home from us.
We have designed our business processes to allow for the busy and often finance constrained lifestyle of many hardworking families in Texas, meaning the entire home buying process—from choosing a floorplan to closing paperwork—can be done entirely online and over the phone.
One of those carefully thought out processes was providing estimated delivery costs for customers to be aware of prior to committing to purchasing a home. And then, more importantly, to charge home buyers only what they needed for delivery to their specific location in Texas.
Delivery drivers charge by the mile and, unfortunately, most mobile home companies charge a blanket cost for delivery (or even claim “free delivery”), often raising costs unnecessarily as a just-in-case in the final home price.
What Does it Cost to Deliver a Mobile Home?
As you’ll see on our using our delivery estimate tool, delivery costs really vary widely. The closer your home site is to the manufacturer, the less your delivery costs will be. $4,000-$6,000 is a general range to keep in mind and will be more for double wide homes and less for single wides.
Something to note, if you are inclined to map your location from your chosen manufacturer, delivery drivers must take select routes to account for the height of the home. These routes are provided by the Texas Department of Transportation and must be followed. This will mean drivers are sometimes taking the “scenic route” to your home site, and mileage might be more than what you mapped at home.
How Do We Deliver Mobile Homes?
Okay, I kind of already mentioned this before. Mobile homes are delivered using semi-trucks which essentially hook up to the home’s hitch, hauling it as a trailer.
Ideally, when a driver arrives at a home buyer’s home site, they would be able to maneuver the home into an approximate position, preparing it for the set-up crew.
However, in cases where a home site has loose soil where the truck would sink or tight turns that a truck cannot steer the home into, extra machinery is required to properly position the home. This does incur an extra charge but is not required at every home site.
Another potential “extra” is that of an escort. I’m sure you’ve seen the trucks that follow oversize loads down the highway displaying a large yellow sign and flashing lights. These vehicles are called escorts and are required to be present by state law for the delivery of 18’ wide homes.
Mobile Home Delivery Delays
The last few weeks have been pretty much the epitome of “what delays a mobile home delivery”.
Yep. Rain. And lots of it.
Mobile homes cannot be delivered in the rain for many reasons.
First, the weather itself causes unsafe road conditions for the sheer load capacity of a mobile home. With the slick roads and limited visibility, mobile homes do not transport well in the rain.
Second, wind. Because mobile homes are tall as well as long, wind can be very dangerous for drivers to deliver in. It causes switching in the home and can cause a truck to go off the road and even a home to flip. Definitely not ideal.
Third, the mud. Even if your property doesn’t have what is considered “loose soil”, a delivery driver can very easily get stuck in any kind of mud. Houses are heavy. Trucks are heavy. They sink.
And lastly, keep in mind as you anxiously await your new home that Texas is a BIG state and the weather can be bright and shiny where you are and a hurricane somewhere else.
Delivery drivers must be aware of weather throughout the house route and might have to delay delivery due to weather along the way and not just the weather in your location.
To learn more about the mobile home delivery, set-up, and trim-out process, check out this blog here. If you found this information useful, be sure to share it with someone else!
I’ll meet you back here next week.
