I need a little guidance if you have time. If you don't have time I understand.

I need to know if my issue is worth pursuing.

I purchased about 1/3rd of 250 acre home place about 2 years ago. The county this property is located does not have zoning laws so it is up to the land owner to place restrictions on land to protect the future value if they so desire.

This property was divided into 3 equal lots. There was a protective covenant placed on the entire piece of property. The covenant stated that any homes placed on the property must be stick built and no mobile homes were to be placed on the property.

My neighbors are in the process of placing a prefab home on a portion of their property.

In my nonlegal opinion any home that is not built on site would be considered a mobile home.

The term stick built is very ambiguous and will be defined 50 different ways by 50 different people.

I paid a premium for this property compared to other property in the area due to covenant.

Do I have something worth pursuing or would I be fighting a loosing battle? My other neighbor has agreed to split any costs associated with the legal costs if we decide to pursue the case.

Thanks for your assistance in this matter.

TD

Malum prohibitum does a LOT more real estate then I ever will do. He might be the best person to ask.

Who drafted the covenant and how long ago? Are they still "around?"

It may very well be worth pursuing. If the value is enough you could go to State or Superior court if you wanted to and make it really exciting...

ETA: I was focusing on the stick built part. I'd say you have a good argument it is a "mobile home".

pre-fab is a loose term

Some builders of high end subdivisions (1 million +) are going the pre-fab route

It is basically a stick built house under very controlled conditions indoors in sections and assembled on the job site

So are we talking bolt on some wheels and tada, a mobile home or  a 4000 square foot home just "built" somewhere else and assembled on-site?

I'm hoping he wouldn't be pissed unless it was a serious eye sore.

They way the building inspectors office looks at it in our county is they lump the prefab homes and traditional stick built homes in the same category. Mobile homes are treated much differently.

From the several prefab spec homes I have been in they are pretty nice (stick built quality). What is it about this home being built is it you don't like?

Well with his lack of posting I became worried. Out at the farm there was no treedog; but there was a funny treedog shaped lump in the new concrete behind the mobile home.

Thanks for the concerns.....

I've been busy researching the protective covenant. I have not been been able to arrive at a conclusive decision on my next step or if there will be a next step.

I have no idea how their house is going to look, but they have been total dickheads up to this point to anybody that had property that adjoined theirs. Thankfully I don't have any common property lines with them.

When the 3rd parcel sold they called me badmouthing the buyer. They told me several wild tales, all of which turned out to be untrue. They also gave him one hell of a time when he requested to run underground power through thier property. I told him he could do so through mine, but that put him about a mile from the nearest line.

In a nutshell, they are just busy bodies and keep their eye on everything that happens in the area.

TD

Quoted: Malum prohibitum does a LOT more real estate then I ever will do. He might be the best person to ask. Who drafted the covenant and how long ago? Are they still "around?" It may very well be worth pursuing. If the value is enough you could go to State or Superior court if you wanted to and make it really exciting... ETA: I was focusing on the stick built part. I'd say you have a good argument it is a "mobile home".

I do not know the answer based on what has been posted here so far, but if you Google stick built prefab you will see that they are contrasted with each other.  My understanding of this term has always been "built on site" using sticks, not panels or manufactured sections.

Check out this quote from Dave Ramsey:

www.yourbuilder.com/comparison.shtm

They moved it in Sunday morning.

They were heading up the dirt road of which I own to the center line. All the while they were pruning my trees without my permission. When I pulled up they said they hopped I didn't mind them pruning my trees. I responded that it looked like I was more than a little late if I did mind. I asked the new home owner if they planned to clean up the down limbs and they looked at me like I was from  Mars.

It looks like a trailer with a little front porch.

It is built on a 2x6 wood frame on 16" centers.

I'm still researching it and I will keep you guys updated.

“I just know mobile homes are lousy places to put money. Please don’t kid yourself on this. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. Call it “manufactured housing,” put it on a permanent foundation, add lots of improvements around the yard, and it is still a trailer when you are ready to sell it.” --Dave Ramsey, syndicated talk show host, quoted from “The Total Money Makeover” p60

TD

Best of luck Tree....

My gut feeling is that this battle will be long, hard, & expensive. The biggest problem will be in defining "stick-built." Had the covenant stated "on-site stick-built" you would have a little easier time defending the neighborhood.

Just a thought, but you could try telling the county building inspector that he is not in compliance, because there is a covenant on the property and he is in violation of it. See if you can keep the county from giving him his CO (Certificate of Occupation), because once he has a CO it will be MUCH harder to dislodge him!

Bear in mind this is rural Georgia, where everyone's trailer is his castle!


/thinks all forms of disposable housing should be outlawed.
//fingers crossed for ya!

I've done appraisals on modular homes and they run the range from 2 unit Mobile Home quality units but without the metal floorsystem (often built by mobile home companies) to one I recently looked at that was a 5 unit modular home that once finished looked better than the stick built homes in the neighborhood.

The two units are often just a way for Mobile Home; excuse me; Manufactured Home companies to expand their market into areas that don't allow Manufactured Homes.  A good quailty modular with more than 2 units will often wind up costing almost as much as a conventional built home, just with some time savings in construction.

I said all that to say this; in the appraisal business; they are considered to be more like conventional than manufactured; but if it looks like a double wide I'm probably going to put a double wide comp in there for good measure.