1995 manufactured home, 1216 square feet, single wide. 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Laminate "wood" floors through most of the house, with the master bath having actual wood. It has a pretty decent sized deck, and a 2.5 car garage. 3.5 acres, about 2.5 heavily wooded, stretching back to roughly 800 feet from the road, so I have plenty of room for a range. Vinyl siding, cement post foundation. The house appears to be in excellent shape.

Asking price is $72,000, down from 80k, earlier this year. Central air put in in 09, Natural gas, rather than propane, washer, dryer, stove/oven, dishwasher, and refrigerator come with it, as does a riding lawnmower LOL. 30 years is a HELL of a long time to pay for a lawnmower, but if it comes with it, sure, I'll take it. I plan to offer the asking price, with the seller paying ALL closing costs.

I might or might not be able to talk the wife into ponying up a down payment, but with the VA loan, it isn't needed. Apparently it also comes with a "$500 decorating allowance," whatever that is. Is furniture considered decorative? LOL.
The city water is already hooked up, so that saves me about $1500 or so, judging by what other people are paying, for hooking up, and it saves me a few grand in taxes, as the water assessment (as far as I know) has been paid already. The Township Clerk is on the FD with me, so I will check with him, to make sure. Yearly property taxes total 1700 and change, so not too high for the area.  




It's one of the FEW homes in the area, listed as being eligible for a VA loan in my price range (CHEAP, lol.) There are a few decent foreclosures/fixer uppers, for under 50 grand, but not eligible for VA. Hell, earlier this year, there was a house with 10 acres, for 30 grand. Unfortunately, due to it being an old manufactured home, financing was impossible to get, of any sort, from anybody.

It's hard to pass a VA inspection, and get their blessing, from what I understand, so being listed as eligible for a VA loan is nice. It has the most property of the few that are eligible, so this is the one I'm going after. I have great credit (727,) so the lady told me she can for sure get me a fixed rate of 4-4.5%, and she MIGHT be able to get me as low as 3.5%, sure beats what interest rates were like back in 07, LOL
I took the wife to go look at it yesterday, and have her seal of approval. (I don't really give a fuck what she thinks about it, since she's not paying for it, but it definitely makes life easier since she likes it, LOL) It will put both of us roughly 5 more miles further away from work, but having land, and NO DOUCHEBAG LANDLORD, is well worth it, to both of us. It also puts me within 1 mile of the Township FD, where I am a volunteer; it beats the hell out of driving 8 miles from my current home, with lights and siren at 80mph, to MAYBE make a truck, or wait at the station.

The monthly payment, (if we don't make a downpayment) will be about $575, so 70 more than what I am paying for about 680 sq feet, in a shitty duplex, with no garage. Fuck yes, the $70 is worth it. I am 26, wifey is 23, and we have no kids. Nor Do (I) want any.

I plan on making one of the spare bedrooms into a man cave/gun room. I did not ask the wife, on this, I told her "if we get this home, THAT room is going to be for my gun stuff." She grinned I guess she's thinking She will get the other spare bedroom for HER gun stuff, LOL

Wells Fargo is handling the VA Loan. I suppose, if I cared, I could find some other mortgage company to handle it, but the ones who deal with VA loans, are rather few. I already have my pre-approval letter, and as soon as I can get the fucking VA to send me a copy of my 30% disability award, I can finish up my checklist, make an offer on the home, and apply for the loan. I spent about 2 hours on the phone today, getting dicked around by the computerized VA phone system, and an hour on hold, before finally speaking to somebody for 5 minutes, to get the paperwork I need. FML It was either that, or drive 4 hours, round trip, to the Regional Office in Detroit.  BUT, I did finally get what I needed, so sometime next week, I'll have all the paperwork together.

I know manufactured homes only go down in value. I don't particularly give a fuck, since I have ZERO intention of ever moving, once I buy it. Hell, even if I lose my job, and am unemployed, 575 a month isn't difficult to pay. I intend to pay the house off in WELL under 30 years, and am hoping for 20 or less. I don't plan, like the people who caused the housing bubble (fuck them, btw) to live there for 5 years, and sell it. I have been raised to borrow money only for things that are absolutely needed, and am a firm believer in buying a house.... TO LIVE THERE, lol. Funny idea, ain't it? Seems a LOT of people lost their ass, by not doing exactly that. They borrowed WAY too much, for a house they didn't need, or they tried to flip houses, and make a profit. It worked GREAT... until the bubble collapsed (haha.) with the real estate market being "down" it makes a LOT of decent houses VERY affordable around here.

So, I guess, being "upside down" if it ever happens, doesn't bother me at all. The Loan I agree to is X. The value of the property is Y. I go into the mortgage, knowing full well, that no matter what Y ever changes to, I am going to pay off X, as that is the obligation I am undertaking. Once I have paid off X, then I can sell Y, if I want to, which I don't, for whatever a fair price may be. The monthly payment will be around 575, so only 70 bucks more per month, than what I pay for 680 sq feet, in a shithole duplex, with no garage.

I will update, as time goes on, as to how the process goes for me.

So, what think ye? Anybody ever use a VA loan? Experiences?

make sure everything is that house is in order, no mold or damaged items or the VA will disapprove it.

My wife and I bought our house in 1995 with a VA loan, we had to wait until we were married to go to settlement.  The VA inspectors will go through the house with a fine tooth comb.  Make sure you have your DD214 before the application process starts.

Working with the VA on a manufactured home is a pain in the ass!  Good Luck

Buy it and let me come shoot.

What do you suppose those 3.5 acres of land alone is worth?

oh and start your VA "Certificate of Eligibility" paperwork, it can take a couple months...



and from what ive heard is that they dont like Manufactured homes, regardless of what the seller said.

LOL, hi DJ.

We shall soon find out, one way or the other. I've been off active duty for several years now, the lady at Wells Fargo already has my certificate, so no worries on THAT.

DD214, likewise, isn't an issue. I just happened to lose the disability award letter they sent me, once I changed from single to married. Oops, lol.

complete inspection upfront and full blown home warranty upon purchase.

thank me later

Just know that in order to sell the house you must fine a VA elibible buyer. It can get sticky.

I don't plan to sell the house, and if I do, it will be after it has been paid off. At that point, I can sell it for whatever price I want, to whomever I want, so no big deal.

And to address the question about the land value, unless there is oil, or a goddamn gold ore deposit under the dirt, there is NO way in hell 3.5 acres is worth 72 grand around here. MAYBE 30, TOPS, and probably not more than 5 grand an acre.

This, for damn sure. They had me wriggling around on my back checking out some water stains on the sills-
the house had a sump pump, and since the place was empty and power-less, the sump pump wasn't on
so there I was, covered in mud at the lowest part under the house with a hammer and screwdriver, banging
on sills, checking for rot. No rot, just discolored wood. I fixed the cracked driveway, so no more sump pump
or water under the house.

On the other hand, a lot of stuff got checked and fixed that I didn't have to fool with

It was a long, drawn-out process, but worth it in the end. THANK GOD we bought it years before the housing collapse,
it is worth more than we owe on it.

Oh yes, Wells Fargo is our mortgage company, too.

If you have any VA rated disability, the VA will waive the funding fee.  Otherwise, it is 2%.

Sweet, I'm 30%, so good to go on that.

Stay far, far away from those manufactured homes. Absolutely junk. My first home was one of those. Never agaiin. The lot sounds nice.

DO NOT let the VA inspect/appraise until just before closing or you will be trying to close on the house this time next year.  Give them the specs of the house and request they do the initial appraisal on specs.  Just before closing they can appraise and compare to the spec appraisal.  This will greatly speed up the process.

I just bought a house using VA this past month.  You shouldn't have any problems as long as the mortgage company knows what they are doing.

This is not true.  You can sell the house to anyone you like.  If you plan to sell the house and let someone takeover the note, they must be a VA eligible buyer.

 

Can you IM/Email me more details on this?

I have used my VA loan 3 times, it's not a problem. Find a realtor
With VA experience and you will be GTG, make them do all the work
For you. If you can, use USAA, they will find a realtor for you. Remember,
capitalize on the fact that there a lot oh hungry realtors out there. I won't
Do anything anymore to assist in the process. Home inspectors will give you
a break on the inpection if you show them someone cheaper, pit
The realtors against eachother too, you can get the 6 or eaven 7% closing fee
reduced a half a point or more if you haggled and waste their time. The
key is to get pre approved and realtors will do anything for your business
I have been taken out to lunch/dinner, had them drive me hundreds of miles on their dime,
have them do all the crap work like faxing, phone calls, getting the inspector, photo copies, etc.

As someone who has previously lived in, and still owns a manufactured home, I'd tell you to look for a traditional stick built house.