The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 10, 1980 Page: 6 of 16
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THE BASTROP ADVERTISER
Thursday, July 10, 1980
^ ____
N>
Report on
mobile home
See Pages 4, 5, and 6
living,
Do mobile Values go up?
50% penetration seen
Continued from Page 1
factory is to the sales lot, the customer will save."
better and the more the NUMBER ONE
Buying
tips
by Mark White
Attorney General
AUSTIN—So you’ve picked
out a brand new mobile home
and are eagerly awaiting its
delivery. If your home was
specially ordered, you should
know that the dealer cannot
legally require a downpay-
ment of more than three per
cent of the selling price.
If you are financing your
home through a bank or
finance company, that
institution will determine the
amount of down payment. You
should not make that
downpayment until credit has
been approved, although you
may pay a small amount to the
dealer to “hold” a home parked
on the lot.
Before the home is
delivered, you should
carefully choose the site. As
noted last week, a mobile home
placed on a concrete
foundation is more likely to
remain in good condition and
will provide a better
environment. You should
select a site not subject to
flooding or subsidence and
decide exactly where you want
the home on that site. (Every
time you move the home, you
risk damaging it.)
While you are waiting for
your home, it’s a good idea to
make out a check list. Include
on the list everything you
consider important, all items
specially ordered, and the
following:
1) Check the plumbing for
defects.
2) Look at the frame of the
home: compare its appearance
on the lot with its appearance
on your site to make sure it
hasn’t been damaged during
i/
the moving process.
3) Check all the joints to
see whether light filters from
one room into another. (This is
a sign of poor construction.
You can make this survey with
a flashlight.)
4) Make sure all screws in
siding and storm windows are
tight.
5) If the electricity is on,
check to see that it works
properly. For example, make
sure the living room light
switch turns on only the living
room lights.
6) Be sure the orifices on
the stove and furnace are the
proper ones for the type of fuel
you intend to use.
7) Make sure you receive
all the necessary papers,
including the warranty,
installation manual and
various tax and title papers.
Keep a copy of your contract
and any other documents you
signed in connection with the
purchase.
8) Check the home’s “data
plate,” which will indicate the
name and address of the
manufacturer and the areas of
the country for which the
home was designed.
All of these items should be
checked BEFORE you accept
the home. If any important
item is unsatisfactory, you
should insist that it be
repaired (or in some cases that
the home be replaced) before
you accept the home.
If you have a problem with a
mobile home, you may write to
our Labor Division at P.O. Box
12548. Austin, Texas 78711.
The Manufactured Hous-
ing Division of the Texas
Department of Labor and
Standards, the state agency
that regulates the mobile
home industry in Texas,
reported that 16 percent of
the mobile homes manufac-
tured in the nation were
produced in Texas, making
the state the number one
producer in 1979. Figures
for this year indicate that
trend will continue. In
February of this year Texas
produced 2,430 mobile home
units while second place
Georgia manufacturers put
out 1,988 new units.
More important than a
name is the fact that a Texas
industry leads the nation in
providing affordable homes
to the young and the old.
save
energy
state Department of Highways
and PubSc Transportation
By MARK HAMPTON
As inflation continues to
squeeze the American econ
omy, the average wage
earner is seeing his ability to
own his own home decline
rapidly. Increasing numbers
of people in Texas and
nation wide are taking an
alternative to the high cost
of conventional construction.
That alternative is a home
manufactured in a factory.
Industry sources estimate
that 1.2. million Texans now
live in factory made housing.
Manufactured homes come
in two types: modular homes
which must be installed on a
permanent foundation, and
mobile homes which may be
installed on a permanent
foundation or may be
installed so that it can be
moved at a later date. The
average price of a manufac-
tured home in 1979, includ-
ing appliances, furniture, air
conditioning and installation,
was $17,700, lot or site not
included.
Purchasers of manufac-
tured homes will find that
the difference between their
new homes and traditionally
constructed homes doesn’t
stop with where they are
built and their comparative
costs. Checks with local and
state business and civic
leaders indicate that build-
ing methods and cost are
only the most obvious
differences. Other dif-
ferences can be found in
financing, title, value, insur
ance, taxes and location.
A leader in the Elgin
financial community said his
organization does not handle
loans for manufactured
homes because, “Federal
home loan agencies are
changing their laws faster
than we can keep up with
them." Cecil Long, at the
First National Bank of
Bastrop, said, “Mobile home
loans are being made by the
dealers. They provide the
financing. We do handle
some of those loans for good
customers that have been
with us for a long time but
we don’t do it as a regular
practice. Most people go to
the dealers because they can
get low monthly payments
and the low down payment."
Buddy Chalin of First
Quality Homes, a manufac
WHY
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ONSIGNMENTI ENTER
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Mobile Homes
Texas Largest Volume Dealer
6300 E. Ben WNte
tured home dealer, said his
firm has arrangements with
about fourteen lending es
tablishments. Chalin added,
“If a buyer has good credit
we will co-sign the note with
him. If the buyer is a
borderline case we will
arrange for FHA to guaran
tee the loan.”
A major difference be
tween some types of
manufactured homes and
conventional home construc-
tion was pointed out by Billy
Maynard, a Bastrop insur-
ance and real estate agent.
According to Maynard,
mobile home titles are
handled by the Texas
Department of Public Safety
and are treated like auto-
mobiles. Therefore, May-
nard explained, some of the
dealer loans are similar to
car loans: if the buyer
doesn’t keep up his pay-
ments the dealer can come
and reposess the unit
without going through fore
closure proceedings.
Value of a manufactured
home seems to be a point
where opinions vary greatly.
Some opinions maintain that
a manufactured home always
depreciates in value and can
become a liability for the
owner rather than an asset.
Maynard contends that a
mobile home decreases the
amount a piece of land will
bring. Maynard said, “When
people sell a lot with a
mobile home on it, I advise
them to move the thing off
the lot because 1 can get
them more for the lot
without the mobile home
than I can with it.”
As can be expected,
sources within the manufac
tured home industry main-
tain that the value of mobile
homes goes up. The
Foremost Financial Services
Corporation has published a
report with figures that
show 12-foot and 14 foot
wide mobiles homes depreci
ating in value the first two
years after they are bought
and then increasing in value
until the fourth year when
they are worth more tlytn
rice,
their original purchase price,
even after adjusting for
inflation. The' Foremost
study shows the value of
multi sectional of double
wide homes increasing in
value from the first year.
After four years the
manufactured homes contin
ue to increase in value at a
rate of 4 to 10 percent per
year.
VALUE BOOK
There is a reference book
on the value of used
manufactured homes, ac-
cording to Chalin. He said
the book is similar to the
‘blue-book’ or wholesale
price index for cars. Chalin
continued, "The book is used
Plainly by lending institu-
tion to determine the loan
value vf a certain model of
mobile nome. I go by'-the
reference some when Pm
buying a used home or
taking one in on a trade. But
I don’t use it if a home is
more than five years old,
then I go strictly by the
conditions of the home. If
the home is in good shape
then its probably worth
more than it was when the
owner bought it new."
Chalin gave an even more
explicit example of how
manufactured homes ap-
preciate in value. "About a
month ago I bought a used
home for $8,000, that sold
new a few years ago for
around $7,000. Then I
turned around and sold it for
$9,000."
Insurance differences be-
tween manufactured homes
and conventionally construc-
ted homes are more clear-cut
with one interesting loop
hole. A local insurance agent
explained that most manu-
factured home insurance
policies are written the same
way an automobile policy is
written, the rates are set for
a package type coverage.
For a set rate the home and
its furnishings are covered
foV their cash value. The in-
surance source said some
manufactured homes can be
rated as a conventional home
if they are installed on a
permanent foundation and
can pass an insurance
inspection.
Chalin mentioned that
under the automobile type
coverage if the home is
mounted on its foundation
with its axles left in place,
the home is covered by
rising water insurance. The
wheels can be removed but
the axles must stay in place
for the insurance to stay in
effect. Chalin said this fact is
more important to manufac-
tured home owners on the
Texas gulf coast than to
home owners in this area,
but it is still a fact home
owners should be aware of.
TAXES EXPLAINED
Lonnie Wilhelm, Tax
Assessor-Collector for the
Bastrop Independent School
District, explained taxes on
manufactured homes. "It's
simple," said Wilhelm, "if the
person who owns a mobile
home also owns the land it is
sitting on, the home is taxed
as real property. If the
owner of a home does not
own the land it is sitting on it
is taxed as personal proper
ty. The evaluations and
rates are the same for both,
the only difference is the
procedure necessary to
foreclose on the property in
order to collect delinquent
taxes."
The last major difference
between homes built in a
factory and homes built
on-site is one erected by city
ordinances that limit mobile
homes within a city’s limits
to areas zoned specifically
for mobile homes. Bastrop,
Elgin and Smithville all have
similar ordinances, accord-
ing to Bill Barton, head of
the Bastrop County Depart-
ment of Health and Sanita-
tion.
In the remainder of the
county, Barton said the
restrictions on mobile homes
are the same as all other
homes, flood plane bounda-
ries must be observed and
septic systems must be
approved.
The battle lines are drawn
and both the proponents and
oponents are well armed
with facts, figures and
prejudices about manufac
tured homes. But don’t look
for too many heads to roll. A
local citizen who was* very
vocal in his opposition to
manufactured homes prob-
ably stated the case for the
proponents as well or better
than any of them had, when
he said, “I can understand
why people buy mobile
homes, mortgage money as
tight as it is and the expense
of new homes and all. People
buy mobile homes only out of
necessity."
Mobile boom due
The "boom" period for
apartment construction-
seems )o have p&.ssed.
According >r Michael
Sumichrast" chief economist
for the Rational Association
of Homebuilders, multi-fam-
ily housing starts during the
1980’s will fall 30 % from the
level maintained through the
1970’s. Not only will fewer
renter-occupied units be
produced in the decade
ahead, says Sumichrast, but
the share of all new and
existing housing represent
ed by rental units will
decline to less that one third,
tin 1950, rental units
provided 45% of all available
housing.)
A significant portion of
new single-family homes
built in the 1980’s will be
manufactured homes built
entirely inside a central
plant, according to Sumi-
chrast. Manufacturers build
both mobile and modular
homes, which are then
moved to the homesite and
installed. Sumichrast pre-
dicts that mobile home
manufacturers will add
nearly 3.3 million units to the
nation's housing inventory in
the next 10 years...a 7.6 per
cent increase over the 3.1
million built during the
1970's.
Sumichrast points out that
modern mobile homes offer
greater value than in the
past, hardly resembling
what were once called
"trailers". He predicts that
during the 1980's more
multiple section manufac-
tured homes will be built,
and in most cases these
larger homes will be
classified as real estate.
We offer quality construction,
reputable purchase plans
and dependable service.
The Capitol City
Chapter of
The
Texas
Manufactured
Housing
Association
Look for members of the
Association when you buy
your Mobile Home•
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 10, 1980, newspaper, July 10, 1980; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth737078/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.