WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME
IF YOU QUALIFY, IT’S YOURS!!
About The Author
For over 13 years, Tony Evans was a financial loan consultant for a large mortgage banking company in Fresno, California. His financing expertise and knowledge of various loan outlets for factory built, manufactured and modular homes, put him in demand with not only lenders but prospective homeowners and senior citizens, as well. Tony was one of the few highly regarded experts recognized by the USDA Rural Housing Guaranteed Loan Program Division in terms of origination, underwriting and the closing of these type loans. Many people are struggling today with loss of jobs, homes and other personal financial problems however, in this book, Tony opens the door to the possibility that those who have been or are currently suffering, can still own a home regardless of past problems, age or credit history. Follow along on the journey where thoughts, ideas and solutions are no longer a dream - but a reality. Any person who said the affordable home ownership game was over doesn’t know what you will know and understand after reading this book. And you won’t need a bunch of those bills with the pictures of dead presidents, either. (See above)
CHAPTER ONE
………………………………...........................IT’S ON A NEED-TO-KNOW BASIS
In these current troubling times you need to know the truth and the facts and eschew
the “myths” of property ownership. Many former annuitants of home ownership who have lost their homes may currently reside in a crowded apartment or condo where the next door neighbors entertain you way past midnight with a version of the Led Zeppelin
song, Stairway to Heaven cranked up as loud as it can go without breaking a window. It gets even worse if you’re the only male in a female family - sharing the same bathroom - where the toilet seat is always down and you have to get an approval from the ladies to brush your teeth unless you want to use the outdoor faucet near the covered parking stalls.
Then, a week later you meet an old friend at the grocery store, enter into a short conversation, and he mentions he moved into a new modular home just on the outskirts of town and asks if you have ever thought about it. You quickly dismiss the thought but that line keeps getting longer in your apartment bathroom so, being a curious person, you visit a nearby manufactured/modular home dealership. You walk around, kick a few tires like the manual says to do, go inside for a couple brochures where you overhear several salespeople talking about 14 percent interest and 15 year loan terms, so you quickly exit, stage left. Welcome friends to the wonderful world of big-time loan financing.
For decades affordable home financing used to be a bad joke around most dinner tables - quickly related to Section 8 housing and places where people mention in a whisper, “the other side of the tracks.” The purchase of a new or existing home will most likely be the biggest, most expensive move you’ll make in a lifetime. If fate had a hand in you losing your home in the ongoing housing crisis, you may be hesitant about dipping your toe in the housing pool again even if it’s a large tent placed under the I-10 freeway or a shuttered cabin in the mountains with no heat or running water. And last year things were so convoluted you thought about fixing up an old houseboat on Lake Mead in Nevada except you remembered the bad news that the water level is dropping a half-foot each month and Las Vegas is projected to be out of safe drinking water by the year 2013.
However, let’s switch gears and put all this doom and gloom on the back burner and start
using some common sense. I hate to bring up a touchy subject but back when you owned a home you recall the profligate mortgage lender telling you a ton of lies in order to get your deal closed so he could pocket some of those green things with the pictures of dead presidents on the front then sell the loan to the “Freddies and Fannies” to pick up a few more bucks. These men and women lenders were like ants at a lakeside picnic. Back then you were told not be concerned about a 20 percent down payment or the PMI (private mortgage insurance) which is surely the dagger through the heart. Oh, and let us not forget the two years on the job requirement which the lender quickly dispatched by saying: “don’t worry about that.”
Today, lenders are quick to say that the first hurdle a borrower must have is a FICO score on the north side of 720 unless you want to deal with those lenders who still have a sign in their window stating; “Come on in, folks, the money is on the table. No down, no closing costs, no proof of anything, just be able to sign your name.” Back then lenders were handing out money on stick-built homes like the Russians had invaded Scottsdale,
Arizona. Ah, but if you happened to mention some nasty words like: manufactured homes and modular homes, lenders quickly turned a deaf ear, left for coffee and never returned. Why? Mostly because they were still under the impression that these types of factory-built homes were all single-wide mobile homes like the ones Aunt Martha lived in for 28 years in a senior trailer park in Fort Collins, Colorado. Suddenly, you became persona non grata and discovered that locating decent permanent financing for factory built homes was like getting a root canal from a bad dentist.
But it’s a new day and help is on the way. No longer are factory-built modular and manufactured homes the “relative” you hate to invite to the wedding. Consumers and developers are now seeing the light and turning to factory-built housing for speed, quality and energy efficiency. Yep! Finally, the prefab market, once derided as the lowly world of single and double-wide trailers set in mobile home parks for older folks 55 and up, is now in a position of major growth when the housing industry begins its rebound. It’s easy to figure the reasoning. The weak economy is forcing companies to focus on affordability, offering small and midsize homes that can be factory-built in less than 90 days and set on
land owned, leased or rented by the borrower. It’s time to put a smile back on your face. Like the words from the 1960’s rock group Ruby and the Romantics said: “Our day will come.” That day is now, and the information you need is in this book. Read it, know it, and use it to buy your next home.
CHAPTER TWO
………………………………......................The Quality of Manufactured/Modular Homes
No matter the circumstances, people will still roll their eyes, gasp and shake their heads in disbelief when you mention of your plans to buy a new factory-built modular or manufactured home and stick it on that vacant land you’ve owned since Clinton was president. Well, let the naysayer’s think what they want and keep on paying those high square foot prices for those lovely stick-built homes. You stick to your guns and we’ll see who waves the white flag first. However, if you’re still scratching your head and a few doubts are still floating through your brain cells, please allow me to pass on some factual information.
** Factory-Built Homes Have Superior Quality
Panelized or modular homes using in-plant construction quality is invariably superior to what can be accomplished on a jobsite. Housing parts cut with a handsaw or handheld circular saw cannot possibly be as precise as those cut with a $10,000 dollar radial arm saw or a $100,000 dollar component used in a factory. Also, factory fastening methods are demonstrably superior because they use pneumatic tools which drive fasteners to exact depths with no shiners or under-driving. What’s more, factory inspections cover every detail from floor framing to final paneling and painting. Trained, independent third-party inspectors perform more than a dozen unannounced inspections on each house. The best than can be hoped at a stick-built job site might be two or three announced inspections giving a builder time to cover any glowing mistakes.
** Factory Built Materials Are Best
Quality manufactured and modular home builders use only mature lumber that has been protected from inclement weather. In many on site building jobs either green lumber is still used or building materials left exposed the elements like snow, rain or heat only covered by a large tarp. The one person who suffers is the new owner who often inherits construction problems they won’t know about until it’s too late.
** Factory Built Homes Are Stronger Than Stick-Built Homes
Traditionally, factory-built homes are over-built so they can be transported on wheels to the property site where a crane lifts and places the home on the site foundation system that is already in place. Modular construction is sturdy enough to withstand forces equal to that of a sizeable earthquake.
** Factory Built Homes Are Easier To Finance
It used to be years ago that just the mention of a borrower financing what the old hard line bankers used to call “mobile homes” would meet with a quick smile and a finger pointing to the bank exit door. You would quickly become persona non grata. Over the last decade a positive records has been shown lenders that manufactured and modular homes are the next “coming attraction.” Lenders are now eager to part with the banks money for many reasons like the fact that these homes are well insulated which relates to lower utility bills and the simplicity of the construction process. The USDA Rural Housing Guaranteed loan program was one of the first of the preferred lenders to see the blue skies and green lights to fund loans on new manufactured and modular homes. With offices in all 50 states, financing is easier and non-complicated.
** Factory Built Homes Are Quicker To Build
It’s a fact that new factory built manufactured or modular built homes can be delivered to your home site in four to six weeks from the time it’s ordered. The average stick-built home can take as long as six months or longer and drag on even longer if inclement weather hits.
** Factory Built Homes Appreciate In Value On Par With Stick Built Homes
All things being equal (primarily the location) factory built homes appreciate in value in lock-step with stick built.
** Factory Built Homes Are Safer
Manufactured and modular home construction technology, which includes glue-nailed sheathing and decking with redundant framing members, makes these homes safe even in earthquake and tornado prone areas. The framework of today’s modular homes matches or exceeds site built homes because they are engineered for safe use in the geographic areas where they are sold. Actually, they may be the safest homes on the market because of federal laws requiring smoke detectors, escape windows and in combustible materials around furnaces and kitchen ranges. Many site built homes are constructed in areas where not even smoke detectors are required.