Carolyn,
What state are you in?

coolvt

Middle Tennessee, about a mile from the Tenn. River.

Well, here in Vermont we worry about frost raising the home so a slab is a good idea. Do you have wind problems? If you do then the home should be tied down.
I have been involved with single and double wides in Florida and can tell you that almost every double wide that I've seen set up there is on a slab.
If you are buying this new you will have quite an investment to protect and I think it would be worth spending the money on a slab. Of course, if you are putting it into a community where you can't take it with you later, you might look at it differently.
The other thing is, if this is going on your own land and you are going to finance it, I think you might find that you will save a ton of money using a slab because the banks consider it more of a home and will normally give a lower interest rate.
If this is a used home and not worth very much, then you might not want to spend the money for a slab. One of the nice things with a slab is that the home is set up, leveled and then it probably won't have to be releveled again and you don't have to worry about the 2 sections splitting apart from movement.

You need to check with your local zoning and codes. Most states require certain types of slabs and tiedowns exactly to their specs. That can vary from county to county as well.

Carolyn, Where will you be setting up your home? If you are going to put it on a peice of virgin ground, then you will want to look into who the contractor will be, if he is experienced and reliable ( and for that matter the Co. you are buying from ). Also,try to find out what type of soil you have and talk to others who have done the same as you plan to do. All of this can make a difference in how succesful and smoothly things go. As with anything the more informed you are....
You will want at least a 6" slab to set it on. I think putting it over the bare ground would invite more moisture and cold air underneath, plus its much easier to lay on a slab if your doing any repairs under it -- than in the dirt.
Be sure to inspect the home, especially if it is used. We bought an older mobe and remodeled. Made the mistake of not moving the kitchen range away from the wall and looking behind. Upon doing so, found it had been very close to catching on fire at some time. We chose to replace all the walls with sheetrock and have it re-wired also & new floors.
It sounds as if you may be at retirement age. I think it is a good way to go if one wants to live economically and needs less room. Taxes in our area for stick-built homes are too high once you retire.
If you are moving to a Mobile Home Court, be sure to take a good look at the neighborhood. We drove through several befor deciding on this one. So far, everyone here seems to keep their homes and yards up fairly well. Each person owns his own lot so no rules to abide by which has its good and bad points.
My husband has been a MH Dealer at one time so if you have any specific questions, I would be more than happy to get his opinion.
Good Luck,
pj

Well, we found that we prefer the better quality interior finishing in the Deer Valey. (Same floor plan).

The land we are putting it on is land that has been fallow for over 20 years except for cutting hay from it. Before that I believe that the former owner raised beef cattle on it. So, it is pretty firm and not prone to much settling. We have decided to go with a 6" "deck" of concrete underneath... However, our change of living abodes will have to wait... We have the upstairs totally de-cluttered and ready for showing to potential buyers, but we still have about 1200 board feet of lumber and our work shop / studio is so full of product that we decided to finish off t he lumber and sell off most of our product before putting our present home on the market.

And our new location will be a lovely meadow that covers aprox. 4 acres. Just enough to insure a bit of privacy, but not so huge as to need a lot of upkeep. A neighbor cuts the hay off of it and will continue to do so on what we don't mow...

PJ, what is your husbands opinion of the Deer valley vs Patriot??

Thanks bunches,

Hi, finally getting back to this---- we are trying to sell our home of 40 years also. As to the two brands of homes you mentioned, he is not familiar with either. We live in Wa. state and I assume there are some dealers who handle them but I don't recall seeing any in newspaper adds.
He has been out of the business for about 15 years but he said the Kentwood and Marlette were two of the better ones at that time. The best thing to do is get the construction info and compare them as best you can or have someone who is familiar with home construction and let them go with you to inspect the model your buying --- if you are buying right off the lot. You will want at least 1 ft. overhang on the roof to prevent water running back and down the inside of your walls. Also there is now a new type of plumbing that is flexable and less likely to freeze. You have the right to question the salesperso/owner as to just how and what materials are used and request cetrin things-- upgrades on materials --- of course you will probably pay more but sometimes that saves you from problems down the road. If you don't ask tho,upgrades may not be offered --perhaps that depends on the Dealer.
Hope you are able to sell your home --- sometimes it takes a while. I've found getting rid of all the misc things acquired over the years and the cleaning ( keeping things up so you can show the house on a moments notice ) are about all I can handle. I think I will enjoy a smaller home---probably more than my husband.
God Bless,
Pj