Considering buying a very custom mobile home, thoughts?

18 years ago

My wife and I have found a property in upstate New York. It's a mobile home that was built in 1989, had an addition put on in 1998 and a major renovation over the past 3 years.

No soft spots but please advise on crawl space photos. The owner does not believe in venting the crawl space and the result was a wet mess. Luckily, he has 2x 2" rigid insulation and then the original looked intact, so the wood looks to be OK.

Here are the property spec list:

- 15 Acres of land, bordering several thousand acres of state park

- 4 Bedroom, 2 Bath, approx. 1,800 sqft

- New 50 year steel roof

- Fully insulated, heated 2 car detached garage

- Wrap around deck

- 12x12 Cabin with electric and wood burning stove in woods

Crawl space findings:

The crawl space has 2 screened, vented doors that have been covered by the insulation. The owner had the insulation installed a few years ago but does not believe in venting it out, which shocked me.

Anyways, what do you think? I would appreciate overall thoughts on the property and price, as well as thoughts and advice on the crawl space. Thank you for any help!

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Comments (3)

pineviewplanter
18 years ago
I would be opening up those vents pronto !! If nothing else, it will eventually mildew from the dampness and you really don't want to have to deal with that. If it already smells mildewy, I would perhaps look elsewhere... but if it smells nice, but just closed in, then perhaps it will be okay. First thing I would recommend is to go and get a building inspector to come and check the whole place over.... It can save you a lot of grief in the end.

It looks like a really nice property otherwise...

PVP
adirondackgardener
18 years ago
The "above ground" pictures look nice and that is exactly what the seller is trying to sell you on. Unless the seller will admit that he or she has caused a problem due to not "believeing" in ventilating a crawl space, then the price being asked should only be for a home in completely sound condition. A seller is obligated to disclose known defects and you have clearly found one.

If you are seriously interested in purchasing this (nice looking) home, I would hire an engineer for an hour or two to do an inspection. That there may be significant damage below the home due to the sellers's foolish beliefs tells me that there may be other damage elsewhere caused by the sellers ignorance.

Then negotiate with the sekker to reach a price that will allow you to repair any damage caused at the seller's expense (as well as reimburse you for the engineering report.)

Otherwise, walk away from this place. And let the seller know that they need to seriously re-examine their "beliefs."

Wayne
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ncgardengirl
18 years ago
I agree with the above poster, it needs to be inspected. If the owner wants you to go on his word then it should be reduced a lot due to unforseen possible future problems.

If you do buy it, vents need to be installed first thing, and fans need to be put in the crawl space to dry it out. I would be more concern with mold. It is not just damp under there it is WET, dripping wet at that. That is VERY bad.

Although it is not something that couldn't be easily fixed, it is still going to cost money either to you or to the homeowner. It doesn't matter now that HE doesn't want vents, HE is trying to get rid of it and this is something that has to be done if HE wants to sell it. Unless he is lucky enough to find a sucker who also thinks it isn't an issue. And I would have to wonder since he thinks it is a great problem free place, why's he wanting to let it go?

Albeit a REALLY nice place, gosh I would love to have it too, and all the land with it. It does have some VERY nice upgrades to it. STILL there are issues there. I would get an inspector out there ASAP, if I were seriously considering buying this place because they can tell you what is REALLY going on. They can spot things that most of us would say ok, that's not really a big deal, when in fact it could be, or in the future might be.

:) NCGG