I want to thank the people who regularly take time out of their busy days to answer questions and give advice to newbies like me!

Here's my story in brief: I'm a 55 year old single gal, living in eastern Washington state. When I was 47, I took a huge plunge and went back to college, with two years under my belt from the late 70's. Since that time, I've earned an AA, BA, and MA. I'm now in my 5th year as a doctoral candidate at Gonzaga University. I will graduate in 2017 or 18, depending upon how long it takes to write my dissertation. I have severe rheumatoid arthritis and I use a walker. I have other health challenges as well. I work as an independent editor, so I work from home. I spent last school year in Zambia, doing my dissertation research. My 30 year old daughter lives close by, and we are very close. My 32 year old son is a student at MIT, and we are also close.

I never thought I'd be able to buy my own home! I had been thinking of manufactured homes, because I grew up in one. And for those of you who insist MHs never go up in value, my parents bought a brand new DW in 1973 and bought a lot in a park where everyone owns their own lot. The lot was $6,000 and the MH was about $62,000. This was in the greater Seattle area. They sold it in 2007 for just over $200,000.

Well, long story short, an amazing opportunity presented itself and I was able to jump on it! One of my best friends and her DH live in an old, run-down 1979 SW that is owned by their daughter. For reasons I won't get into, she never wants to see the place again and was about to sell it for scrap. My friend and her DH want to move and don't want to keep the MH either. So I was able to buy it for cash for almost nothing!

OK, it's in terrible condition. But a) I know everything that's wrong with it, so it's not a situation where I think it's one way and later am disappointed to find out it's something else. And b) due to an unusual circumstance, I'm going to be able to refurbish it over the next few years. I have some grant money that comes in "chunks" three times a year. If I live frugally, and I do, I should be able to put in $20,000-$25,000 over the next three years. I'm not concerned with getting my money back out of the house. I will live there for the rest of my life, and then it will go to my daughter. Ideally, I'd like to buy a very small piece of land to put it on, and land is currently cheap out here, but we'll see.

So, just after buying the house, which I'll move into in January, I found this forum. It's amazing!!! I really appreciate everyone who has answered my questions and I have also appreciated all the older posts that contain so much awesome information! So I just wanted to say THANK YOU and I hope that in time I may be able to pay it forward and answer other people's questions. And I'll be taking pics and video of the whole refurbishing project!!