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        It’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement of purchasing a new home. You venture off to different dealerships and begin dreaming of your perfect home. It’s pretty normal that after you’ve looked at three or more homes, they all start to run together. Usually, one home will have the kitchen you want, another the bath and another utility room and so on. This confusion needs to be avoided if at all possible, for it can lead to making a regrettable decision.

        For the most part, there are two types of common statements a manufactured home buyer will say to others, and/or to themselves after they have lived in their new manufactured home a few months: “I wish I had known that before I bought it.” Or, “I wish someone had told me this before I bought it.” Had you known the answers to either or both of those statements you’d either not bought the home you selected or you’d done something differently. This is essentially what this article is about and if you bought from me and I did my job to the best of my ability those questions would never have come up. 

        These are some of the things I do for my customers with my one on one: Cheaply made single pane false mulled very common trailer windows look just like the better Low-E windows do, yet this is such an important feature to have and maybe 1 in 200 customers ever ask about the windows in the home. I call these “customer land mines.”Had you known about them you’d never stepped on the mine or purchased those trailer windows, but once you have, then what? One thing for sure you would have said is, “I wish someone had told me about that before I bought it”. My Low-E windows not only make a major difference on your power bill, are ten times easier to open, a hundred times easier to clean, but they also have a UV protection that prevents the sun from dry rotting your curtains, fading the back of your couch or carpet. They are worth their weight in gold, but they cost an extra $120 to $200 a window more than trailer windows cost. The reason dealers leave them off is because for that same money they can add things like rock around the kitchen bar, thicker crown molding, more cabinets in the kitchen or a rock fireplace which help make the home look more visually valuable thus easier to sell. The multi-lot and company-stores have to cut costs somewhere and do things to make their homes have more visual appeal in order to compete with an independent like me because they have some pretty sizeable checks to payout to people you’ll never see. I, on the other hand, can give you both for the same price, the best a manufactured home has to offer and the amenities for the same price. 

Points to Ponder

        Little factors often have an aggravating impact such as the dishwasher, furnace and A/C locations. Assume you’re a couple with a baby, or in a marriage where one of you work on different shifts and sleep at different times, or have an ill parent to take care of and so on. Let’s assume you’ve just laid the baby down or your spouse has just gone to bed and you want to watch TV and the dishwasher is on or the furnace is on, or both. In order to hear the TV you have to turn it up because either of those while on block-out the sound on the TV. Then, one of them cuts off. Now the TV is too loud and you have to scramble to turn the TV down before it wakes the baby or spouse. Now, grant it this is a seemingly insignificant item, but believe me when I tell you this, they’re not and can be handled up front when you buy your new home. I only bring this up because when I work with a customer I take it one step further. Your flow and go lifestyle is just as important to factor in your buying decision as anything else is. Do you want a home that bosses you around?  I can tell you right now if the above scenario existed for you, instead of watching TV in the living room where your big screen TV is set-up, you’ll wind up moving to a small bedroom or some other location in the home to watch TV so you do not disturb others. This scenario is only one of many and if we do business together I get up close and personal with you for a reason, to have your home work for you, the boss.

        There are literally hundreds of options available to you that you won’t see while viewing homes at a dealership. For example, I ordered flood lights on the four corner eves of the front and back of my doublewide home. This is about a $150 option that includes a pre-wired switch at both the front and back doors. In addition, I ordered four frostless faucets at all four corners of my doublewide. They cost approximately $50 each, won’t freeze, are installed up high enough to where I’m not having to dig around in a ground box dodging spider webs and back aches to turn the water on to water my bushes or wash my pick-up truck, plus I didn’t have to constantly drag long hoses around the home. Then, there is the outside A/C unit location. Ninety nine out of a hundred times it was hooked up right where your deck will be built and will cost several hundred dollars to relocate it. I setup bird feeders off my deck and every time my A/C kicked on it scared them off. This might not sound like a big deal, and it really isn’t, but for no more cost than it is, it sure makes your daily home experience a whole lot more comfortable and convenient.

 

Cliff Davis