All Forum Posts by: Christina McCaffrey

One of the problems we have is that the manufactured home doesn't do well in resale here, but it may be different in your neck of the woods.  If I were considering a manufactured home purchase I would make sure to get the best deal at the beginning because in this part of NC I know that I will not get a lot of appreciation, and I may actually get a decrease in value.  

Also, many of the banks in my area won't finance manufactured homes, and the banks who do offer financing will expect that the home is well maintained and is sitting on a permanent foundation and even then the rates for those loans will be higher.  You may want to check to see if this is the same where you are.  If it is the same in your area, remember that this will cause problems when you finally do sell.  You will be limiting your pool of potential buyers.

If I were purchasing I'd really take time to figure out if the land and the location was worth it and I'd make sure that I could get a good rent and that I didn't have a lot of competition.

I have a client who bought 3 doublewides a few years ago.  He does really well because of their location.  He's not worried because he bought them really cheap, the land is good and the rents are great.  His only concern is that the turnover is a little bit higher, but that may just be the area and not the type of property.

His deal is still profitable because he's doing a lot of the fixes himself and the units are pretty nice.  

I think you should definitely still do the regular home inspections and I'd double check the well water.  If the well has been sitting it probably needs to be treated.  

Just a caution about wells, it is important to know the depth of the well too because if you have a drought the well can run dry.  If your area tends to have some droughts you will want to know that this may be a possibility.  

Hey Mr. South Dakota fella, I love how you think I'm some naive girl who lives in Mayberry but I  grew up in Belfast, NYC and the Bronx in the 1970s, I was an inner city social worker and I have concealed carry.  Plus, I spent much of my formative years in the projects.  Trust me, I'm no stranger to bad neighborhoods, and I'm definitely not as naive as you think I am.  Glad you were rightly fooled though.  

If my answer amused you, that is wonderful but don't assume you know who I am or that I am offering advice based on reruns of Andy Griffith.

I was just trying to help, but I'll let you, Mr. badass from So. Dakota, figure handle it all and I'll just take my little old self over here and think of ways to help get Otis out of the pokey.  

As for Mayberry, Hell yeah it's wonderful here in the Triangle!  Not exactly Mayberry, but we try.  I'm all in for low crime and smiling faces, you should try it.  

You know, the cool thing about Mayberry is that they treated each other with respect and they don't make assumptions about people.  

I had a tenant who wanted to install a fence! I freaked out because I didn't want to pay for that. Turns out they wanted to do it themselves and just wanted me to sign off on the HOA request. Crazy! Of course, I said yes. They installed a fabulous fence too.

My tenants loved the house, by the time of fence installation they had lived there for years, and they wanted to have privacy.  It turned out great because they did the work, and I got the benefit.  

I'd ask myself if your tenants are similar.  Someone who wants to upgrade is usually conscious of their surroundings and they'll probably care for the countertops.  Just make sure to go granite since it's so durable, also you can get granite overlays for less.

In my opinion, the nicer the house looks the less likely you'll have someone wanting to split besides if they move out, you've got half the granite paid for!  

If I were in your spot I'd pay the police to have a police car parked near the building, I'd install exterior motion lights that are really bright and I would put up cameras.  Then the place becomes unappealing because everything is so public. 

Also, it would help if you put out a few signs saying the area is monitored, like "smile, you're on camera."  Every dark alley should light up the minute they walk into it and every corner should have a reminder that someone is watching.  That makes the property really unappealing to drug addicts.  

I'm sure the police will be happy to rent a car or two to park at the place, maybe you could offer to pay to help defray costs?  One of our towns uses parked police cars as deterrents, they don't park any cars at the police station, they're all parked in parking lots throughout the town.  Very effective.  

Sorry you're dealing with this.  It's really awful that drugs are so common and that it goes hand in hand with so much criminal activity.