Prestige Homes

Manufactured homes are not a good investment. Like cars, they go down in value. In the long run, you're better off renting for a while and saving up for a down payment on a house with a fixed rate mortgage.

when my husband and i were looking to buy or build a few yrs ago we looked into the prefab/manufactured homes. i don't believe it was the prestige. (can't remember which it was now). the safety of these things are pretty decent, they have to maintain a level that even onsite homes don't. the resale value is not good at all, but if you are planning on living in one for quite some time then that shouldn't matter to you. the thing with buying one is that you are going to have impact fees (don't know if these apply to regular homes) also if you don't get the land package you have to hire all of your own contractors for the plumbing, etc. which will be an add'l cost. when i looked at mine (and remember this was about 5yrs ago, so prices prob changed) a 2,400sq ft man. home w/ all fees was about $124,000. not too bad, however that would have included cost for land and clearing and etc. we decided not to do it bc we cldn't afford the paymt. so we got a home built that was 1200 sq ft and $110,000 including about a 1/2 acre lot and this included plumbing, etc. it's really up to you. there are tons of homes going into forclosure that you can get a great deal on. for instance there's one down from me that is almost 3000 sq ft 2 story 4bds/2.5baths for only $119,000. i would definitely check all avenues.

hth.

I don't know anything about Prestige homes in particular but my dad and step-mom bought a manufactured home out in Oregon and you'd never know it. It's REALLY nice, I was making fun of them until I went out there and saw it. Essentially the only difference between their home and one built on site is that theirs came in three already assembled sections. The sections were delivered, put together and then the finish work was done on site. So not all manufactured homes are crappy and loose value.

I have not. My husband and I are doing A LOT of research on homes and everything we've read is telling us NOT to buy manufactured/prefab homes. The resale value is VERY poor.
Also my parents live in a prefab home and hate it because they can't get out from under it.
I don't know how it is where you live, but in Jacksonville there are so many short sales it's AWESOME for us since we are buying a home. We have a big family and are pretty picky about what kind of home we want and we've found LOTS under our price range that suit us. Look around, at short sales especially becasue the bank will usually take a lower price just to get rid of the homes.

Also buying an existing home on existing land is much better for the environment!

My inlaws have a manufactured home in Plant City. It looks like a trailer because they don't take care of it like most manufactured home owners do. They can look very nice and are even bigger square footage then houses. My inlaws have been changing insurances almost yearly. The laws keeps changing all the time and hurricane insurance doesn't cover such and such. They sold a beautiful pool home for more land in the country. Have well water now and a broken water softner for the last 5+ years. They won't make any money if they sell it even with the land they owe. They don't have a garage or car port. Can't work on cars without the ants biting them from laying on the ground. Think long and hard. I think the previous person that mentioned buying a home for a great value is the way to go. Plus if your a first time home buyer the $8000 is awesome!