January 25, 2009

• “My Little House”

  

  “My Little House”

  an essay by Michael F. Nyiri

  I’ve never owned a home. I’ve lived in many rented apartments and houses throughout the South Bay over the past thirtysome years, and ever since I passed my half century mark I have planned to eventually buy a mobile home in a senior mobile home park. Frequently I have remarked that, after having been living in my present situation for over 14 years, my next move would be my last.

  I first saw the inside of a double wide mobile home in 1993 when I and my then girlfriend Pat visited her father in a Florida senior park during Christmas. I was very impressed with the layout and spaciousness of the place. I made a pact with myself then and there that I would make an attempt to purchase my own double wide mobile home as soon as I could qualify for admission in a senior mobile home park here in SoCal. The dream was cast.

  During the next decade the dream never died. When I turned 50 I began looking around the two largest senior parks close to me, but I was told I could not get into any senior park until I myself became a senior, at the age of 55. This (finally) happened in May of 2008. The economy’s woes were cleearly visible around that time; my roommate Joel was pretty sick, so I postponed looking. When Joel died a couple of months later, I knew I would be wanting to purchase soon, but because of my massive credit card debt, and inability to pay for both the space rent and the mortgage payment, it was not the time. I advertised for a roommate to live with me for at least another year.

  Four months after Mike, my present roommate, moved in with me, he announced he could not afford his half of the rent. He’s blind and relies on State and Federal assistance payments which have been coming up short each month since he’s moved in. In fact his State assistance checks will soon become IOUs instead of checks, and he already owes me over $200.00 in back rent. He announced his intention to move two days before the new year. I wished him well, and he will move out sometime in the middle of February. He’s already found living arrangements with three of his friends. I didn’t feel like looking for yet another roommate at this time. I had a couple of options, and the first I excercised was to attempt to purchase a double wide mobile home. I figured if I couldn’t qualify, then I would look for another roommate. However, I wanted to see if the dream might have a possibility of coming true. The month of January promised to be a whirlwind of activity for me.

  As with anything I purchase, I research a lot before making a commitment. I felt a bit rushed, because Mike really wanted to move out by February 1st. (He’s waffled a bit on the exact time.) He had given me the news on December 30th. Immediately I began looking around the two parks. I simply couldn’t afford to live in my first park choice, on a hill overlooking Pacific Coast Highway. Space rents were around $1000.00 a month and my budget only allows for about a thousand for combined space rent and mortgage payments. Space rents at the other park, which contains 450 mobile homes, cost around $750.00 a month. On New Year’s Eve I drove around the park collecting flyers outside the homes for sale, of which I found over a dozen.

  The first prices I saw were in the 100k to 200k range. Knowing that securing a loan for that much at this time would raise my mortgage payments too high for my budget, I almost gave up, but as I wound my way through the many short curved streets of the park, I began to see even lower priced homes. A small yellow trimmed double wide looked really attractive at $47,500.00. Grabbing the flyer, I called the realtor as soon as I got home.

  Dickie had been selling real estate in the South Bay since the 60s, both residential and commercial. He’s now in his late 60s, and fought and won a battle against throat cancer a few years ago. At that time, he “retired” from real estate, but as his health improved he wanted to get back in the game. He concentrated on mobile home sales and now lists most of the mobile home sales in the South Bay. He lives in the park on the hill. My very first words to him over the phone indicated that I had a lot of debt, was being abandoned by my roommate, and needed to find an inexpensive yet spacious double wide to move in before March 1st. It just so happened that a potential seller was looking to unload his mother’s mobile home, which had been vacant for a year after the woman moved into a nursing facility. He had been waiting for the economy to pick up, but alas, things began to get worse, and there was no way he could get the hundred grand for which he wanted to sell the mobile home. The place was about to be listed for $37,500.00. Dickie told me I was in the right place at the right time, and might be able to get away with a quick purchase for $30,000.00 if I could come up with a quarter of the price for a down payment. Dickie began looking for lendors and I began looking for ways to get about ten grand into my bank account.

  I pretty much stopped blogging on January 8th, when I posted my last entry. At that time, I was looking into possible ways of borrowing money from my retirement account, or withdrawing funds. I created spreadsheet programs to show budgets for a variety of financial options, even before knowing exactly what I was going to do. I applied for a loan with a mobile home mortgage company, and was told that I could possibly withdraw funds for the down payment from my 401k without early withdrawal penalties, but this proved to be false, at least with my 401k. The investment company which manages my 401k account, worth around $45,000.00, will not let me withdraw funds unless I’ve exhausted all other options, including receiving a “401k loan”, which I pay back to myself. I can withdraw around twenty thousand and the payments will be deducted from my paycheck for the 5 year loan period. This lightens my take home pay by about a hundred bucks a week, but my spreadsheet tells me I should be able to make the space rent, a mortgage payment up to $300.00 a month, and still have money for my credit card consolidation account and living expenses. Because I would be getting twice what I need for the down payment, and some other “fees” which are going to arise, I should also be able to pay down the balances of a couple of other credit cards I have, so the only large debt I would have besides the space rent/mortgage would be the consolidation payment at $750.00 a month. In the near future, I should be able to lower the rate of the consolidation loan from it’s astronomical 17.99 percent apr to a more reasonable amount because I will now have a quarter equity in the mobile home.

  The executor of the estate of the woman who owned the home travels a lot. He would only agree to $35,0000 after I countered his $37,500 offer with thirty grand. One afternoon even before I knew exactly how much or when I would have a down payment, but confidant that the price was right at least, I drove over to the address to look over the property. I was not impressed with the exterior. The place has been unattended for over a year and looks it. At least the executor kept up the gardening service. He also kept paying for the utilities, and of course the space rent. The outside paint was faded, especially the trim. Some of the skirting was ill fitting. The home is 42 feet long, which is shorter than the lot, so there is a small back yard, which contains a garden shed.

  The owner, who was an old lady affected with Alzheimer’s disease, forcing her move, didn’t seem to have made many improvements to the outside. As I walked around the home, wobbling on my crutches, I spied the neighbor lady watering her fruit trees. I introduced myself. “Hi, I might be your new neighbor!. I’m thinking of buying this mobile home.” We talked for about a half hour. I explained my situation, and she regaled me with a history of the place. Sheila, the neighbor, had lived in the park since before it was designated a senior park and was younger than 55. She knew both the previous owners. She told me the roof was completely replaced two years ago. A new water heater had been added in the early part of this decade. A wheelchair ramp led to the sliding glass door to the living room. I told her I really wish I could get inside and see what the place looked like. I feared bad smells, bugs, stains on the walls, etc. I could see that the woman’s personal effects were still inside when I peeked into the windows. Sheila told me she had the woman’s daughter’s phone number, and also was custodian to a set of keys. A quick phone call to Doris, the previous owner’s daughter, and I was granted permission to look around. Once inside, I could envision myself living there, and I made up my mind that this small two bedroom, two bath home would soon be mine.

  No bad smells greeted me. The refreigerator had been cleaned, the door left open, and unplugged. There was some damage to the tile where the washer and dryer were removed, but I was glad to see that there were hookups for my washer and dryer. The utilities were still on, so I sampled the gas range, the water in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and turned on and off all the lights. There are new ceiling fans throughout the house. There’s even a watering system for the yard. Although I had not really fallen in love with the exterior, the interior was all wood paneling. It didn’t look like an “old lady’s home” at all. I spent about an hour going over the place, and when I got home I called Dickie and told him I’d been inside. I would pay the 35 grand. Even if sold “as is”, if a home inspection didn’t turn up anything major, I could move in as soon as I could gain possession of the keys.

  Each time over the next week I felt like posting a blog entry, I decided not to, because I didn’t want to write about the potential purchase of “my little house” until I knew for sure if I qualified for a loan. Dickie called five lenders but nobody would lend $35,000.00, which they considered too small. One lender finally expressed an interest in loaning the money. I’d already been told that I couldn’t withdraw any money from my 401k account unless I exercised the loan option, and then any funds withdrawn would be hit with a ten percent early withdrawal fee, on top of the fact that those funds would be taxed as income for 2009.

  On January 15th I met with Dickie at his “office” which is in his own mobile home. His home is a 1962 model, and he has completely renovated it. The paint and trim is new inside and out, there are hardwood floors, and the master bedroom and bathroom have been expanded. The home I am purchasing is a 1972 Skyline “Buddy”, and with a little work could look just as nice as Dickie’s place. I’d been talking to my realtor for two weeks on the phone before I finally met him. He’s incredibly busy, as more people are looking for mobile home purchases these days because of the economy. I filled out a purchase agreement, and over the next weekend, the owner’s executor filled out his part of the seller’s agreement. We settled on $35,000.00. The home is being sold “as is” but Bob, the owner’s son, authorized at least $500.00 to fix up anything found when the inspection took place.

  On Monday the 19th, I applied for a 20k loan from my 401k, and expect the money to be in my checking account sometime this week. On Tuesday the 20th, I called the lender and made a formal application for a loan of $26,250.00 with a down of $8750.00. I was told that I would find out if I qualified sometime in the next two hours.

  I’ve always been a bit manic depressive, and because I’m somewhat enlightened, I don’t take any medication. However, when I didn’t hear back after two hours, I began to worry, and this worry slipped deeper into a depression as the day progressed. A home buyer has 17 days in the state of California to change his mind. Five days had already passed. As the next day dawned, I still hadn’t heard from the lender. Dickie called me at my workplace before lunch. Had I heard any news? Bob, the executor of the owner’s estate, and the “seller”, was flying somewhere else on business, and Dickie wanted to tell him if the buyer, me, had qualified. I still didn’t know. I called the lender again and was told I should know later that night.

  The rest of the afternoon and into the evening were possibly the most intense and frightening of my life. I’ve been through a lot, and I’ve gone through a mental roller coaster of emotion a number of times, but those few hours were hell on me. I prayed to Heaven “formally” three separate times, besides hoping and praying silently in my thoughts a million times. I thought about blogging, asking for prayer assistance and positive energy, but I couldn’t force myself to do anything except wait, “on pins and needles”, as I told some of my workmates. Even though I didn’t know for sure if I qualified for the loan to buy the home, I had taken some empty shipping cartons home with me and I had already begun packing. I spent the evening boxing up record albums and laserdiscs, trying not to think of not qualifying.

  At 8p.m. my phone rang. It was Bret, the lender’s agent. “Do you have good news or bad news?” I asked right away. “Good and bad” was his answer. I was approved, but would not know the terms till the next day. Twelve hours later, while at work, I got his phone call. I didn’t know whether to expect the worst and hope for the best, or hope for the best because I knew that I absolutely “needed” to be the occupant of what I had taken to calling “my little house”. I crossed my fingers. I knocked wood. I prayed to God. I was approved! Another great weight in the history of great weights was lifted from my psyche. My down payment is as expected. Monthly payments are $278.00. Less than the $300.00 I expected. In order to qualify, I will also be paying the loan costs, which are $1800.00. This is the only surprise “hidden” fees I discovered. This means my down payment is slightly more. I didn’t go back to the spreadsheet at this point. I accepted the loan terms, and signed my initial paperwork. Both the lender and I called Dickie within minutes. The deal is (almost) done.

  I took Friday the 23rd off work and met with Dickie and a representative of the home inspection company at the mobile home at noon. The inspection took about two hours. During that time, I took some photos and made measurements of the interior. The place has central heating, which works fantastically. (I rely upon space heaters in individual rooms now) All the plumbing seems to be good, except for some leaks in the master bathroom. The place will be needed to be sprayed for termites, and some wood on a step has to be replaced. Dickie kept talking about the roof needing repairs, but I told him I had been told the roof was relatively new. The inspector couldn’t find any damage to the roof, or to the home. Some plumbing fixtures will have to be replaced with brass fixtures, but this shouldn’t cost too much. For 35 grand, the place is in wonderful condition. The inspeciton took place in the pouring rain, and there were no leaks evident anywhere, except in the shower.

  On Thurdsay, I took more shipping containers home, and spent Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday packing. It is now Sunday morning, and I’ve got over 40 boxes packed up already. I have lots of “media”. I even threw out some old VHS videotapes in my collection I’ll never watch anyway. I signed a check for $1000.00 to the escrow company when the home was being inspected as a deposit. On Tuesday I’m meeting with the park manager, and applying for residency in the park. I know I’m going to take my cat Malcolm with me. Pets are accepted. Spike will not be going with me. She still pees in places she shouldn’t. (I had to throw out some books which were on the bottom shelf of a bookcase because she’d sprayed the pages together! I’ll miss her, but I won’t miss her messes. I’ll just call animal control when it’s time to let her go.

  I still have to write a letter to the owner of my current home, expressing my desire to move. I will probably be able to be completely out by the 15th of February, if escrow can be closed by then. Also the seller has to remove all his mother’s personal effects and furniture from the place. The “major concerns” and “safety issues” found in the inspection report need to be addressed. And I need to have a new carpet installed in the living room/dining room area. The stains in the current carpet don’t look like they can be removed by cleaning, and the nap has all but disappeared.

  Saturday morning I dropped by my workplace, which is closed on weekends. I got some more boxes, some bubble wrap (for my collectibles), and tape. I made copies of the bank statements and tax forms I need to send to the lender. I brought home my CAD software and installed in my home computer. At home, I drew the layout of the mobile home on CAD, and began placing my furniture in the “virtual” space. This way I’ll know what I need to get rid of before I move. I’ll be advertising my old big screen TV, a dresser, two desks and an entertainment center online next week. I also will attemt to sell some of my magazine collections online. I can’t take as much as I have stored to the new place. There is still a month to do all this work.

  I’ve told my roommate Mike that if he can get some of his young strong friends to help me move, I will wipe out his $200.00 debt to me. If he can’t get people to help me, then I will have to hire movers. In any case, I can’t move anything myself. I’ve been in great pain as it is moving boxes full of tapes or laserdiscs from room to room. I know I can’t move any furniture.

  It all depends upon when the new home will be ready for me, but I expect I’ll be situated in “my little house” by the middle of February. I’ll try to make my current landlord use my securtiy deposit as my last month’s rent. If I don’t have the funds from my 401k loan in my bank on Tuesday, I’ll be in a bit of a bind, because I have to write a security deposit for the park equalling two months rent. The park has a clubhouse, pool, and two jacuzzis. I haven’t swam in a pool in many years, and can see a new exercising regimen in my near future.

  There is still the minor bother of a major hip replacement, which I have postponed till after the move. As soon as I know when escrow closes and I can get into my new place, I’ll be making my appointment for my hip replacement replacement surgery. Good thing there is a wheelchair ramp leading to my new home.

  I’m happy. My depression turned to mania when I heard the news I was approved for the loan on the day after Inauguration Day. I am about to be inaugurated into my “little house” and I finally feel as if some pieces of my life’s puzzle are falling into place. I don’t mind the wood panelling on the walls, since I’ve lived in rented places with white walls nearly all my life. My little house was made in 1972 and it looks it. There will eventually be a lot of impovements I can make. For now, I’m satisfied beyond belief. I don’t know how much blogging I’ll be doing. Most of my time will be spent packing. I’ve got a LOT of stuff to pack. Mike has a lot of stuff he has to move out of here too, and some of it is in my way. But I’m sure that in a month, things will work out. The universe will be smiling. And I’ll be able to blog from the computer room of ‘my little house” from now on.

  ---

  More photos of “My Little House” can be found on my Xanga Photo Blog. It’s interesting to note, I think, that there have been so many stories of “doom and gloom” about the economy, and this is when I’m buying a home. (The ”property” is rented.)  Most of my readers already know of my credit card debt, and I was in fear of not being able to make a deal in this economic climate, but so far the planets seem to be aligning for me. (I think it’s neat that the trim is green and matches my car’s paint job.)  

  • 1:39 pm
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