Concerned about equity in home - getting all kinds of crazy numbers

[Racking7]

Thanks flashoflight. My Heating/Hvac provider attempted to repair and said its beyond repair (the coil went). I checked with other HVAC providers and they agree (the HVAC and heating is 17 years old - typical for manufactured home is 20 years). The floor needs replacing after a flood damaged the laminate flooring. We haven’t been able to afford replacing it so just have a rug over the wood (which is the subfloor due to it being a manufactured home). But I understand what you’re saying. There are no mobile homes near me - all real homes and almost all have garages And all have basements. The only 2 manufactured homes near me were on basement foundations with other very nice amenities we don’t have (Large 4 season sunrooms, beautiful decks, a small barn). Just a foundation with useable basement is worth $25,000. I live on a private lane and the other 2 homes are real homes with basements, garages, new roofs, etc. Same with the homes on our rural surrounding streets (some minus new roofs).

Also, unlike the 2 with foundations - only 1 bank in our area will approve a mortgage for a manufactured home on piers And you can’t escrow taxes or homeowners. Only 1 insurance company in the state will provide homeowners insurance and they don’t call it that - they call it mobile home insurance and it’s double regular home insurance. Therefore, unlike the ones on foundations it is much harder to sell (which we didn’t know until we were already very late in the buying process).

Even if the trustee values it higher I’m still safe as long as it’s under $96,000. My attorney said he has never seen a home like mine appreciate $40,000 in 4 years without very substantial upgrades - forget the repairs. He said comparing my home to real homes is apples to oranges. Real homes have real walls and real floors. Manufactured homes have 1/2 In basically pressboard walls and plywood floors. They have all plumbing, pipes and wires under the home protected by insulation and belly wrap susceptible to animals. This is why manufactured homes on foundations especially with full basements are so much more valuable.

Now I’m very nervous again. This is why I didn’t do this last year. But I do trust my attorney but still freaking out.

[dontlook]

What condition is the well and septic? If those are bad, your value is less. I live in PA. The state is more than happy to demand compliance to a host of issues.

Does the roof leak? Is there mold? Was there a murder on the property? Is it haunted?

IF you took out a mortgage, what is the amount a bank is willing to finance? You probably are living in a dump. It has very little value. Pictures and videos are your friend.

Are there code violations? Hell- the shack is one step from red tag condemned. The land itself- are there drainage problems?

A property is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Someone said disrepair doesnt apply- well from the street- if one sees the roof is partially collapsed, I doubt this will bring in retail buyers. At best it is a tear down.

PS- the equity exemption really should be higher. My siblings paid more for their autos than is allowed for house

[dontlook]

Interesting thread. The equity in my house is the reason I am pushing to go thru this process. One can learn about code here - > https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IB...upancy-and-use

[womanonfire]

Racking7 I went through a similar situation with my attorney and appraiser, and they both said not to put too much stock into needed repairs. Repairs don't decrease the value of the house as much as we'd like. The appraiser was bankruptcy friendly so that tells you something. For example, patio doors that don't work can be repaired for a tiny fraction of the cost of replacement patio doors. It doesn't matter if the doors are otherwise outdated. That's why the appraiser gave me nothing for the broken patio doors. If the ch7 trustee is used to selling real estate, he knows this too and won't give you credit for a lot of the broken stuff in the house. It's going to be based upon comps in the end.

What if your home has a 25 year old AC and windows, broken and cracked driveway, missing front porch and other issues lol? We had termite damage and because of money issues, have not finished remodeling the bathroom that we ripped out or replaced the front porch, the later is because I can't figure out the design.

Also, I read when you do upgrades that are too unique or custom, then that can actually lower the value of the home. In the case of a chapter 13, we really don't want to add improvements, we want a lower value because comps are showing that we may have over 100k plus of equity in our home.