Short house update.

I visited FineLine homes today primarily to make sure that mobile home prices hadn't gone insane since I last visited over the summer, and actually got a pleasant surprise; they have decreased since my last look.  On average, the prices I got this time were around $8k less.  The ones I was primarily looking at though (the finalists) were only about $7k less though, primarily since I am looking at smaller ones I would guess.  

Some other answers I got:

• How much is their GC fee?

• The guy was hesitant to sign up for this, but I didn’t talk to the sales guy, I talked to the owner.

• Lead time?

• He didn’t have an answer, but didn’t seem worried about my May timeframe

• How much is it going to cost to get the circuit added for the well, get the water filter installed?

• He gave me a contractor to get a quote from

• Are they willing to coordinate with the electric company to get the service upgraded to 200A?

• I will have to ask the electrical contractor.

• Any rough estimates for concrete work? Keep in mind they will have to demo the existing slab.

• He gave me an excavation guy I will need to call.

• Appliance package cost?  Does it include everything? (DW, fridge, washer/dryer?)

• It includes a small (14 cubic foot) fridge, DW, and stove.  This is included, and doesn’t cost extra.

• Is the hot water heater and stove electric?

• The hot water is electric.  The stove is gas.

• Is the furnace fuel oil?  If so, does it come with a tank or anything?  

• He said gas but was unclear if it was propane or fuel oil.  He implied propane.

• Can I get the house without the furnace?  Do I still have the ducting if I do that?

• Didn’t ask, and to be honest, not really considering.

• Do the houses come wired for cable/ethernet?

• It comes with a single cable line to the living room, so I will have to wire the place.

The main surprises were that it comes with basic appliances (all but the washer and dryer), and that the furnace and stove were propane, so the place is already plumbed for gas. While I may eventually move to all electric if I make the place go completely off-grid, gas is preferred until then. He implied that the furnace is propane, so I won't need to buy a fuel oil tank and whatnot for a furnace I will be yanking out in another year or two. Propane is a bit more expensive than fuel oil though.

This is the one I am currently thinking of going with:

The 40' one is not available.  The other one, the one with the really big kitchen, is still an option, though without a place to put the water filter, it would require sizable modifications before I could live in it, so even though I really like (and prefer) the large kitchen and the island to the hook kitchen here, this one is more practical.  I can probably add a rolling island or something to this, it just won't have power. 

The finalist packet can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-L7avRMk4yTmoizv_NYon1_JEuu1iQscxp0H7G5IR2s/edit?usp=sharing

I picked up some flashing tape from Home Depot for the cap, but haven't done anything with it during the week.  The current plan is to put flashing tape down on the outside of the framing first, then put the acrylic on top of that.  I also ordered all the hinges and stuff for the windows, but they won't be here until next week.  I need to submit for quotes and stuff for the excavation and other stuff this weekend though, so I have stuff to do in case I run out of materials again.  I also need to start shopping around for mortgages.