On Jan. 29, 2023, this manufactured house on Northeast Water Avenue was finished and for sale.
There’s a short block of Water Avenue that’s on my bike-riding route through old Albany’s east end. For the past few months I watched a new dwelling taking shape there which now is finished and for sale.
The house is a new manufactured home that was placed on the lot at 2150 Water Ave. N.E., in the old Burkhart Park Addition. It’s the second new house on that block in the last year.
I wondered all along what that kind of place would cost. Now I know.
Zillow says the home measures 1,333 square feet and has three bedrooms, one with a walk-in closet, two bathrooms, and an open kitchen. The listing price is $319,999.
The heating system is electric forced air. There’s no garage. But the concrete apron in front has room for two cars.
This narrow block of Northeast Water is on the south side of a wide strip of open land, down the middle of which runs the track of the Portland & Western Railroad. On the north side, there’s an old row of small houses and outbuildings.
On the south side of the track, the other new home on this block is a stick-built house of 1,298 square feet with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a two-car garage. According to Zillow, the owners bought it last April for $359,900.
From riding the bike there often, I can report this is a very quiet street. It’s good to see that some of the land along it is being used to provide new homes. (hh)
The site at 2150 Water Ave. N.E. looked like this in early August 2022.
In November a contractor was working on the yard.
I sell manufactured homes for a living. A home of this size with modest amenities delivered and set up would cost around $150,000 in todays market. Site work to prepare the land for the home could be anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 including demolition of what was there before. And then there is the land value.
Hmm.. a lot on Water Ave must be going for about $120K.
Let’s see… 6% down leaves ~300K borrowed. At current rates, on a 30 year fixed, that’s a little less that $2K/month before taxes/insurance. I would have expected a manufactured home on Water Ave. might fit into “affordable housing”. I wonder how much the monthly will be when someone buys it and turns it around as a rental?
When the cost for the lot and any prep work is starting around $150k, it’s going to be very difficult to get a building added of any usable “family” size to be under $300k I’d imagine.
I’ve yet to see what is considered “affordable” and how people think someone will actually be able to construct a home that meets that threshold without it being an ADU or tiny home crammed in an oversized lot somewhere.
Good Facts, Mike.
What are people making these days in wages that they can afford a mobile home that costs well over $300,000? Gawd!!!! I don’t think there is any answer to homelessness.
At the risk of nitpicking terms, this place is not a “mobile home.” It’s a manufactured home that sits on a foundation.
Looks like that lot might have been vacant for quite some time, if my amateur sleuthing is correct. Listed vacant as far back as 1996 on county sales records. Was split off from the corner property next door in 2021. Glad to see it getting a home put on it.
Does the street have to be upgraded to current city standards like the Cumberland church property? Per Google street view, it looks like the width of a typical home driveway.