Yes, yes I know. I’m way behind in getting a blog up. Things have been a little crazy the past few weeks, and I’m just now getting the chance to sit down and type it all up. So you may end up with a couple blogs back-to-back.
We’ll start where we left off 3 weeks ago. At the time of the last blog, the trailer move had been delayed due to a permitting issues. It got delayed again due to weather. But we are pleased to say WE HAVE A TEMPORARY HOME!!! The trailer was delivered mid-October, and we have been busy ever since.
For any of you looking for information on the cost of moving a trailer, it’s expensive. Like mega expensive. We had a difficult time finding info online about the cost of moving a singlewide. Our trailer was moved less than 30 miles, on major state roads the majority of the way, and we paid $3500. That included the entire tear down/prep for move, moving, permits, and blocking/leveling/anchoring at our property. It included the cost of disconnecting the heat pump prior to the move, but did not include the reconnection once the trailer was set. The $3500 also did not include putting the skirting back on. We saw the trailer when we signed the purchase agreement and didn’t see it again until it was delivered to our farm. We literally did nothing to get the trailer moved. We probably could’ve saved around $500 if we’d taken off the old porch and removed the skirting ourselves, but we didn’t have the time. It was easier and much less stressful for us to pay the professionals to do it. Use your own discretion, but expect to shell out a minimum of $3000, even for a local move. A double-wide trailer will cost your over twice that.
It sounds like a lot of money–and it is–but for us, it was much cheaper than paying rent. Our trailer will be sold as soon as our house is done. In fact, we’ve already had an offer to buy the trailer for what we paid for it. If we had rented while our house was being built, we would’ve been ended up paying about $1200/month. Over the course of a year, that’s over $14,000! Since we’ll make our money back on the trailer itself, we essentially paid $3500 instead of $14,000 for ‘rent’ for the next year. We also have the benefit of living at the job site. Which means we’ll be available every day to check the progress of our build, as well as watch over the job site after hours.
As soon as the trailer was delivered, we got busy painting. We were not fans of the purple and teal, so we repainted the walls a nice light gray. All of the trim got a fresh coat of white to make it look a little cleaner too.
My mom was moving out of state two days after our trailer was delivered, and we got a bunch of furniture from her. So we rented a U-Haul, moved it all into the trailer, and had to paint around it.
Once we figure out the whole editing thing, we’ll post a YouTube video showing the move and some of the damage incurred during the move (don’t worry, a little damage is normal). Other than the long wait to get the trailer out here, the whole moving process was relatively painless.
I’m sure some of you are thinking about the possibility of living in a mobile home on your property while building a house. For us, it made sense because our farm already had a well and septic system in place (both installed within the past 15 years and in good working order). We also have a driveway already in place. Those 3 pieces of infrastructure can be very expensive and are normally installed as part of construction. So yes, this worked for us, but it may not be practical or economical for everyone.
Stay tuned for another blog about getting our utilities connected.
Peace, Love, & Farming,
The Murphy’s