Pre-Purchase Foundation Check for Coachella Valley Mobile Homes

A pre-purchase foundation check tells you what is under the home before you commit to it. We check the level, the piers and footings, the tie-downs, the underbelly and the skirting, and give you a written report. It typically runs $150 to $350. If anything needs work, the report says what and gives our typical range, so you can take it to the seller.

Why it is worth doing here

Many homes in the valley are part-year homes. More than a quarter of the homes in Palm Desert and Palm Springs, and more than a third in Rancho Mirage and Desert Edge, are held for seasonal use, per the Census. A home that has stood empty for months may have a pier that settled with nobody there to notice the door that started to stick.

The ground matters too. Most of the valley floor is loose Myoma fine sand, and the north side, around Thousand Palms, Desert Edge and Sky Valley, is Carsitas sand and gravelly sand. These soils drain fast, but NRCS notes that irrigation or seepage can create a seasonal water table 2 to 5 feet down in Carsitas sand, and perched water is common where Coachella soils are irrigated. A lot with a heavily watered garden beside the home is one we look at closely.

What we check

• Level. We take readings along the main beams and, on a doublewide, along the marriage line.
• Piers and footings. Tipped stacks, cracked blocks, sunk footings, loose shims, and piers taller than California’s 36-inch limit.
• Tie-downs. Strap tension, rusted or cut straps, and anchors that have pulled.
• Underbelly. Tears, fallen insulation, wet spots and signs of animals.
• Skirting. Bowing, gaps, missing vents and whether the access door works.
• Water sources. Leaks, sprinkler spray and runoff near the home.

Questions to put to the seller

1. Has the home been releveled, or had piers or tie-downs replaced? When?
2. If so, was a permit pulled and inspected? In California, altering or replacing supports or stabilizing devices counts as a reinstallation that needs one (Health and Safety Code 18613).
3. Who did the work, and what was their CSLB licence number? The class for this work is the C-47, and you can check a number on CSLB’s Check a License page.
4. Does the home have an earthquake resistant bracing system? If so, ask for the permit; it is a separate, optional system with its own inspection.
5. Is there an HCD 513B Installation Acceptance on file?

Older homes

An installation that met the rules of its day can stay in use unless it is found substandard. That means an older home can be legal as it stands, yet any support work you do after buying it will be done to current Title 25 rules. If our check finds footings that would need rebuilding under today’s rules, the report says so, because that is a cost you should know about before you buy.

In a park

Most homes here sit on rented spaces, so the park’s rules apply to work on the lot, and the park office is the place to ask about them. Palm Desert has a Mobile Home Park Rent Review Ordinance (1986), Rancho Mirage has a Mobile Home Fair Practices Commission, and unincorporated parks built before 1990 fall under Riverside County Ordinance 760. We do not advise on rent, but it is worth knowing which body applies to the park you are buying into.

See our leveling service, pier and pad repair and pricing pages for what any repairs might cost.