HELP!!!!

Oh man I don't know what to do. We're scheduled to leave for Oklahoma on July 1st (just 20 days from now). We've had a house that is just what we needed. 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, etc...   Well last weekend I get an email from the owner and she says that her husband wants her to make sure we know what we're renting and this is what the "house" is....  "its a 4 bedroom mobile home (it's actually a double wide which is considered to be a modular home and it is tied down and concreted down) It has a storm shelter..."  (these are her exact words in the email) OMGSH - I'm now scared out of my freakin' mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Up here in Michigan there is a HUGE difference between a "modular" home (a home brought in in pieces and set on a foundation/basement) and a mobile home (a trailer or double wide, no foundation. simply sitting there with some ties holding it to cement pillars in the ground) What does this mean in Oklahoma?????????  My family is already freaked about moving to "tornado alley"... I don't know how I could move into a trailer in tornado alley!!!!!!  It does have a "storm shelter".... but what is that???? I've never seen one. Are they above ground?? Below ground???? What are they????  I'm really confused and upset!! Why would they NOT have told us all of this two months ago when we first talked to them??  I've emailed her back (last Monday) and not heard anything back yet........ should I can this and just start over on the house hunting???????????????????? Laurie

Hi Laurie,  I am from Michigan, (Harbor Beach, Port Huron) and have lived the last 20 or so years here in Oklahoma City.  I lived in a "doublewide" for a short time, It's not a modular home, it is a trailer home, although they are much better made than they had been before.  Now, about the storm shelter....IF you live in a mobile home, you definately want one!!  It is in the ground, usually like a big concrete/metal basement if you will...just out in your yard.  It is built inground, and you pull the top up, and walk down the stair to get in it.  Check out www.stormsheltersforlife.com you can see pictures of what they look like there.  I would feel pretty safe in the mobile home as long as I had the shelter. Beleive me, if a tornado is coming (in Okla) you can practically watch it on the tv before it gets to your area.  We are very well informed here. I don't want to scare you, but if you ARE scared, you may want to look for a different house just to ease your own mind. If you need the names of some house hunting places or just want to look in the paper...  go to www.newsok.com and click on classifieds.  They may make you register, I can't remember.  It's our local news channel/newspaper online. Let me know if I can help in anyway, or just to chat if you need to.  BTW  where in OK are moving to?   Colleen

Thanks Colleen - I thought it would be a mobile home. UGH..... I don't know what to do. I guess I start looking and see what we can find. Although the storm shelter sounds good and safe. The problem is that we dont have TV, don'****ch TV and don't really want to either. So - no tv no storm warnings!!  We're moving to Broken Arrow for my husband and I to attend RHEMA Bible Training Center.  Haaaahaaaa, sounds kind of funny typing that - I certainly don't have much "faith" when it comes to living in a mobile home durning a tornado. LOL Laurie

Hello there.  I'm in Oklahoma and sounds like a great place really.  A storm shelter is good, it's below the ground.  If the house is set on permanent foundation that is great, better than up on blocks.  You don't have to watch TV to get storm warnings we have emergency broadcast radio here that are "weather radios" every time there is a warning sent out the radio alarm will sound and the anouncement begins to inform you of what impending danger may be coming your way.  I would be happy to "check" out this place your looking into and see what it's about.  However if she's not replying in a timely manner it could be a sign as for things to come problems. Rebecca in Tulsa OK

Thought of something else.  go to www.realtor.com you can look for rental properties in the area your interested in and actually see pictures and locate properties.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to check out that web site now. I did just send her another email asking what the status was (I've been waiting on her to send the rental agreement for about 4 weeks now).  Thank you for offering to go check the place out. If it comes to that I'll email you.  Hugs,  Laurie

Laurie, The one thing that I would recommend is to make sure that you get renters insurance.  That way, if there was a tornado to come through, you will be covered.  It's not that expensive. Just because someone says Tornado Alley, doesn't mean much now a day.  Tornado Alley has actually moved more towards Tennessee.   Don't fret - you are going to love it here! Tonja

Tonja - thanks for the encouragement. Yes, we'll need renters insurance. I know we'll love it once we get there and are settled a little. I guess I'm just stressing over the "unknown" still. Give it to God, take it back... back and forth I go this week. I MUST stop!!!!!! He can do a much better job of taking care of things then I can anyway!!!

Laurie

Bless your heart, Laurie. Please try not to panic.  I have lived in Oklahoma all of my life, and I am 53 years old and I can count on one hand the times that I have seen a funnel cloud. Yes, we have had huge storms here that have done a tremendous amount of damage but they are rare. Tornadoes are not a daily thing, not a weekly thing, and most of the time not even a monthly thing. We have excellent weather forecasting centers here, that are very accurate. If there is the potential for severe weather they make sure that you know it. That being said, I have also lived the past thirty years in a mobile home.  Only three times in my life have I felt the need to leave my home and seek shelter in a storm cellar. ( And as a general rule a storm shelter is underground unless you have what is called a safe room, which is a room that is reinforced with steel and concrete, not practical for a moblie home LOL) If you have a storm shelter you most likely have nothing to worry about. A storm shelter is probably very similar to what you would call a cellar or basement type structure. Most folks here don't have a " basement" because the water table is close to the surface of the ground in so many places, most people that have one have trouble with them flooding and holding water here. They fact that she was so reluctate to tell you makes me wonder if there is something important that she is hiding from you. Hope that this has help easy some of your worries, if you have any questions feel free to contact me. I will help you any way that I can. Janna

Lauie, Check you OH email....   Carrie