This 1996 Manufactured Home in Waynesville, NC Sits on 5.24 Acres Bordering Park Service Land — Listed at $185,000

A one-level manufactured home sits among autumn trees, with a raised deck and a sloped, wooded lot around it: the property at 471 Osceola Cir in Waynesville, North Carolina is listed at $185,000. Built in 1996, Zillow shows it as a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,620-square-foot home on 5.24 acres. The listing was Active.

The listing says the price reflects renovations and updates that are needed, and it says the land is unrestricted and borders National Park Service land. Those claims should be verified. When we checked, it had been on Zillow for only 6 days, with 2,703 views and 439 saves. Zillow showed a Zestimate of $181,700 (range $173,000 to $191,000), which is a model, not an appraisal.

Quick Look: The Listing Details

Address	471 Osceola Cir, Waynesville, NC 28786
List price	$185,000
Status	Active
Year built	1996
Type	Manufactured home, one level, per Zillow
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
Interior	1,620 sq ft
Lot	5.24 acres, private / sloped / wooded
Elevation	3,500 ft, per Zillow
Water / sewer	Well and septic, per the listing
Zestimate	$181,700 (range $173,000–$191,000)
Taxes shown	About $1,000 a year, per Zillow’s tax history
Zillow activity	2,703 views, 439 saves after 6 days

The Setting: A Wooded Lot at About 3,500 Feet

Zillow describes the lot as private, sloped and wooded, with a winter view and an elevation of 3,500 feet. The photos show a compact manufactured home on a hillside, a covered deck, and a narrow drive through fall color. Access, drainage and winter weather all matter more here than they would in town. Waynesville is the county seat of Haywood County, west of Asheville and on the approach to the Great Smoky Mountains.

Inside the Home

Zillow lists 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on one level, with 1,620 square feet, no basement, and a mud room / main-level laundry. Flooring is described as carpet and vinyl. The photos show a living room with a wood-burning fireplace, a dining area, a kitchen with wood cabinets, two bathrooms, a bedroom, and a laundry area. An oven and a refrigerator are listed as included; confirm in writing what conveys.

Heating, according to the listing, includes kerosene, a wall furnace and a wood stove, plus the living-room fireplace. Cooling is listed as a wall unit. An above-ground kerosene tank is in the backyard. Inspectors, insurers and lenders often look at that mix closely.

Condition: Updates Are Needed, and a New Roof Is Planned

The listing says the asking price reflects the renovations and updates needed. The photos are consistent with a lived-in, older manufactured home, not a newly remodeled one. Budget for a thorough inspection and for work after closing.

The sellers say they are having a new roof installed in mid-December. That is a seller statement, not a completed job. Ask what has been contracted, who is paying, whether the work will be finished before closing, and what documents will transfer. Until the roof is done and inspected, treat it as an open item.

The kerosene tank and heating systems

Have the kerosene tank, lines, wall furnace, wood stove and fireplace inspected. Ask whether the tank is owned or leased, and how the wood appliances have been maintained.

5.24 Acres, “Unrestricted” Land and a Park Service Border

The lot is listed at 5.24 acres. The listing calls the land unrestricted and says it borders land owned by the National Park Service. “Unrestricted” is a marketing word, not a substitute for a title search, a survey, or a talk with Haywood County about zoning or what you can actually build or keep on the land.

A National Park Service border can be a real amenity, and it can also come with limits on access or use. Ask the agent to identify the shared line on a survey or GIS map, then confirm it.

The extra 7.12 acres are not included

The listing also says an additional 7.12 adjoining acres are available separately, under MLS 4437698, and are not included in the $185,000 price. Mixing the two listings is the most likely explanation for a confusing price-history item on Zillow, discussed below.

Price, Zestimate and a Confusing Price-History Entry

The current asking price, as shown on the listing, is $185,000. Zillow’s price-history table shows it listed on Nov. 7, 2026; the Zestimate panel said Nov. 6, 2026 — a one-day difference we are noting rather than resolving. A prior sale is shown at $131,000 on May 29, 2008.

Do not treat $225,000, or a $40,000 “price increase,” as this house’s price

Zillow’s header also carried a badge that read “Price increase: $40K (11/7)”. In the price-history table, a $225,000 price change was sourced to Canopy MLS #4437698. This home’s own listing number is MLS #4437684, and the description identifies #4437698 as the separate adjoining 7.12-acre tract. Zillow may be mixing the two listings. This is unresolved. Do not treat $225,000 as the current price of the house, and do not treat the $40,000 badge as a verified change to this $185,000 asking price without checking with the agent. The Zestimate of $181,700 is not an appraisal. A Rent Zestimate was not available, and we are not inventing rental-income figures.

Estimated Monthly Mortgage Payment (Illustration Only)

The figures below are an illustration, not a lender quote. Your actual payment depends on the contract price, your credit, the loan program, and whether this manufactured home qualifies for the loan you have in mind.

Assumptions used in this example

We used a purchase price of $185,000; a conventional 20% down payment of $37,000; a loan amount of $148,000; a 30-year fixed term; and an example interest rate of 7.11%. That rate is the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey average for the week of Nov. 12, 2026, for conventional conforming purchase loans with 20% down and excellent credit. It is a national average, not a local offer, and manufactured-home loans can price differently.

What that example comes to

Under those assumptions, principal and interest would be about $996 a month. That number does not include property taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance, HOA dues (if any), utilities, or repairs. If you put down less than 20%, mortgage insurance would usually be added.

For scale only: the tax figure shown on Zillow is about $1,000 a year, or roughly $83 a month. We cannot quote insurance for this house. If someone used a published Haywood County average near $1,700 a year as a placeholder, that would be about $142 a month. Adding the $996 example to $83 in taxes would be about $1,079 a month before insurance.

Property Taxes in Haywood County

Zillow shows an assessed value of $133,500 and an annual tax amount of $1,000. The public tax history lists $1,000 for 2025 (assessment $132,900), and $996 for 2024 and 2023. Those are the figures displayed on the listing, not a guarantee of next year’s bill. After a sale, the county can reassess, and a purchase price of $185,000 would sit well above the assessed value shown here.

For broader context, public fiscal year 2025–26 tables from the North Carolina Department of Revenue list Haywood County’s county-wide rate at $0.55 per $100 of assessed value. A town rate can be added if the property sits inside a municipality. We are not asserting whether this address is inside Waynesville’s town limits. Confirm the jurisdiction and the current bill with the Haywood County Assessor.

Homeowners Insurance in Haywood County

We do not have a quote for this house. Published compilations of North Carolina premiums in 2025 and 2026 have put the Haywood County average well below coastal counties — one Insurance.com table used a Haywood average of about $1,694 a year for a sample profile. That is not a price for a 1996 manufactured home with wood heat and a kerosene tank, which can be harder to insure or can require a different policy form. Get more than one quote before you are locked into a closing date.

Cost of Living in Waynesville

Published cost-of-living indexes for Waynesville do not all agree. Some 2025 and 2026 indexes place overall costs a little below the national average; others place them near or slightly above it. For this listing, the costs that will actually shape a budget are the mortgage, taxes, insurance, heat, well and septic upkeep, driveway work, and whatever renovation the house needs.

Land and Acreage Value

Five-plus acres with a house, well, septic and a claimed park-service border is a different product from a town lot. We will not invent a per-acre comparable. Acreage prices in Haywood County depend on access, slope, usable acreage, water and restrictions. Walk the boundaries, and if the neighboring 7.12 acres are part of your plan, price that tract separately.

Home Inspection, Well and Septic

This is a 1996 manufactured home, sold with the understanding that work is needed, on a well and septic, with mixed heat sources and a kerosene tank. A general inspection is the starting point, not the whole job.

What to have inspected

• The manufactured home itself: roof, exterior, floors, plumbing, electrical, and evidence of moisture or settlement
• Whether the home is on a permanent foundation that a lender will accept, and how it is titled with the land
• The well: flow, water quality, and the pump and pressure tank
• The septic system: location, condition, and whether it is adequate for a 3-bedroom house
• The kerosene tank, lines, wall furnace, wood stove and fireplace
• The driveway, drainage and slope, especially after rain
• Any work already done, or promised, on the roof

Well and septic systems are normal in rural Haywood County. They are not a defect by themselves, but you, not a city utility, are responsible for them. A lender may require satisfactory inspections before closing.

Financing Options: Conventional, FHA, USDA and VA

Because this is a manufactured home on acreage, financing is not automatically the same as it would be for a site-built house. Programs can finance manufactured homes only when the home, foundation and title meet that program’s rules. We cannot say that this property qualifies for any specific program. Ask a lender who regularly does manufactured-home and rural loans, early.

Conventional loans

A conventional loan with 20% down is the example we used above, because it can avoid monthly private mortgage insurance. Some programs allow a smaller down payment, with PMI. Eligibility and appraisal rules can be tighter for manufactured homes.

FHA loans

FHA loans can allow a down payment as low as 3.5% for credit-eligible borrowers, with mortgage-insurance premiums added. FHA can finance certain manufactured homes that meet HUD construction and foundation requirements. The “updates needed” condition of this house could also affect whether it meets FHA’s minimum property standards without repairs.

USDA rural loans

USDA Rural Development guaranteed loans can offer 100% financing on qualifying rural properties for borrowers who meet income and credit rules. Parts of Haywood County are often in USDA-eligible areas, but eligibility is determined by the official USDA map and income limits, not by a listing description. Manufactured homes have additional USDA rules. Check the map rather than assuming this address qualifies.

VA loans

Eligible veterans, service members and some surviving spouses may be able to use a VA loan, which can offer no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance on a qualifying property. VA also has specific requirements for manufactured homes and foundations. Get a pre-approval that contemplates this type of property, and share the listing’s condition language with the lender up front.

Remote Work and Internet

A wooded lot at 3,500 feet can be a strong setting for someone who wants quiet, and a weak setting for someone whose job depends on a fast connection. We did not test internet at this address and are not going to guess at speeds. If you would work from this house, check coverage at the exact address with more than one provider, and look at cell coverage as a backup.

Asheville, the Great Smoky Mountains and Daily Life

Waynesville sits west of Asheville and is one of the towns people use as a base for the Great Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Downtown Waynesville has shops, restaurants and county services; larger hospitals, an airport and a wider job market are generally in or around Asheville. Typical drive times to Asheville are often about 30 to 45 minutes — a planning range, not a guarantee. Use a current map.

Schools Shown on the Listing

Zillow, using GreatSchools ratings as displayed when we checked, showed Hazelwood Elementary (PK–5, 3.2 miles, 8/10), Waynesville Middle (grades 6–8, 4.0 miles, 4/10), and Tuscola High (grades 9–12, 7.5 miles, 7/10). Those are third-party ratings from the listing page. Confirm attendance zones with Haywood County Schools.

HOA, Utilities and Other Open Questions

Zillow’s headline did not show a numeric HOA fee, and its payment estimate displayed $0 HOA fees. The listing details do not clearly establish whether an HOA exists. Have that confirmed in the title work. The listing does say the property has power, a well and septic, a detached carport and a driveway.

Things to Verify

• The current $185,000 asking price, and that any $225,000 or “$40K price increase” figure on Zillow is not being applied to this house by mistake
• The 5.24-acre survey, access, easements, and the claimed National Park Service boundary
• Whether the land is truly unrestricted, and that the 7.12 adjoining acres (MLS 4437698) are a separate purchase
• A full inspection of the manufactured home, foundation, well, septic, heat systems and kerosene tank
• The status of the new roof planned for mid-December
• Insurance quotes, lender eligibility, taxes, any HOA, and internet or cell coverage at the house

The Bottom Line

At $185,000, 471 Osceola Cir offers a 1996, 3-bedroom, 2-bath manufactured home of 1,620 square feet on 5.24 acres, with a well, septic, a deck, and — according to the listing — unrestricted land that borders National Park Service property. The listing is active, and the price reflects needed updates. A new roof is said to be coming in mid-December. An additional 7.12 acres are listed separately. For a buyer prepared to inspect, insure and renovate, it is worth a careful look — after the boundary, taxes, loan and insurance are confirmed in writing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the asking price?

$185,000, according to the listing. A $225,000 figure and a “$40K price increase” badge on Zillow appear tied to the separate 7.12-acre tract’s MLS number. Confirm with the agent.

How much land is included?

This price includes about 5.24 acres. An additional 7.12 adjoining acres are listed separately under MLS 4437698.

What are the property taxes?

Zillow’s tax history shows about $1,000 a year recently, with an assessed value around $133,500. After a sale, the assessment can change. Confirm with the Haywood County Assessor.

What would the monthly payment be?

A clearly labeled example, using 20% down and a 7.11% 30-year Freddie Mac average for the week of Nov. 12, 2026, comes to about $996 a month in principal and interest only. That is not a quote.

Can I use FHA, USDA or VA financing?

Possibly, if you and the property meet that program’s rules for manufactured homes. We cannot say this house qualifies. Ask a lender who handles manufactured-home and rural loans.

Is a new roof already installed?

The listing says the sellers are having a new roof installed in mid-December. Ask for the current status, the contract and any warranty.

See the full listing, all photos and the latest status on Zillow: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/471-Osceola-Cir-Waynesville-NC-28786/87881868_zpid/

Listing courtesy of Amy Sugg, RE/MAX Executive, as shown on Zillow. Source: Canopy MLS as distributed by MLS GRID, MLS #4437684. Photos via the listing on Zillow; all rights belong to their owners.

Disclaimer: All property details, prices, measurements and photos in this article come from the public listing on Zillow at the time of writing and may change at any time. This article is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the seller or listing agent. Verify all information with the listing agent and through your own inspection, survey and research before making any decision.