Mobile Home

[mattsk42]

What are the positives and negatives?

I don't hear any ACTUAL information about them, but they seem pretty cheap compared to paying 1300 a month for an apartment and never getting any money back.

Anyone live/ever live in one?

[hbarcat]

Originally Posted by mattsk42

What are the positives and negatives?

I don't hear any ACTUAL information about them, but they seem pretty cheap compared to paying 1300 a month for an apartment and never getting any money back.

Anyone live/ever live in one?

I lived in one and they're a cheap way to live.

On the down side, you'll be surrounded by trashy people getting drunk or and calling the police on each other for "domestic violence". Don't store any of your bass gear in a mobile home either, or you'll have to replace it all when the inevitable tornado blows it down.

[FL Knifemaker]

You get a title instead of a deed Just get a T Shirt that says........."Mess with with me and you mess with the whole trailer park".

Seriously, anything is better than paying rent. Around here there are some REALLY nice trailer parks. Not all are trashy. If you could buy property and put one on it, that would be a bonus. I know people that did that and built a house on the same property, then sold the trailer. Just make sure you insure the thing very well!!

[Stanley Design]

Where I'm from (PEI) You cannot get a mortgage on a mobile home older than 10 years old. So you really need to be cautious when buying, because it's usually pretty hard to sell a mobile home cash only if you end up wanting out after 10 years.

But it is a great way to purchase a lot before the market rises too much, and if you have the cash to spend, you can get ones that are 10-15 years old that are in top notch condition for dirt cheap because they can't be mortgaged.

[troy2003]

I have--the park is the biggest thing.There are some parks that are darn nice,have a lotta rules about stuff in yard overnight,etc--look for those.Older ones especially,tend to have much higher utility bills(lack of insulation,thin walls,etc.)Lotta the newer ones are much better.with the economy as it is,I would think selling it is going to be easier now than in recent years.Too easy to get a house,so people did,and now many have lost them and are starting over in apartments or mobile homes.

[Steve]

I don't think I would actually buy a mobile home for all the reasons already mentioned along with the fact that they depreciate where a house will appreciate in value.

You may want to look into what they call a modular home which is basically a trailer without wheels on a permanent foundation.

They have the advantage of being cheaper to get into than a "real" house yet don't have the depreciation and insurance issues of a trailer.

Many of those things are built way better than new standard construction as well. Which if you spend any time in the trades you know is pure garbage.

Most people, if they had any idea what was underneath the paint on their 750K McMansion would have a stroke.

[Stanley Design]

Steve, I'm pretty sure noone in the thread is referring to anything with wheels. What you are referring to is one in the same with what we are.

All in all, houses don't appreciate in value, land does. A lot of people buy mobile homes but rent their land, it only costs about 20,000-35,000 that way, but everything depreciates because they don't own the land. As long as you buy your land, it's yours to have and yours to sell, but have a 10 year plan because of the mortgaging factor.

[fenderhutz]

Plastic toilets man, there is nothing more degrading than doing your business in a plastic toilet. It just ain't right.

[Pilgrim]

I started out as a house buyer in a mobile home park. I lived in a college town, and in such towns, they tend to turn over quickly and (once the first 10 years or so of depreciation is past) hold value pretty well.

My first mobile home was 20 years old and cost $5000...a local bank loan got me in. Two years later I moved up to a larger one about the same age at $10,000. When I moved out of that one, I had some equity to use toward a stick-built.

The park you're in is VERY important. Get into a good one, but don't get into a place where the monthly lot rent is 2x as much as you'd pay for an apartment.

[Rumzini]

So...

We just moved from a "real house", and moved back into the "trailer/mobile home community" that we used to live in. I was very excited to do it to! We are in a MUCH larger home than what we had and it is cheaper! We are renting/leasing for a ear contract. At the end of the year we can, and probably will decide to buy the home. When we do half of the money we put into the payments will be applied to the down payment along with the 2 month security deposit. We will be using the parks financing initially and will be obliged to stay another year for it. During which time we will be saving for a piece of land to move it onto over a basement. So anyways we end up with a very new and modern home that is much more spacious than what we could afford in a "real house".

[mattsk42]

Bump, thanks for the input!

[Chriss62]

Winnebago?

[jive1]

As a lower cost living alternative, a mobile home can have it's advantages. As an investment, it's pretty much worthless.

Mobile homes depreciate while homes appreciate in the long run. Because of that, it is very difficult to refinance a mobile home. There's many reasons why they depreciate. Mobile homes are very susceptible to damage from the weather, and fires can burn them up instantly. They don't have a high prestige factor. They are impossible to upgrade, and difficult to maintain over the long run compared to a conventional home. In general, mobile homes have a shorter lifespan than a conventional home.

The major issue to consider when buying a mobile home is disposal. That's the major disadvantage of a mobile home. And disposal of a mobile home is not cheap, nor easy. Some trailer parks "kick out" the older mobile homes to make room for new ones that can get more rent. They may do this through a change in terms, "complaints", or not accepting a new owner. Many trailer parks don't require management to accept new owners. So, even if you sell, the new ownership may not be able to move in and/or you will still be required to dispose of the home or move it. Same thing can happen when you buy a used mobile home, so check with the management first. Also, if you are in a trailer park, you are subject to the terms and conditions of the park, and that could include increasing rents and utilities. Or the park owners may decide on a better use of the land that's more profitable.

Even if you own the land, a mobile home will not appreciate the land as much as if a conventional home were on it. In areas where land is appreciating in value, there are typically zoning regulations in place that will prevent a mobile home from being placed there. And if they do allow it, you are more than likely required to have all the other zoning regulations in place such as septic tank, driveway, foundation, well, etc. In that case, all you are saving money on is a structure. A structure that will need to be disposed of when you or a buyer decides to upgrade. The cost of disposal, coupled with the costs of getting a piece of land up to code can offset any appreciation in the land value.

Personally, from an investment standpoint, I'd rather buy a place in the ghetto over a mobile home. You can have gentrification, tax breaks for renovations, grants from the municipality for improvement/restoration, greater potential for appreciation, etc. None of those things are possible in a trailer park.

[Slapp Addict]

I never lived in one, but I have known people who have.

The word is the walls are super thin and you could cut through them with a machete. That, combined with being so close to your neighbors, you can hear them fart next door.

I thought about getting one but meh, I just wouldn't feel safe and wouldn't like having much privacy.

[Mark Latimour]

Wow. This thread is really interesting. I learned some new stuff today.

[Pilgrim]

A lot depends on WHERE it's located. If it's a good park that stays clean and is well-managed, then it's a good place to live. But if it looks like Dogpatch, beeeeewwwwwaaaaaarrreeee.

[CapnSev]

Insurance is a serious problem too. No one will insure a trailer against any sort of disaster, and regular homeowners insurance that covers theft, etc. is out of sight.

To me, that would be the biggest downfall besides the brand you will get from living in a trailer park.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

Plastic toilets man, there is nothing more degrading than doing your business in a plastic toilet. It just ain't right.

True. I'm to heavy to live in one. If I walked to the back, the front would pop up on the air. I'd have to take the wheels off

[()smoke()]

Originally Posted by Todd Stanley

Steve, I'm pretty sure noone in the thread is referring to anything with wheels. What you are referring to is one in the same with what we are.

All in all, houses don't appreciate in value, land does.

actually, mobile homes do, in fact have wheels...they are built upon a frame over axles which is concealed by skirting around the base of the home, which is why the floor sits so much higher than the ground

there are also, of course, pre-fab modular homes, which, as described, are quite similar except that the pre-fab, modular variety is placed upon a permanent foundation...

as for appreciation, i hear your point on land, but houses do appreciate separately from the lot, hence the separation on the tax statements in many states, ie land value & improvements value (house, built components)

[tycobb73]

You pay a higher interest rate on mobile homes than stick built.