Mobile homes have a less-than-stellar reputation, deservedly or not. I know my own mom always warned me against them by saying they were just tornado bait, which was enough to make me leery of even stepping foot inside a friend’s mobile home growing up. But if you’re not irrationally afraid of tornadoes, a mobile home might be a great housing option if you’re on a tight budget or looking to save money, writes Michigan Telephone.
The biggest advantage is that whether you currently own a home or are renting an apartment, you can get far more bang for your buck with a mobile home. Single wide mobile homes (even ones of recent manufacture) can often be had for under $10,000 used, in a mobile home park.
You’ll also be building equity in something you can re-sell, and—if you find a good neighborhood—mobile home parks tend to have low car traffic, meaning your kids can have more freedom outside.
As for the biggest disadvantage: oh look, a tornado.
It’s not really true that tornadoes are attracted to mobile home parks, but it is true that when a tornado his a manufactured home community it generally leaves a real mess, and what that attracts is news crews and their cameras.
“The affordable housing option you may have never considered – but perhaps should”
(Photo: mattza)
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What about tossing a mobile home on some rural land? That’s even cheaper in the long run, less concerns about neighbors, more freedom, etc.
A friend of mine did that after high school. Admittedly, the land was gifted to him from family (~30 acres a mere 10 miles outside of the western suburbs). He had enough money left over to build a large garage that was twice the size of the double-wide trailer he lived in.
I considered a having a contemporary modular constructed on some rural land when shopping for a house a couple years ago. I still wonder if not doing it was the right choice…
“I’m happier than a tornado in a trailer park!” (From Mater in the movie cars, if you didn’t know)
I’ve suggested mobile homes in the past and some didn’t like it. Funny how things change when Consumerist says it.
The best thing about quickly buying out and owning a mobile home is that you stop making payments – no more rent, no more mortgage. Then you can bank and invest the money. Using the following site:
[www.moneychimp.com]
I calcuated saving $800 per month (a typical monthly payment for rent or a mortgage) at 4% using simple interest.
In five years, you would save $54000. And in eight years, you would save $92000. You could buy a small house outright for that much, or at least, get a very small mortgage.
Another question: Why weren’t moble homes brought up in articles on spending and image, on why people buy expensive things to “keep up with the Joneses”? Isn’t one’s ome considered part of that image/spending cycle?
Unseen cost will add up with a mobile home. Park fees get to be about $300 a month plus most insurance companies don’t want anything to do with this type of risk. If it is 10+yrs old expect to pay a lot of premium for very little coverage.
How bout a FEMA trailer complete with poison so you get sick.
I have a mobile modular home! I don’t call it a ‘trailer home’ because.. it’s not. And I don’t live in tornado valley, so no problems with that.
It was $80k brand new–I pay $600 a month for it and the land. That’s cheaper than renting and I get a whole house out of it AND I’m not throwing money away renting.
We’ll eventually have to move to a bigger home once we start a family, but for now this is just right.
I grew up living in a mobile home on property. The home is still standing, and with maintenance (like any other house) it is still in good condition at 25+ years old.
I know a lot of them look like crap. Some people don’t want to put money into what they call a throw away home.
Living in Florida I see a lot of really old mobile homes still being occupied. So I’m not really sure if the idea about them being such a death trap is real or it’s just easy to show a tightly packed home parks destruction on TV to give that idea.
My thought on mobile homes is that you can get twice the house for half the cost. They are being built better and nicer. I was in one the other day that had high flat ceilings, crown molding, real textured walls, good name appliances, plenty of really nice extras. I was quite impressed.
as for tornadoes and hurricanes… I don’t really want to be in ANY home that is underneath the storm.
A mobile home has been giving my mom a roof over her head for several years now. She bought a house sitting on 10 acres. Turns out the house had a defective HVAC system and managed to infest the entire thing with black mold. The house is uninhabitable. My mom was able to score a used mobile home for a few thousand dollars and have it moved onto the property and hooked up to Electric and water. She sold her old home and has been waiting on something to come of this lemon home she bought. Odds are it’s going to have to be rehabilitated like homes flooded on the Gulf Coast.
I’ve been reading comments about mobile homes, and the parks they are put into. I can’t believe all the negative comments about both. We bought a double wide home about 6 years ago; it was used, but only a couple of years old; it is now worth lots more than we paid for it. (homes similar to ours have sold in this neighborhood, so we have a good idea of what it would sell for). We added a double car garage, and planted lots of perennials. It has a good sized yard with trees. Our mobile home park is very strict; before you can move in you get credit check, background check, need references, can’t have any felonies or serious misdemeanors in your past (or have immediate family with these offenses), and have to sign an agreement which is about 25 pages long. Everyone in our park must abide by these rules, or they are out. It is a beautiful park; most homes have garages, some have all season rooms, or porches. Everyone maintains their property well (in the rules) and it is a quiet secure place to live. The homes here are mostly very high quality (costing as much as $100,000).
People who have sold homes here did well if they had their homes for over 5 years, and kept them in very good condition; as the prices of the new homes goes up, it makes the older ones easier to sell. In our area, the single wides don’t sell as easily, and it seems that they do depreciate a little more than the double wides. Our lot rent is 270 a month which incudes water, sewer, and garbage fees. This is less than what we were paying for property taxes and water/sewer fees at our previous home.
I do believe that if you are careful, compare models and quality, you can get a good home which will last you as long as many of the stick built homes. Same for the mobile home park you choose; look for one where the homes and yards are well kept, and the management cares about the people who live there. Our park does not accept homes over 5 years old, but I have been in mobile homes in our area that were built in the 60′s and 70′s. Some of the better quality homes that have been well maintained are still in good shape. Others do look dreadful, so I understand why people think mobile homes are trashy, because some of them are.