Need Affordable Housing? What About A Mobile Home?
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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Comments:
Anything can be tornado bait in tornado alley. In the Pacific NW, a well-insulated mobile home is often a much better choice than an old, drafty house.
Where I live, we hit 110f in the summer and -10f in the winter - insulation and weatherization is extremely important!
They might be worthwhile if you live in an area with few natural disasters and own nothing of value.
Those things are flimsy as hell, and a social worker friend who frequents the parks on business told me burglaries are rampant.
Plus, you have cool neighbors like Randy and the Mustard Tiger. Oh the hijinks they get into.
This article wins the most words to say so little award. It's pages and pages long of the most obvious garbage ("go to your mobile home community on a pleasant day...").
The strange blog name, to the overly common Wordpress template, to the weird articles, makes me think it's a spam blog grabbing stuff from Associated Content.
@kateblack: Do you think that mayber burglaries are rampant becasue its in the same neighborhood that needs frequent vists by a social worker and not becasue of flimsy housing material?
@feralparakeet: I guess they don't show that commercial in the Huntsville, AL market (Cullman is about an hour or so from Huntsville) because I haven't seen it yet and I've lived in the area for 18 months.
@feralparakeet: going off topic for a sec:
I love this commercial too. If it (and the one before it for the multi-racial furniture store) had been an authentically made local spot, I would have posted it. But since it's part of a larger viral marketing scheme for a small-business-services company, I decided not to.
Viral marketing or not, it's an awesome commercial. Watch the making-of too for more fun details about Robert Lee.
The only thing that is different in my head is you own the (mobile)house...yet your still paying rent to have it parked in the lot in the park. Granted I guess it's not much different than paying property taxes.
@Brazell: It's actually a really good local blog for telephone/VOIP/broadband stuff. Don't be misled by the simple blog template.
Another thing about mani-homes - often times you don't need to be in a park. Washington State has a law that says Mani-homes made after 1995 can go in any neighborhood where single-family homes are permitted and neither HOAs or local govs can stop it. Of course, in this case, you still have to fork over over $100,000 for a utility-connected lot.
@feralparakeet: Disposable? Says who? Go to any mobile home park and you will see lots of them built in the 60s and 70s.
In the SF Bay area, mobile homes, used, go for $200k and up (to about $450k). The only reason they're even an option here is because a falling-down crack den runs about $300k here.
I always will remember being in South Carolina and driving past mobile home parks where each mobile home had a three meter dish. That mobile home park had more dishes than NASA.
The mobile-ness is sometimes an advantage as well. When my Grandma's mobile home was threatened by a river that was changing course (and was a mile away 30 years ago), she simply moved the home to my uncle's property. Nothing was destroyed except the road.
The river changed course so quickly that they put the barricade at the end of the road on wheels.
If you have a plot of land of your own, a mobile home isn't actually that bad. Especially if you fix it up. This one couple I know have a double-wide that is actually really nice on the inside, and they've fixed it up a lot on the outside, build a deck and patio and everything.
Can you get DSL or cablemodem?
@sifr: I think you'd find that it's more of a case of the land being sold and the home being thrown in as a bonus.
The rent for a lot in a trailer park is $500ish / month and you're paying the $10,000 for the trailer: I don't see how that's a good deal.
Up until I was 18, I never lived in anything but a mobile home, so I've got some experience with them.
"Flimsy as hell" - Only if you're buying a low quality one. Poor quality is just as common in houses. Quality building construction is something you should look for no matter what you're buying for a home.
Now, on trailer parks... well, yeah, I can't really defend them that much. They tend to go the direction of any lower cost housing.
That being said, not all mobile homes are found in those places. Depends on the by-laws of where you live.
@DH405: It's not always that simple. Permanent house owners tend to not like mobile homes in their neighborhoods. In suburban areas, at least those that allow mobile homes, you can usually only put a mobile home in a licensed and zoned mobile home park that charges rent. Zoning gets more lenient out in the sticks, but usually way way out in the sticks, and by the time you get that far out, you're almost better off buying a house anyway.
@eric?:
Around here the lot rents are around $250 a month in most cases...so if you have a mortgage that's even $300 a month that's still cheaper than an apartment in this area, with at least a bit of a yard.
If I was to move to a park I would go for a co-op park, as you tend to have more of a role in deciding the bylaws and such. But mobile homes are generally a pretty good investment, around here at least!
@diasdiem: My aunt and uncle did this. They had a double wide that they ended up building so much onto that you couldn't even tell it had been a mobile home at one point. Looked great, and ended up being a pretty
You aren't really building equity. Mobile homes go down in value; it's like trying to "build equity" by buying a car.
Now, if you own the land it's on, you might build equity in that. But if we're talking about a mobile home on a rented lot, you're going to lose money on that.
Where I live in California, a decent 1 bedroom apt is about $950/mo. The ghetto mobile home park (right next to the freeway, bordering an industrial area, no grass/laws) wants $900/mo rent for a space big enough for a single wide.
Doesn't make sense.
That said, a modern, quality double wide (just like cars, there's different brands and different built qualities), can be quite nice and tend to hold their value a lot better than older/cheap homes from the 70/80s.
@diasdiem: One of my friend's mother and step dad lived in a double wide on the front of 90+ acres of inherited property while they built a new house further back. It was a really nice home, with a deck, a pool, and a sun-room built onto one side, and since it was only the two of them living there I could never understand why they were building the mansion further back on the property.
Forget Mobile home. Manufactured and prefab homes are where the deals are at.
@DH405:
Um, no. That's for a mobile home that's in a Mobile Home park and requires rent. I've seen plenty of mobile homes that were literally almost falling apart and they were still wanting about $150K for them during the boom. Those same places are still around $50 to $75K now..
Mobile homes depreciate - they will lose their value over time. Actual homes will appreciate over time. (Yes, I know the real estate market bubble burst but over long periods, you have much more opportunity to make money with an actual house as compared to a double-wide.)
I have a mobile home in a pretty nice park. I am currently looking for a house though. I think due to the housing market's collapse I may be here a while now that I have negative equity.
Oh well it's a house (or a roof over my head anyhow). I regularly tell people that I am going to put a rusted '82 Camaro up on cynder blocks in my front yard. Maybe an ancient couch and a bullet hole ridden refrigerator.
Lilliput! Most mobile homes are like Lilliput. You can't buy standard "home repair" parts to repair a mobile home. For example: door knobs, bath tubs, faucets, closet doors, etc. All parts have to be purchased from a mobile home supplier (in order to fit the Lilliputian dimensions) at 3 to 10 times the cost of the same item at a regular home store. That, for me, is enough to make me either pay rent or purchase a real, stick-built home.
I lived in mobile homes for most of my childhood. So I have some perspective on it.
I lived in four mobile home parks in my childhood and with one exception, when I visit any of the old parks I lived in, they are all ganglands now. They're all dumps.
I never once got hit by a tornado, but the issue with mobile homes is a bit more nuanced than your home being turned into toothpicks. They are generally drafty, and built with a focus on light weight for hauling. As a result, the floors are generally particle board with linoleum on top, the walls are usually just panel boards with insulation between them, and because they are manufactured rather than built by hand, you usually find lots of places where floor doesn't meet the wall right or the window frame doesn't fit. As a result, you never really feel completely sealed off from the elements.
Also bear in mind that if you think you can resell it, before you move into a park, find out if the landlord also sells mobile homes in the park. You don't want to end up competing with your landlord to sell your unit later.
My parents own a mobile home park and I've had several other relatives own mobile homes as well. They can be had for cheap but you have to know it isn't going to be a pleasant experience.
First, used ones can be had for the price of a used car but they are still declining assets.
Second, trailer parks are filled with people who have either low incomes or legal problems that typically keep them out of apartments and these people are going to be your new neighbors. When my parents first bought their park they had a multi-month battle to evict drug dealers. The people running your trailer park might not be as nice as my parents and don't care who live there.
@dohtem: If this catches on, the way things in the housing market are currently, your request may not be too hard to fill.
This was SOP where I grew up, in rural SC - you got married and you bought a mobile home, and lived in a trailer park for a while. You took good care of the mobile home so that it would hold its value. Then you bought some land, moved the trailer onto the land, and then build your house and sell your mobile home. Much better than throwing money away on rent.
@Orv: Thank You. I noticed the error right away. You might be building equity in the trailer as you pay off the loan, but the value of the trailer is depreciating at the same time. With a house you stand, well, at least a better chance of the value of the home appreciating as you are building equity.
On another note, I once heard it explained that mobile homes are to today's rural poor what log cabins were for the last several hundred years. Sort of makes sense to me.
That said, while mobile homes, especially older ones can be of dubious quality, another type of inexpensive housing, manufactured homes are amazing. Exceptionally well built (far better construction than a home built in-situ) and fairly affordable. Plus, once assembled, no looks of condescension from your neighbors, as they are indistinguishable from any other house.
when i applied for a mortgage to buy my first house recently [credit union, 1st homebuyer's, 100% financing] manufactured and mobile homes were specifically excluded from the loan offers.
there was actually a very nice one [it had a fireplace, my current house doesn't] that was for sale but i would have had to get a different type of mortgage and have 20% down.
never thought i'd run into a situation where a manufactured home was beyond my means when a larger site built stick structure wasn't!
@lockdog: Yeah, I've known people who did the deal where they bought some land, put a mobile home on it while they saved up to build a house, then either sold the mobile home or used it as a residence for a hired farmhand. That makes sense.
Buying a mobile home on a rented lot with the idea that it's somehow more cost-effective than renting an apartment, on the other hand, usually doesn't make sense.
@catastrophegirl: Not surprised. From the bank's perspective, the odds are high that you'll be upside down on the mobile home if they have to foreclose, because it goes down in value so fast compared to a stick-built home. That makes the loan riskier and they want a higher rate and a larger down payment to compensate.
Actually, this is often true of any kind of unconventional home. I had a friend once who bought a concrete geodesic dome, and had a really hard time getting financing.
Just a few things to look out for, if you are considering a mobile home. I am speaking from my own experience trying to buy one, but ended up in a regular house instead.
Mobile homes do not appreciate, they depreciate over time. This means borrowing money to buy one is expensive. The cheapest loan my wife and I were offered was 9% on a 15 year loan. For our house we got a 5.25% 5-year ARM - which essentially meant we could afford twice the house for our monthly payment.
Mobile home parks charge a lot fee, which can be substantial. There are no deductions for this, and they can raise it almost as they see fit.
There are often severe restrictions on what you are allowed to do or put up outside - no fences, etc.
Watch out for garages that are home-made and not to code.
Finally, consider your neighborhood. In a privately owned park where you rent space for your mobile home, you may not have the same rights regarding noise from your neighbors, such as their dogs, etc.
Finally, consider how easy it will be to sell it again when you want to leave. Even if you don't live there, you are still responsible for the lot rent, and if anything happens to you mobile home, you could get caught on an expensive bill trying to get it demolished and disposed of.
Other than that, yeah, a newer mobile home can give a lot less work than a comparable old house.
@Orv: I think it can be better than an apartment depending on the market. If you pay $10,000 for a mobile home and pay $300/month rent and the same size apartment would've cost you $800 to rent, then the savings will pay for the mobile home in 20 months. Then you have $300/month rent. You might even be able to resell it at some point depending on the age and quality. I'm sure the math varies all over the place but the point is that the break even point might be close enough to make it advantageous.
Yes, it depreciates like a car but owning is better than leasing there, too. At the end of the loan, you have a car that can be resold and that may last you a good many years longer. At the end of the lease, you have nothing.
Find me a good mobile home neighborhood that isn't filled with seniors and I'll take on.