Any experience with mobile/manufactured homes?

[The Other Andy]

Hello all,

So I've been giving a lot of thought recently to mobile homes. I've lived in a number of apartments, and I'm not terribly keen on doing so again. Horrible landlords (except one, who was actually pretty awesome), lousy neighbors, inability to work on the car, inability to customize apartment, and of course the fact that in an apartment you are pissing away money on nothing.

I love the idea of having my own home not attached to anyone, and having a plot of land and driveway to call my own (even if I'm renting the plot).

I could eventually buy my own land and move the home there too!

Just curious what experience others have with them.


(hoping this is the right forum for this. Definitely more "freedom living" than an apartment!)

 

[angelatc]

Not sure where you are, but in Michigan you can probably buy a small piece of land with a trailer already on it for under $20,000. Then you can work on building a stick house as time and money allows. Speaking from the far side of 40, it's a much better plan than renting.

 

[Kluge]

I don't have any experience with manufactured homes, but since we've been looking for houses, I've come across a lot of really nice-looking ones.

Angela's got the right idea though--if you can get land that already has the mobile home on it, you're much better off since you'll have all the hookups, like water, electric, etc. and the freedom to do what you want when you can.

Perhaps you could look into rent-to-own on a plot of land you like with a mobile home already on it?

 

[oyarde]

I have had a couple when young , if you are just going to live in it , they are fine . You will not be able to sell it and make any money , but you can rent it. Get one with some land rent it later when you build yourself somehing .

 

[ninepointfive]

lot rent is a bitch. most often times it's higher than the payment, so it's best to own your own land as others mentioned.

 

[CaptUSA]

They can be an inexpensive way of living. You can have a nice enough living space for low cost.

BUT!!!!

Resale value is extremely low! It is hard to sell a used mobile home. People who want used mobile homes have a hard time getting loans for them. Once you buy one, YOU WILL BE STUCK WITH IT. If you do want to get rid of it, you will lose a lot of money.

 

[showpan]

As Angelatc pointed out, it's a foot in the door for the land. I have lived in them and they are very inexpensive to remodel since they aren't that big. Like CaptUSA stated, you can buy a used one for cheap. If you buy the land and then set one up, plan out your lot carefully before placing it so it doesn't interfere with any future plans. You can also set it up on one side of the property if you get a big enough parcel and then rent it out later. Place it in the back for an in law. Turn it into a chicken coup or my favorite...a grow house. The older ones are worth more for their aluminum scrap and then you get the frame to make trailers with. The possibilities are endless.

 

[Icymudpuppy]

Invest in a solid slab foundation, it is well worth the cost. Not only will it keep the trailer from settling and opening gaps between the sections, it will also allow a solid barrier to keep vermin out of the crawlspace. If you don't get a full brick foundation, at least opt for 3/4 inch plywood skirting with 2x4 supports. Don't get aluminum or vinyl skirting. Neither will hold up against a determined skunk.

 

[roho76]

I found a beat up trailer on 10 acres for $32,000 the other day. I could have got it for $10,000, I'm guessing. I didn't like the shape of the land and the trailer was in bad shape, so I passed. Don't buy a trailer unless you plan on staying there until you build a better place like Angela said.

 

[specsaregood]

Not sure where you are, but in Michigan you can probably buy a small piece of land with a trailer already on it for under $20,000. Then you can work on building a stick house as time and money allows. Speaking from the far side of 40, it's a much better plan than renting.

This is one of those pieces of advice that ya wish ya knew when you were younger.

 

[ClydeCoulter]

yes, a trailor is a temporary shelter, and a modular is a little longer lasting but for the cost you will propably never recover. Like others have stated and/or agreed with, use a trailor to get by until you can stick build, then consider all of the options for a foundation (w/storm shelter or fruit cellar, if needed).

And, if you are buying land with enough space and soil quality for a garden, consider that the garden needs 6 to 8 hours of sun for many vegetables, but some shade is good to help with moisture control. Unfortunately, my garden gets 10+ hours and it means that keeping moisture to the right level in the summer requires irrigation (tower sprinkler).

 

[oyarde]

This is one of those pieces of advice that ya wish ya knew when you were younger.

True.

 

[angelatc]

The other upside is that they're not taxed as heavily as "real" houses, either.

 

[row333au]

 

[Schifference]

Many stick homes being sold at distressed prices.

 

[Demigod]

In my opinion better buy some land and build a shanty then to live in a mobile home.In time as you save up money you can build a better house room by room on your land.

 

[chudrockz]

As others have said, they're definitely NOT a money maker. Wife and I bought a trailer for nine grand, lived there for nine years... and then sold it for six hundred. Then we bought a house, and thanks so much fed.gov, we did not qualify for the first-time home buyer's credit (even though our MORTGAGE was first time home buyer type) because we had lived in a trailer. Bunch of goats.

Anyhow, in my experience the older ones (if you can find one still in nice shape) are built MUCH better than anything new. Ours was a '78 and built like a tank. We had rough weather several times in the time I lived there, and many of the newer ones got damaged or even wrecked (tornado, close call) while ours never got a scratch.

That's the other thing about 'em, though: if there is a tornado threatening (or even really high winds in a storm) you really don't want to be stuck in one. Thankfully we had a brick storm shelter just a couple of hundred yards away.

 

[catfeathers]

We lived in a trailer for years. I didn't like it, it was too small and hard to find parts to replace things that were damaged like broken windows and the plastic bathtub. We bought a rundown old house on about an acre and moved in as soon as it was possible. There's still a lot of work to do but for the cost of renting a trailer we're paying for a house with more than twice the space.

If you're at all handy with a hammer I would try to find a rundown place at a good price with at least enough room for a garden and make it livable. There are forums for us old house owners with lots of good advice on repairs and stuff like that.

 

[angelatc]

We lived in a trailer for years. I didn't like it, it was too small and hard to find parts to replace things that were damaged like broken windows and the plastic bathtub. We bought a rundown old house on about an acre and moved in as soon as it was possible. There's still a lot of work to do but for the cost of renting a trailer we're paying for a house with more than twice the space.

If you're at all handy with a hammer I would try to find a rundown place at a good price with at least enough room for a garden and make it livable. There are forums for us old house owners with lots of good advice on repairs and stuff like that.

What forums do you like?

 

[shane77m]

Don't buy a new one. I did and I regret it. This weekend I have to go calk around all of the windows because they are leaking rain water and it is only 5 years old. Definitely get a used and spend a little money to fix it up.