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I have lived the gamut of mobile homes , condo and a brand new home.
When I came to SC I stayed in a trailer ( cheap living ) and considered even buying at least once or twice ( really low prices but old and in poor shape ) .
I live in a modular home now. The owner built these . They look just like a house ! Love it !
Now the downside of buying a MH.
When I was renting that old mobile home the insurance company would not INSURE it ! Because it was old. Like 80's model.
So be careful BUYING an old mobile home,. Call your insurance company and find out if the year would be insured.
MH's are like cars. They depreciate. Not that home buying is an investment for anyone these days.
To me a home is where you live , where you hang your head and its your HOME. Whatever you pick. It should not be an investment in this volatile market.
MH with land is an awesome idea. You can later build a real house while you live in the MH. You can even buy a newer MH , they are beautiful ! Think Clayton
Mobile home for under $10K is probably just little better than a tent...
Those things do not last their loan. Older ones are poorly insulated. In my opinion they are money pit. Maybe o.k. for a skilled handyman who will do never ending patch work on it.
I made a trip to Tucson a few years back, looking at parks where you own the land and mobile home, with minimum association fees, then I looked at the parks with high rent lot and there was one park that was billed a mobile home co-op, which I liked the best as it was in the inner city, walking distance to two grocery stores.
The mobile homes in that community were more expensive than the lot rent parks, and the association fees were like $150 a month. Anyone else heard of these co-op mobile home communities and what advantage they may have? I believe you have to be approved by the board to live there, just like a co-op apartment building.
A cooperative mobile home park is owned equally by all of the residents of the park on a share basis. This form of ownership is similar to a condominium, where each person pays a small monthly fee for the upkeep of the entire park but no rent. Many Florida mobile home parks are set up as cooperatives, including the following three parks for those 55 and older in the southeast region of the state.
Residents can own a share or just pay lot rent. They also can rent a home from an owner or rent an RV site.
I've lived in mobile homes and even bought a brand new Palm Harbor once. You have to consider the maintenance. They go down hill fast. In 5 years the roof was buckling and it needed a complete redo. They do not withstand the weather like a normal home. It's okay for a temporary fix as you are doing now...but I wouldn't buy one for the long haul. Let's face it they are a house on wheels....I"m telling it like it is. And they are just like a car.....depreciate the same! By the time I paid the mortgage and the land payment and taxes (TX charges property tax on MH's) I could have had a house! Don't do it!
If you know what you're doing and are reasonably handy, then go for it. People spend more on cars.
IMO though you might as well try to get a FREE trailer vs one you pay $5k or $10k for. If you're talented enough to handle rewiring and that sort of labor, might as well start from free and fix it up.
I personally think any safe form of shelter that you own outright is worth it. Unless you're able to keep scoring that kinds of $225 a month rent for years on end.
I'm sure someone also mentioned that even with a free trailer and inexpensive land, in most areas you're going to pay a tidy sum for sewer, well, etc. unless you also have access to those skills personally or through barter.
I guess you could put it in perspective this way: our townhome has gone down in value about 60k since 2005.
For that you could have four of these arranged with a courtyard in the middle, then spend the remaining 10k connecting 'em and beautifying your new private outdoor oasis with some filtered shade about it and nice plants.
I guess you could put it in perspective this way: our townhome has gone down in value about 60k since 2005.
For that you could have four of these arranged with a courtyard in the middle, then spend the remaining 10k connecting 'em and beautifying your new private outdoor oasis with some filtered shade about it and nice plants.
I guess you could put it in perspective this way: our townhome has gone down in value about 60k since 2005.
For that you could have four of these arranged with a courtyard in the middle, then spend the remaining 10k connecting 'em and beautifying your new private outdoor oasis with some filtered shade about it and nice plants.
LMAO!! You could probably find one of those in Taylor, Michigan, where I spent a few years growing up. I was raised as a hick, but that's a 'lil too extreme for me. Here in Alamosa, the most I've seen is 2 trailers "connected" on one lot. Then again, out here people regularly live in busses and RVs so to have a trailer--let alone two--means you're doing pretty good out here. But eh, my dream is to live in Louisiana in a place that's just a 'lil bit more civilized, so I won't have quite as many options as these folks do.
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!! You could probably find one of those in Taylor, Michigan, where I spent a few years growing up. I was raised as a hick, but that's a 'lil too extreme for me. Here in Alamosa, the most I've seen is 2 trailers "connected" on one lot. Then again, out here people regularly live in busses and RVs so to have a trailer--let alone two--means you're doing pretty good out here. 
But eh, my dream is to live in Louisiana in a place that's just a 'lil bit more civilized, so I won't have quite as many options as these folks do.
