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I didn't read all of the posts on here, but I think what it really comes down to is; if you are looking to buy a home, and eventually buy "up" at some point, or want something that will appreciate as opposed to depreciation, then a mobile home might not be a good idea.
On the other hand...if you want something dependable, to give you shelter, aren't worried about impressing anyone, and want to live your life on your terms without saddling yourself with a 30 year mortgage, then I think a mobile home is an excellent idea.
On a side note and just as a matter of (my own) opinion...I think that sometimes people get so caught up in having "things", the toys, the gorgeous impressive home, etc. that we practically become slaves to those things, because it takes a lot of work to pay them all off. And there we are, 30 years later, paid up, exhausted, and if we're lucky our health will hold out in order to have a little time to enjoy the things that we worked so hard for, for so many years. Personally, I would rather go "simple" and live life while I can. In other words, I want to stop and smell the roses.
In the early 80's I bought a 1969 Holiday Mobile home. It was in mint condition, still like new! The former owners took excellent care of it, had real wood cabinets, real wood panelings on the walls and was just lovely. I paid $7500 for it when I bought it. I lived in it for 17 years and loved every minute of it. I sold it and got $4500 for it. I sold it because I had to move to another state to help my sister take care of our sick mother. 6 years later I moved back here and used that $4500 as a down payment on the mobile home I now live in... (Bought this one brand new, had it financed for 7 years and paid it off in about 4)
I LOVE living in mobile homes. They suit my needs, are comfortable, utilities are reasonable and if I don't like where I am, I can MOVE! I only moved that first one once and plan to only move this one once.
I do not need big, fine and fancy. There is no one I need to impress with what I own. What does impress people is my house is paid for and so is my van. I owe nobody!
Just make your plan and stick to it. I always had a plan for my life and have stuck to it, like I said... there is NOBODY I need to impress or please but myself. I would lots rather live in a mobile home that is paid for than live in a big house with a 30 year mortgage.
This is a little off topic but they are doing some really cool stuff with making old shipping crates into homes. They are cheap, easy and fast to build with plus you can do a lot of customizing with them.
Finding a place where you can build with these may be tough but its my dream to one day get land where there's little if any building restructions and build a really cool house out of shpping containers.
Assuming you could buy a $10K single wide on a serviced lot, you would still have to pay taxes on the property, as well as maintenance (roof, water pipes, etc) and with their thin insulation and air leaks, your heating/cooling would be expensive. Insurance on a mobile is very expensive, but you could go bare, however they seem to have a magnetic attraction to hazards. There's not a serviced building lot in the USA for under $10K, so it would cost that much to buy a place to put a tent. Unless you have a reliable well and septic, and can generate your power off the grid.
That's why the guy is selling his to you for $10K.
Your water, electricity, trash pickup, sewerage, snow-clearing, cable, phone, internet and insurance is still going to cost you $300 a month, so you don't save that much on what it would cost you to live in a modest apartment. Even spread out over 5 years, your mortgage on your trailer will be half the cost of an apartment.
Really depends on where you can put the trailer. At least out in the country, there are still places where you can put a trailer on a country lot, put in power, well, and septic, and bada-bing you have a place to live relatively quick and cheap. I think I mentioned this before but putting a simple shed-type roof over a trailer to protect from rain and direct overhead sun will both prolong it's life and make it somewhat cooler in summer.
Trailers as such are at their best in mild climates, it's true that the older ones are not that tight or well insulated.
Best use is for someone starting out in the country, live in the trailer while you build your house, and/or save up the money to pay down on the house, while buying the land. I saw a guy do this, he had a mobile, built a house, the mobile went across the road where it replaced an outright trailer, the trailer went somewhere else.
Trailer in a trailer park is a losing proposition though. That has you owning the depreciating trailer, while renting the appreciating land. Bad move, no damn good.
For mnay it gives a option of living a multi famly environment like a apartment wile actuly having control of the single family living areas. It maybe more common as getting a mortgage on a home is harder for many. I use to have a place i the cutry and I definely cold hve lived in the trailer and on land it was on.My wife tho she loved the area and land ;I am not so sure she would have been premanently wanting to live in the trailer tho.
I just looked at some online today and they sure are a cheaper alternative than a real house. I'd like some land to garden and some came with land. A person could save on groceries by growing their own food and having a few chickens on some land. Might not be a bad deal.
I just looked at some online today and they sure are a cheaper alternative than a real house. I'd like some land to garden and some came with land. A person could save on groceries by growing their own food and having a few chickens on some land. Might not be a bad deal.
You can't save money that way. That is one of the myths left over from great depression thinking and the dreams of becoming like Thoreau. There is no way that you can grow a broiler bird for anywhere near what you pay for one in the store. I've tried. The efficiencies of mass production are amazing. The cost of feed alone makes this a no-starter. Some people do it so they have more control over how the bird lives, or they like the taste, but the exercise is costly and involves a daily routine that includes predator control as well as food and water.
As for gardening, the same thing goes. By the time you buy seed, fertilizer, equipment, and insecticide you are in the hole. Add a tiller and you are deeper in the hole. Add fuel and oil and you are deeper. I kept track of our garden expenses the first part of last season. By mid-season I knew I was losing money. Buy produce in season in the stores and freeze or can that, and you can save lots of money, and not have the labor or worry about raccoons and insects and all the other problems of gardening.
Knowing HOW to garden is an important skill. The way food is done these days, growing your own is a hobby. When you note that farmers rarely garden anymore, there is a point to be taken.
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