Mobile homes in Fla

[Tiggeroo]

I am thinking again about purchasing a mobile home in Fla. We will research the area and park pretty thoroughly first. I know they don't go up in value, but the ones we are looking at are used and pretty inexpensive. It will not be for year round living, but we will use it for alot of trips and for chunks of time in the summer. As we get to retirement age, maybe spend some of the winter there. Is there any reason this would be a bad idea? I am thinking it would be a cheap option to get to spend alot more time somewhere warm, and be close enough to the parks to go there several times a year.

 

[Lanshark]

I have a friend who did this and just keep in mind that even though the mobile homes are inexpensive there is monthly rent on the lot if you're in a mobile home community. I think she pays around $350 monthly.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I know about the lot fees. I will pay the mobile home in full, so the lot fee will be almost the only ongoing expense. How does your friend feel about it. Is she happy with her decision. I know that do to the resale value, I would not get much if I ever decided to get rid of the mobile home. But my kids are almost out of school, and they too could go down their and spend some of their vacation time in the mobile home. If I could find a cheap condo I would do this, but I can't and be in the location I want. I don't want to be more then 20 minutes from the ocean/gulf. I want Disney to be a doable day trip also.

 

[Lanshark]

She too bought an older mobile home. We live in GA and she goes down several times a year. She has run into a lot of expenses with this home that she was not expecting. The roof, the toilets, the sinks all leaked. I believe if she had to do it again she would have probably bought a new home. She is the most detail oriented person I've ever seen and I know she felt the home was very well inspected but these things caught her by surprise. She also replaced all the carpet but that was her choice.

I believe the home she bought was 23 years old.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I don't think I'd go as old as 23yrs. My dh is handy and fixes most things himself. I know to watch out for the roofs. For a time dh re-tarred roofs on mobile homes so he knows this is a week spot. I am not going to be ready to buy for a couple years. If a house was an option, or was even worth the amount of time we'll be spending there I would go that route.

 

[Seahunt]

The only thing I can warn you about is that every night on the local news they have been showing various parks that are flooded out, with pumps running 24/7 to bring the water levels down. Some people have been out of their mobile homes all summer! We have had a lot of rain this summer, and lakes are overfull, and with everyone watching for tropical storms, I'd just be sure that you're not buying into anything with ANY flood potential! If there's a lake next door, maybe skip that park - and be sure to ask if there has been any flooding problems in the past...

This is the kind of reporting I'm talking about:

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. -- Just as Osceola County was beginning to dry out, 3 to 5 inches of rain are expected in the coming days, WESH NewsChannel 2 reports.


Residents of one mobile home park believe that clogged drains are aggravating the problem.

"We got in a boat. We rescued a couple of animals and it's kind of funny to drive down your street. Well actually, row down your street," Julian Henry said. "I think about 1 to 2 inches would just about start to devastate this place again. I mean, that is how much water is left. In my opinion, what they should do is get the county to get out here to clean the canals out so we can get some decent drainage."

But a representative of the South Florida Water Management District said it's not the county's responsibility. Flooding on the property is the responsibility of the mobile home park's management. Concerned residents are pleading for help.

"Give us some kind of an answer, some kind of help. The water was almost waist deep for me to cross and get to the neighbors," JoAnn Hoag said.

What the county is doing is setting up sites for residents to pick up sandbags. Osceola County is also extending an emergency declaration announced a week ago. If the problem were to get worse, the county can try to get state and federal funds to help clean the area and assist homeowners.