Mobile homes?? Pros & Cons

[Helopoh]

I am interested in any opinion of Mobile Homes. I might have a deal coming up that will allow us to buy a mobile home. I know absolutly nothing about them. I am curious to know anything good or bad about them. The home we might buy is only 7 years old and in Good Conditon. If we buy it we might have a chance to get on our feet because it would definitly less exspensive than renting. I need as much input as possible. TIA

 

[Tiggeroo]

the disadvantages are mostly in a sense long-term. They don't keep a high re-sale value/increase in value like a home. Also, you pay lot rent, which can be increased at the owners discretion. From what I've seen mobile home living is all dependent on the park. Some parks are well maintained with home owners who care about their yards, and regulations enforced. Others seem to be trashy, with way too many kids, and the roads are nothing but pot holes.
DH and I are considering buying a mobile home in Fla. as a second residence. So this is something we are looking into as well.

 

[wvjules]

tiggeroo is right. It all depends on the park the mobile home is in. Where I live, we have very strict rules. No fences, your deck must be nicely painted, the yard must be cut/trimmed weekly, no baby pools, swingsets, etc. They work hard to maintain a nice park.

I don't mind living in a mobile home. I have 3br/2bath, central air, a garden tub, dishwasher, white walls with beautiful wood accents, plush carpets, an island stove. (I paid WAY TOO MUCH!!!) I have a nice home in a nice community.

But down the road there is a trashy park. You can really tell that they don't enforce rules, if they even have any. It looks really bad. Junk everywhere!

If you want it short term and are getting a good deal, then it's not a bad idea. But if you want it short term and are paying a lot, you will lose money when it comes time to sell. I know I will lose when I sell, but since I'm out of a job, that won't be happening anytime soon.

BTW, I would buy a mobile home instead of rent anyday. This place is mine to do with whatever I want. I don't need permission to hang a picture, paint the walls, etc.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Girls Scout Leader]

Moblie Homes don't HAVE to be in parks. Look into land of your own, too. You may be able to obtain a morgage for the whole thing. Check at your court house local ordinances or a respectable real estate office.

Don't forget to price insurance for it. May come more expencive than a stick built home, and shop around.

 

[Tiger Fan]

As a real estate appraiser my only advice is to warn you that mobile homes DO NOT increase in value. A stick built property will increase, but a manufactured home will be more like a vehicle. In South Carolina our appraisers board has put a stop to giving virtually any value to a mobile home and we can only give value to the land it sits on. If you don't own the land (i.e. a park with lot lease), you will have a hard time in SC. This has all taken place within the past few years. We had a foreclosure rate of near 50% in a 2 year time period and it started all kinds of investigations. Good luck in whatever you decide, this is just what I know from our state.
Lisa

 

[momsal]

I lived in a mobile home and it was nice but like everyone said it depends on where it is. Also aroud here you better make sure you have a place to put it BEFORE you buy it!! Even if it is in a park already you need to talk to the park owners and make sure you can stay there!!

If you can buy your own land that is better because then you can be working on building a house ( if you want) while you live in the trailor.

 

[Beauty]

Honestly we bought a new triple wide mobile home a few years ago. It was huge as mobile homes go...over 2000 square feet. It was gorgeous, huge tubs, gorgeous decorations and carpet, both a living room and a den with built in book shelfs and a fireplace. We also bought 2 acres of land so it wasn't in a park.

Well from day one we had problems! Nothing would ever stay fixed. The roof would leak, they would fix it, 2 weeks later they were back. The plumping meesed up a lot. And I'm sorry but when it storms even with the concrete and tie downs it was scary as heck! We had the shingles blown off the roof and the skirting blown off twice in the year we were there and these weren't from huge storms!

So a year later when we decide to finance with my mom and buy this home we COULD NOT sell that thing. Not even losing tons of money. It was in wonderful shape but it was a mobile home.

I know a lot of people live in them and are happy but I can say that for us it was the biggest mistake we ever made.

 

[Minnesota!]

I have never lived in one, but I know my DH's grandma did, and when she passed away, they COULD NOT sell it. Not for nothing. So, they "gave it back" to the park, and they ripped it down and built a new one there. His aunt still lives in the same park, and she said if she were to sell, she would get maybe $4000 for it.

I would recommend not doing it.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

there's also the tornado factor to consider

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

I had a mobile home many years ago with my first Husband. The only reason why we sold it was so we could divorce. I truly loved my little house. We bought it from the manufacturer, and custom designed the floor plans before it was even built.

Many things were wrong with it when it was new. The roof leaked, etc. We had them all fixed, because it was still on a warrenty. Still......I loved my little house.

My house was 14 X 70, front kitchen, garden tub, huge master bedroom, small 2nd bedroom. and residential slate blue siding. Technically, we lived in Mechanicville NY, but most people seemed to think that it was Clifton Park.

When it came time to divorce, the lawyer insulted me by saying that we were "homeless". My lawyer never saw my georgeous little home with a full sized fireplace. He considered a mobile home, no matter how big, to be an automobile.

No matter how sturdy, big, and beautiful, mobile homes get, a lot of people look at the people who own them as "Trailer Trash".
This is totally unfair !! If the timing was right......Yes.......I would still buy one today.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

I have a 3 bedroom 2 bath DW right now and we love it.we are outgrowing it and will be selling it next year,and then we will be building a modular home.i love my mobile home it was perfect for our first home and we have lived here going on 4 years and never had 1 problem.there are some manufactuers that you have to watch out for,ours is a Clayton we looked for a while befrore we found what we were looking for and good quality.we will be putting on the market for a whole lot more than what we have in it,there have been several in my area that have made a huge profit off of them.we have a half an acre lot with ours.we have also pulled all the carpet and put in hardwood floors and new higher quality carpet,and it is beautiful.everyone that walks in my home just cannot believe that it is so nice.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

My parents bought one when I was 17 because it IS cheaper than renting in most cases. I think that's the main pro. They are also pretty roomy. I stayed in the master bedroom (because I had a baby and it was me and the baby in the room) and it was as big as my living room is in DH's and my first house...if not bigger. The master bath was bigger than our master bathroom here is. Our's was a 18x80 I believe. It was really nice. We did have problems with it at first, but it was under warrenty and it was all fixed. There were a few storms that shook the house but it stayed in place. I have always been parinoid about tornadoes, and the last year I lived in that house a tornado hit our area (although none of us were home at the time) and I expected to come home and not have a house...it was still there though. So, that's the con...but in some places tornados aren't that much of a problem (in Texas they are). We also had our own land for it. You don't HAVE to put it in a park. And if you're buying it from someone that already has it there, you don't HAVE to keep it there...that's why they're called MOBIL homes, they are mobil so it can be picked up and moved wherever you want. I suggest you try to find your own little lot for it rather than putting it in a park. I'd rather live in a very small apartment than live in most of the mobil home parks around here.

 

[Mishetta]

A dear friend of mine was renting but decided to buy a mobile home to save money. She got a really good deal on a used one & although in the end, she basically gave it away, she had saved enough money for a down payment on a small condo. She is now living in a 3500 sq ft home in the San Diego area.