Are Mobile Homes a Frugal Alternative?
By way of introduction, I am a Texas transplant from the east coast, seeking to live a debt free life. Although not the impetus for my family's frugal journey, Dave Ramsey has been an encouragement to our continued progress. However, I do violate one of his more emphatic points: I live in a double wide mobile home. Dave sees mobile homes as a poor investment often losing value, however, I want to suggest in certain areas of the country, there are legitimate reasons for buying one.
Due to some economic downturns and a lowered real estate market, the money cleared from our east coast property was not what we originally hoped for. Seeking to find debt free housing in our new location was a challenge. A safe neighborhood and room for hospitality were important goals. Purchasing a double wide mobile home became our answer. Yes, our house may not appreciate as well as a stick built home, but we figure we have already saved about $20,000 in rent which may have been our only other option. We have room to garden on our almost 1 acre property and our home provides plenty of space for our many guests.
Some things to look for when purchasing a manufactured home:
Tape and textured walls
Manufacturer with a good reputation
Ownership of land
Some incredible deals can be found right now due to foreclosures. I just want to suggest that quality of life can also be an important part of debt free living and life in a mobile home has been a great alternative to my family. Has anyone else found life in a manufactured home to be conducive to frugal living?
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19 Responses to “Are Mobile Homes a Frugal Alternative?”
March 14th, 2009 at 8:15 am
I too have lived in double wide mobile homes. And I loved the space I had. The beautiful clean lines and decor. Actually I miss the amenities that I had then and not now. At the time I could purchase a nice brand new manufactured home at 1/4 the cost of a house built on site. I currently live in a 100 yr old home that has great charm but can not compare to the sleek beauty of a manufactured home.
March 14th, 2009 at 9:59 am
we live in a manufactured home on the coast of california and when we purchased, it was the only way we could afford to live in such a desirable location, so it has been and continues to be a great value for us, even with a high space rent for the community we live in. it’s not for everyone, but for us it has been exactly what we wanted.
March 14th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
For 15 of the 18 years of our married life my wife and I lived in a mobile home. One of them was 14X80 feet.
It wasn’t the roomiest place. Neither was it cool in summer or warm in winter.
What it was, was inexpensive.
After living in the 14X80 single wide home for ten years we sold it and found that we had spent the equivalent of $14,000 to live in it. $1,400/year is not a bad price.
Not only that, but it was relatively safe. Though we did not ride out Hurricane Katrina in it, it withstood 125MPH winds with no damage other than a little rain water that was blown in around the doors. I can’t say that for a large number of stick built houses in our South MS area.
I have a feeling that many of those who frown on mobile homes may have to re-think their approach.
Do what is wisest and best for you would be my approach.
March 14th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
My young family and I have lived in our home in Arizona fr 5 years and have saved lots of money. We don’t own the land, but ours was built in 1994 and has kept well. We have had a yard, which has given me the opportunity to garden. With DH graduating, we have to sell, but I would recomend it to anyone who is going to be somewhere for an extended periond of time who wants to save money, as long as the house is in good shape, you don’t want to do lots of repairs.
March 15th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Mobile homes can serve a purpose but you should be aware of a few things too. I worked in our city offices and what I find out about mobile homes was.
1. The value of a mobile home goes down each year like a car. The value of a house goes up. You will not be able to see a mobile home for anywhere near what you purchased it for.
3. Many banks will not loan you money for a mobile home refinance so if you are hoping to refinance to get a better rate or another reason, you may be out of luck with a mobile home.
I would rather purchase an older fixer upper house and fix it up slowly ourselves which is what we did. We paid very little & the house we have no is worth so much more than it was when we first purchased it.
March 15th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Thanks for this post. This is something we are currently wrestling with. We are looking at a reputable brand (Solitaire), at their biggest floorplan (2,624 sq ft). If we can ever get our ranch sold, we can outright buy the doublewide free and clear and STILL have enough to build a barn on our seperate farm. The only thing that is nagging us in the backs of our minds is it holding it’s value. Still trying to decide if it’s worth the investment in the long run, but in the short run it totally looks like it is.
March 15th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
My husband and I live and have raised our boys for theheats past 16 1/2 years in a double wide. When we first bought this place, it was the only thing we could afford after moving back up to this area to be close to my in-laws. Our mortgage payments are under $400 a month and we have a large back yard full of fruit trees and 2 berry patches. We also have a garden on the side of the house and a good sized detached garage. Our pellet stove is able to heat our whole home. Due to having a low house payment (way cheaper than rent in this area), we were able to have me homeschool our boys for their last 9 years of school.
March 16th, 2009 at 3:36 am
Mobile homes may be an excellent investment for those trying to live frugally.
It’s true that mobile homes do not hold their value. But, it’ also true that the land the homes are on will appreciate. So, buying the land can help.
But, even if the homes lose value, it’s still economically worth the investment. Consider: If someone could buy a site-built home for $120,000 or a comparable mobile home for $60,000.
If the $120k home is financed at 5% interest for 30 years, the monthly payments would be $644. With interest, the total amount paid for the home would be $231,906.
If the $60k mobile home is financed at 9% interest (they do get higher interest rates than site-built) for 20 years, the payments would be $540 per month and the total cost would be $129,560.
So, if the family stayed in the home for 30 years, the site-built home would cost $102,000 more than the mobile home. Not only would the mobile home family save more than $100k, they would have 10 years mortgage-free in the home. And their monthly mortgage would be $100 less for the first 20 years.
Of course, if the family only stays in the mobile home for 5 or 6 years, they will not save much money over that time and will lose quite a bit in the resale value. So, perhaps the frugality of mobile homes is directly proportional to the number of years the family plans on living there.
March 16th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Could you nicely fit a homeschooling family of 10 in one with space for school books and long-term visiting mothers-in-law?
Who are reputable manufacturers?
March 16th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Bruce,
Great points, and thanks for taking the time to do the math for us!
March 16th, 2009 at 10:07 am
It is wonderful to see how others have found mobile homes to be a frugal alternative!
Hindsfeet asks about space for a family of 10, books and visitors. Our home is 2400 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. One of the reason we purchased our home is that 3 of our bedrooms have connecting bathrooms. As we have been previously and expect to again in the future be involved in parent care, baths in bedrooms were a big seller to us.
The reputable manufacturers in my area would be Solitare and Palm Harbor. We do not know the name of our manufacturer as our home was not new when purchased, but our home inspector said it was very well made.
March 16th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
With the exception of my first two months of my first marriage, I have never lived in a mobile home. However, for as long as I can remember (and I am nearing 30), my grandparents have lived in a double wide trailer. At first, it was just the trailer (3 bdrm, 1 ba) and a detached garage. My grandpa is a carpenter so the garage that was with it became his shop. Since they’ve had their place they have built a newer 2-car garage, attached the old garage to the house, added a porch, and have had it resided. To tell you the truth, looking at the house from the road you wouldn’t be able to tell it was originally just a trailer.
I think what they did was great and given the opportunity, I would probably do the same thing.
March 17th, 2009 at 8:43 am
I agree to a certain extent with the post and the comments. However, growing up in a trailer (wasn’t called a manufactured home then) I have a different aspect to share. Maybe because we lived in a tornado-prone area or it was my mom’s phobia, she flipped out over ever tornado watch/warning/touchdown from 2 states away. Tornadoes are more likely to lift up and rip up a manufactured home than houses. Now of course, a house can be torn up too but there’s more likely to be survivors from a house than a manufactured home. For safety sake, I would choose to rent an apartment or house over buying a manufactured home. I’m also wondering about fire, as manufactured homes decrease in value you wouldn’t get as much from insurance as you would in a house. I’m also wondering if through buying a house you would get more tax breaks than with buying a manufactured home (I’m just not sure how a manufactured home would be defined).
For various reasons, a cheaper area or fixer upper house might be the better option. I don’t have a bias against mobile homes in general (think the people living there are “poor” or anything) but many cities do try to push the mobile homes out of the city limits, etc. I agree that a mobile home would be a more frugal alternative and should be considered overall but please consider all aspects before jumping in.
March 20th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
my double wide manufactured home is now 20 years old…it is entirely wood frame stick built and firmly in place…according to my bank and my insurance company it has not depreciated. we replaced the roof two years ago with a metal roof. and we gave her a new coat of paint on the cedar siding too. we have also added on a back porch and have a two tiered deck. just like a regular house..it must be maintained and taken care of. tornadoes and floods are acts of God..if you invest in a “manufactured home” don’t set it on a hilltop or in a flood prone valley.
March 20th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Your bank and your insurance company may tell you the home hasn’t depreciated, but that does not definitely mean they’re right. First, your insurance company is likely considering “replacement cost” of the home should it be destroyed in a fire or other disaster. In such a case, you would want your insurance to get you a new home rather than pay you the market value of a depreciated home. So, the insurance company wants you to keep it insured for the value of a new home. And that doesn’t even consider that the insurance company charges rates based on how much you insure the home for.
As for the bank, they may be factoring in appreciation of the land over 20 years. Depending on where you live, the land likely appreciated enough to compensate for any value lost in the home.
Finally, I wonder if the bank and insurance co are factoring in all your upgrades. Is it that your home is worth now, with all those upgrades, what the house was worth new, without the upgrades.
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 am
My husband and I bought a 2 acre undeveloped piece of desert for $10,000 and then bought a 3 year old repo Manufactured home for $30,000. The house was in good shape but did need some work done to it. Over the years we customized it by adding a wrap a round deck, and drywalled the only 2 rooms that were not originally dry wall. and also built a large garage on the property. Since we did most all of the work ourselves and were frugal with recycling and finding bargains, we saved lots of money and had a total investment of under $100,000 for everything. We lived there for 14 years and sold it for $289,000. Never did we imagine our yearn to live debt free in the wide open spaces would pay us so well. The family that bought it from us only lived there a year and resold it for $389,000. So they do not always go down in value.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Based on your story, you bought this land at least 15 years ago. You didn’t mention where in the desert it was, though. If it was near Las Vegas or Phoenix, your story might well be the result of the boom in land values in those areas. So again, the profit you received might be a result of the appreciation of land, rather than the value of the home itself.
Do you know of anyone who bought a home and put it on rented land (say in a mobile home park) and also had the home appreciate in value?
May 25th, 2009 at 6:02 am
What alternatives are there to tape and texturing a mobile home? We have recently purchased a 1987 double wide in very good condition. However, our budget does not allow us to tape and texture every room. Suggestions please…
February 21st, 2010 at 11:00 am
I live in Florida, a state where mobile homes are plentiful.
If you are considering living in a mobile home park, factor in lot rent and/or maintenance fees.
Also, there are usually two kinds of parks: Adult communities and general population. Sometimes the retirees in adult communities can be a little too focused on their neighbors and fussy about appearances, noise, visitors, etc. For example, they may complain about extra cars in front of your home when you have guests or noise from visiting grandchildren.
General populations parks are just that. If it is cheap to live there, you may have some trouble makers in the community you don’t want to live around. (I know there are VERY nice parks- but this is just something to consider. (Investing in motion-sensor lights can cut down on vandalism).
Also, if a hurricane comes, be prepared to go to the nearest public shelter unless you have a friend or family member who will take you in until the hurricane has passed. It is foolish to stay in a mobile home and hope for the best.
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