Comments on: Are Mobile Homes a Frugal Alternative?

By: SusannL

SusannL — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:00:51 +0000

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.

By: lynda Puff

lynda Puff — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:02:48 +0000

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…

By: Bruce

Bruce — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:37:27 +0000

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?

By: KP

KP — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:45:47 +0000

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.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:23:36 +0000

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.

By: caryn verell

caryn verell — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:37:42 +0000

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.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:43:21 +0000

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.

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:11:24 +0000

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.

By: DL

DL — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:07:17 +0000

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.

By: kimc

kimc — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:38:35 +0000

Bruce,
Great points, and thanks for taking the time to do the math for us!