Mobile Home Decision
Noticing some new comments coming in on an older post written about our mobile home decision, I have again decided to broach this subject. Husband, Youngest Son, and I still live in our double wide mobile home on nearly an acre of land. We paid cash for our property about six years ago. Our subdivision is made up of both mobile homes and stick-built houses. This is unusual in many states but more common in Texas where we live.
Although we do understand about the cautions concerning the depreciation of mobile homes, we believe our house would sell for at least what we paid for it if not more. We still enjoy living in our home and are grateful to live in the area that we do. Our goal at the time of purchase was to live debt free. As we could not afford any traditional homes in an area we deemed safe for our available cash, the double wide mobile home became our best option.
We considered renting, but decided we wanted to own the property we were living in and have been pleased not to pay rent or a mortgage payment each month. Considering the dearth of good interest rates and lack of safe investments, Husband and I believe that purchasing of our home rather than investing our cash and then renting has paid off.
Yes, there is a stigma that comes with living in a mobile home. I have people tell me they would never live in a "trailer." These comments really do not trouble me. I am grateful for honest communication and am used to living with other labels not everyone appreciates. As a Bible-believing Christian, a stay-at-home mom, and one who started homeschooling years ago when everyone was concerned with "socialization," I am used to a bit of controversy.
Husband and I are grateful for the home we live in as it has served us well. After many months of drought, the rains have let us know our roof is leaking. However, finding a solution to this problem seems much less stressful than when we owned a 100 year old home with much character, sound construction (and a mortgage), but a steeply pitched roof that cost us a small fortune to repair.
As I have again been reflecting on this topic of purchasing a mobile home, I am wondering how many others are still pleased with making such a decision?
Just for fun I have included this link. It is such a delight to see how some give mobile home living such a flair!
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9 Responses to “Mobile Home Decision”
November 29th, 2011 at 5:50 am
I live in a mobile home. It doesn’t hurt anything but your pride. ;0) When people tell me they wouldn’t live in a trailer, I really want to ask them just who the heck do they think they are? I’ll bet if they needed a roof over their heads and that’s what’s available, they’d live in it. But some people are just better than me. I’ve accepted that. I try not to smirk when those same people complain about debt collectors. I really do try.
November 29th, 2011 at 8:39 am
I grew up living in a mobile home. Our first mobile home was so small you had to go outside to change your mind. It was 10X30. We lived there with mother, dad, and 4 kids. I admit I did not like it one bit. I was the oldest kid and thought I ‘needed’ my own room. Then we got a ‘new’ mobile home. We thought it was so big. It was 12X50. We moved into a mobile home park. That was very nice because there were a lot of other kids there and we all lived in the same kind of home. Finally years later my parents got a brand new, no one ever lived in it before, mobile home and moved it to an acer of land that they brought. Again, I was not happy. No longer in the park with the other kids it was back to being in a group that looked ‘down’ on mobile homes. Trailer Trash was a favorite name. I never did understand it, but as a kid it sure did hurt. We lived in a small town in Texas.
My son and daughter in law brought a double wide mobile home. They live there with their 2 children on 43 acers of land. My son works, my dil stays home with their children. That is how my son wants it.
There is nothing wrong with a mobile home. If you take care of it a mobile home is just as good a home as a stick built home.
November 29th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I don’t understand “trailer trash”. I’ve never lived in a trailer, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t. In fact, sometimes I dream of living in a RV after dh retires.
November 29th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
i would be the first to get in line and defend your decision regarding a mobile or manufactured home. we retired from the marine corps 23 years ago and already had the five acres..we found a beautiful manufactured home with a real roof, real cedar siding and a vaulted living/dining room ceiling. it has three spacious bedrooms and two excellent bathrooms. over the years we have added a back porch, a metal/tin roof, and a huge double deck. we have no wheels or trailer hitch on our house. it is basically no different than a regular stick house except that under the floor boards we have a steel frame. at the time we bought our home, it cost less than a brand new car. we have over the years been able to afford the additions, any maintenance needed, etc..which has not been much different than if we had a regular house. and after eight years of living in our “mobile” home, we were finally allowed to attach our electric box to the house instead of a pole (which we had to buy). if my house sat on main street instead of the middle of a forested five acres you would not know that it is a manufactured home. our home is also, because of the floor plan easily handicap accessable as well.
if anything, my home has “appreciated” in value during a severe housing shortage brought on by the economy. am i worried that my house might not last to be handed down through the generations? not in the least.. the money saved on my retirement home has helped put my son through college, and kept us pretty much debt free. when i am gone to my maker, my son can use it, rent it out, or strike a match and burn it down..it will be his then.
November 29th, 2011 at 6:53 pm
We live in a mobile home we purchased over 20 years ago! We have over an acre of land, also mixed in 1+ acre lots of mobiles and stick builts. Would I do it again? Probably not – but just because repairs seem such a pain, as parts in mobiles (at least older one’s like ours) are not standard. It’s still a decent home though. At the time we bought it new it was one of the nicest one’s you could buy. 1680 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, family room, tape and textured walls, vaulted ceilings and we “pit set” it so it sat on a permanent foundation. Later we added a big garage/shop. I wouldn’t like living in a mobile home park, but for the most part, living on our own land, it feels pretty much like a stick built home.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Our first two homes were mobiles set in a subdivision with property. Our first doublewide was 1100 sq.ft. that I bought brand new for less than $25k – our friends were struggling to pay for their “real houses” and buying cars that cost what our house did! If we had stayed there it would have already been paid off – 15 year note.
Our next house was 1/2 a mile away – a 2600 sq.ft. 4 bd/3 ba foreclosure on 3/4 of an acre. It was HUGE. We lived there 3 years and made a $25,000 profit at the sale. We would still live there except for job changes.
Now we live in a site-built house in what most would consider a starter home development. The 2600 sq.ft. mobile we lived in had nicer finishing touches than the basic builder’s house we have now!
People crack me up – the same people who would never live in a “trailer” will purchase a $100k + motor home that has the same types of cabinets, etc. as most mobile homes.
December 3rd, 2011 at 3:03 pm
I grew up in a mobile home and have nothing against them, but the thing is, my husband is a realtor with experience in helping (or trying to help) people resell their modular homes and I have to recommend that people try NOT to buy them if they ever expect to have to resell. It’s just reality. (We’re in NC if that matters.)
I do agree that debt free living is absolutely the way to go, and if you are happy with your home and won’t have to sell it and recoup your investment, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I have seen many of these homes and they are beautiful. But for most people it is not the best financial decision, and I have friends who have found that out the hard way.
One more thing-if you live in an area prone to severe weather (i.e. tornadoes) a modular or mobile home is the last thing I would want to be in. Granted our area saw that even a traditional home is not all that safe in a tornado-one example right down the road from us!-but mobile homes NEED to be evacuated from in severe weather.
December 3rd, 2011 at 3:53 pm
connie:
I appreciate your cautions,however, my point is not that mobile homes are the best investment although it does depend on the area you are living in. We found buying a mobile home to be more economical and meet our needs better than renting.
I also happen to have friends who sold their mobile home after living in it for 6 years in Texas and gained about a $35,000 profit. Whereas, another friend purchased a beautiful traditional home in California and now his home is worth $200,000 less than when bought.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Something to think about that I forgot to mention…
If you live in an unincorporated area without building codes, as we did, we felt that a mobile home was a safer choice than existing site-built homes in our price range simply because mobile homes have to meet federal safety standards (wiring, plumbing, etc).
My father-in-law is a master electrician and he jokes that the homes in our area aren’t up to “code” unless there’s an extension cord INSIDE the walls running power.
Something else to think about when deciding on site-built vs. mobile/modular home.
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