Now that I am divorced I am currently re-evaluating things. Right now, I don’t want to own a house again. The idea of having a yard and dealing with the typical things of home ownership is very unappealing.
I’m also not a fan of apartment living, especially these days. At the end of the lease, the rent usually shoots up a good amount. Also, you don’t really get to build up any equity.
For me, I would think owning a mobile home would be the best option. As an owner you can still build up some equity which to me would be better than just renting. While you would still have to pay for various repairs, it seems to me it would be less of a drain than owning a typical house.
Another thing I think would be good is that it would be easier to re-locate. While I am happy at my job and like where I am, I have been looking for jobs in other locations. It I did take a position elsewhere, it would be awesome to just attache my home to my truck and head off. No breaking leases or trying to sell a house.
The biggest problem in my opinion is the general view of this type of lifestyle. It is seen as low class and shady, and most of the trailer parks I have seen tend to fit that stereotype.
So, I am curious if anyone has or currently lives a mobile home lifestyle? Do you like it and do you recommend it? What are the pluses and negatives? The more I think about it the more appealing it seems.
Sorry, but as a former mobile home owner, I have some bad news:
a) I don’t know why, but you DO NOT gain equity with a mobile home; you start losing money the moment you sign on the dotted line. You DO pay ground rent.
b) Re-locating a MH is extremely problematic. A lot of MH parks will not take older MHs, they’re trying to sell NEW ones and don’t want you and your MH taking up a lot that could be occupied by a brand new one. You could buy a lot and put your MH there, but that’s a whole different can of worms.
c) You usually have to keep up the yard. And the appearance of the MH.
d) You’re not going to be able to hook up your truck and tow it out–liability issues.
e) You DO sign a lease to rent the ground.
f) There are MHs going for $60,000 and up depending on what niceties you’d like. Plus the ground rent.
g) You’ve been perusing the wrong MH parks. The one I used to live in (18 years ago) was quite nice, maintained rather well and was constantly being upgraded.
My advice to you at this time would be to find someone who is renting a house and is looking for a roommate month-to-month.
What kind of mobile home are you looking at? Do you mean something more like a camper trailer? Because even a single-wide is a huge thing (compared to other vehicles) and it’s not a DIY job to move it somewhere, and I don’t think it would be economical to have one moved a long distance. They’re mobile compared to regular houses, but not mobile like cars.
Anybody remember the story about “Pancake” and his farm tractor trying to move a MH for $100?
Hint: it didn’t work. That’s why we heard about it. It ended up breaking down (with 10 people in it while it was moving) and blocked a public road. The Sheriff ended up paying to have it bulldozed off the road.
They do not build equity. If they did, old ones would cost more than new ones.
They are NOT ‘mobile’ - they require the on-road equivalent of tug boats to move.
The modern MH is moved into position, jacked up with some sort of foundation, and the wheels go back to the factory. They do not move.
This is why there are double- and triple-wide units. They are set up quite permanently.
Have you never seen on on the road? Does rig that look like your truck?
The closest I can think of what you describe is called a ‘5th wheel’ and is a (curious) variaent of a travel trailer.
A Class A RV (the box-on-wheels type) is about the largest thing that can be driven without a special driver’s license.
Yep, it’s what I thought of as soon as I saw the line about just hooking it to a truck. I think all ten of them lived in it too. (I don’t remember the sheriff coming off very well either. Better than the morons in the trailer but still the kind of guy who could move anywhere else and lower the average IQ of both places.)
IIRC, there were 12 listed as living in it.
You just know the breakdown was caused by one of the riders shouting “Look at THAT”! and they all rushed to one side for a look.
Mobile home lot rent around here runs $200 to $300 a month. That’s about half of what an apartment rents for around here (in a decent area, no less).
The parks that require residents to live in a MH they own are generally the best ones. However, if I were you, I’d just go ahead and rent an apartment or house, or even buy a condo if you’re dead set on owning something.
I think what you’re trying to describe is actually a travel trailer. Small and light enough to be towed behind a reasonable pickup truck and set up in a KOA campground or other RV park. My dad had a job where he traveled from one big construction project to the next and had one that he pulled around with his truck. No special permits or licensing required. You’re not going to build equity, but if you buy a good used one, you won’t lose too much if you take care of it. Just bank your savings until you get ready for something more permanent.
I’ve more or less known all of these points, but what I’m not sure about is why–considering these points–someone would choose to live in a mobile home instead of a bungalow apartment, let’s say. What is the appeal of mobile home living?
You can occasionally find a mobile for rent in a mobile home park. Typically, the park landlord doesn’t own it. Some individual owner does, but for whatever reason, chooses to rent it out rather than live in it. I very nearly rented one a few years ago, but the lease came with too many rules so I looked elsewhere. If you’re living on a tight budget, it can be a lot cheaper than renting an apartment.
Mobile home parks come in a whole range of classiness, from nice, down to total tenement-like slums.
I lived in a rented 10x40 (single-wide) mobile for three years, about 10 years ago, that I paid $350 a month for. It was in quite habitable condition, although somewhat old and not at all classy. Much more importantly, it was not in a mobile home park. It was set way back on a 120-acre property in a ravine in a pine-and-oak forest up in the hills, with no other humanly built structure in sight.
You mention the yard. Fair enough, you don’t like yard work. Neither do I (fortunately, my wife does, so I leave it to her). So when you get your house, just pull up any flower beds, shrubs, trees etc, and just turn the whole lot into a big lawn. Then all you have to do is run a mower over it every couple of weeks in the spring/summer. If you don’t even want to do that, pay some neighborhood kid to do it for you. That way, you’ve still got a yard area you can enjoy on sunny days (or just ignore it if you want), with very little maintenance or expense.
As long as you buy a reasonably new house, then any problems you get with the building itself you’ll potentially get some equivalent of with a mobile home.
That just leaves the relocation, which I admit is a problem. But as other posters have mentioned, mobile homes really aren’t - unless you get a travel trailer, which you’ll likely end up getting fed up with fairly soon (I lived in one for about six months, it feels very cramped after a while).
I know there are other reasons, but mine were: there’s no one living above you, below you or on any side of you (True, it’s only 10 feet to your neighbor’s MH, but houses nowadays aren’t much further apart), and if you want to alter/improve the inside, you can’t do that in an apartment. The MH I had had a wall of windows in the front–cold as hell or hot as hell, depending on the season. Had a handyman friend come put a solid wall in; wasn’t too expensive, really improved the climate, and looked like gangbusters from the outside.
And some people prefer the look of a “park” to the look of a “block of flats.”
I’m jumping in to also recommend getting a tiny house. There’s a wide range of sizes and many are on trailers or could be put on one. Check out Tiny House Nation and here’s Tiny House Listings. You’ve gotta admit they’re much cooler looking than a mobile home or your standard trailer.
Am I the only one who finds ‘Tiny House’ to be the worst of both worlds?
The cost of ownership AND the size limits of a (very) small rental. And you still have to mow the damned lawn.
I suspect the people who are telling you to go buy a tiny house have never even seen one, let alone been in one, let alone actually lived in one, let alone owned one.
But the articles on the web and the pics are just SO cool!
I have seen, one, been in one, and know several people who live in them now. It is not for everyone; it can be the best or the worst of both worlds depending upon your perspective.
I heen involved with the movement for a few years. I jokingly like to refer to them as “mobile homes for hipsters,” sometimes I say it is a trailer home for people who would never step foot in a trailer park. It could also be thought of as the difference between a yacht and a boat.
But all this really means is that there are differences, and they are vague. One thing a tiny home does have, for better or worse, is a bit of middle class cache. I come from a middle class/professional background and all of my friends and acquaintances are middle class (even though I myself am lower class/blue collar). When I mention tiny homes, they are very interested in the whole thing. The type of people who go to tiny home meetups in my area are almost all professional types. Statistically, from the albeit questionable research done, people who are interested in living in a tiny home are far more likely to have gone to college, and are also more likely to have a masters level education than the general public.
As far as the nitty gritty on construction goes; you can get a really well made tiny home for 80-90k. Is this a good deal? I don’t know. Your tiny home at this prices is made with SIPS, is RVIA certified an does not need tie ins for anything. At the lower level; there are the Park style RV models, and I have seen them for as low as 30K. They are RVIA certified, but I hear mixed reviews on the quality. Between these two price points, there are dozens and dozens of other options as well. It is also worth noting that the savings of living in a tiny home can come from things such as lower utility and maintenance costs over the long term.
For anyone interested in a more thorough examination of this there are a few Ted Talks and a couple documentaries that go in depth about the pros and cons. There is also the American Tiny House Association which is a good source of information as well as numerous Facebook groups.