Looking for manufactured home rental parks in safe areas. (Jacksonville: apartment, insurance)

[Babsinbloom]

Hi. I moved here three years ago and married my husband who has lived here in Jacksonville most of his life. We have been living in an apartment but are seriously thinking about buying a manufactured home since the rent keeps going up everytime we renew our lease. I am from another state where my kids and grandkids live and the Company my husband works for has Plants in many areas closer to my family so in time we hope to be transferred to one of these closer areas. For now though, we are tired of paying our hard earned money to a landlord and have decided to invest this same money into something of our own. For our purposes we feel a manufactured home would be our best bet. I'm wondering though if anyone knows of some nice MH rental parks, etc, in safe areas in Jacksonville. If not that, then would someone please give me safe zipcode areas where maybe we could locate some MH parks and check them out.

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.
Babsinbloom

[riveree]

Hi Babsinbloom,

The problem locally is that there are less mobile home parks because the land has become valuable enough to sell in most cases.

My guess would be, most mobile home park owners would sell now if they could - they can really cash out by selling the land .

I'd say look further out in the rural areas, but development has moved out there too.

You could buy your own parcel of land and put a manufactured home on it, but:

1) again, land is expensive here now, so you're going to have to pay quite a bit - even out in the rural parts, it's not unusual for an acre to cost $25k now.

2) manufactured homes are fraught with insurance issues and financing issues - you'll probably pay more for both by going with a manufactured home instead of a regular house.

Why not look into buying a small modest starter home? It's likely to cost you less in the end by going this route, provided you're flexible about location.

[David in JAX]

It sounds like you are making this decision for financial reasons. If your reasons are purely financial, wait to buy a home. Financially, it doesn't make sense to buy a home in Jacksonville right now since prices are just starting to fall and are expected to fall for a few more years. Rent to ownership ratios are completely out of whack and you are more than likely actually saving money by renting. So, save for a larger down payment by renting and hold out until it actually makes sense to buy.

Also, if your landlord wants to raise your rent you may be able to talk them out of it. The apartment vacancy rate is now 11% in Jacksonville, up from 5% last year. That is a HUGE jump in vacancies and things are getting much worse. Many apartment communities are desperate to hold onto good tenants. So, if you are a good tenant, you may be able to talk them into keeping your rent the same with a 12 month renewal.