'Mobile' Homes - Pros/Cons (Detroit: apartments, rent, insurance)

[foglover]

I just retired and am looking forward to returning to Maine. I want to buy a home for under 100K. I peruse the MLS listings obsessively and have noticed that some of the so-called mobile homes have features that I like - a bit of land, outbuildings, more than 1 bathroom, decks. I will be alone, but still require quite a bit of space for my various hobbies - quilting, felting, painting, etc. I am trying to purge my books - 31 bookcases - but it is tough going and breaks my freakin' heart. I say this only to give an indication of my space requirements.

Here in the Albany NY area I don't see mobile homes unless they are in trailer parks. I loathe slab construction and am shocked that so many Maine homes, of whatever brand and vintage, have no basement. (I always lived in apartments in Maine so these things were not on my radar then.) I like basements. However my wallet may dictate going without one. As long as I have other storage space, I can do without the basement storage. However, the idea of having just a pitiful bit of concrete between the earth and my home - well, I'll probably get used to it quickly, but right here, right now, it seems ludicrous.

If I could just get to the point....aargh... Mobile homes are a mystery and my friend google has not been particularly helpful. I'm impatient and probably not using the right search criteria. It's just that I don't understand the mechanicals. Like where the hell are they? Where's the furnace? And the plumbing - I guess if you have a septic system - oh i don''t know even what to ask about that. If something needs fixing, is it hard to get someone to do it? And do you use a lot of heating fuel in those things?

There certainly are a lot of mobile homes in Maine - some are quite pricey - so they can't be all bad. Right?
Any guidance will be appreciated.

[Coaster]

Assuming you mean "mobile" home as opposed to "manufactured" home (one comes with wheels, the other comes in pieces), you definitely want as recent a home as possible. The older ones were/are deathtraps IMO, as well as being nearly impossible to heat in the winter. You have your choice of single-wide, narrow enough to be hauled on the highway, or double-wide, which is essentially two singles joined together under a common roof. (That's simplistic, but you get the idea.)

Systems: Some come with floor furnaces, others with BB hot water off a small furnace in a closet that usually also contains the hot water heater, electrical box, etc. Water and sewage are the same as for a regular home, although you may have to insulate the base of the mobile home to keep the pipes from freezing in the winter. That's a good idea anyway to increase comfort and reduce heating bills.

Living alone, you could probably get by with a single-wide, but you should take a look at various homes before you make a decision. Given your book addiction and space-intensive hobbies, you will likely lean toward a double-wide.

[WhoFanMe]

Are you financing or paying cash? Many older mobiles can't be financed, which might not be a consideration for you now, but for when you move on to your next destination.

[foglover]

Originally Posted by WhoFanMe

Are you financing or paying cash? Many older mobiles can't be financed, which might not be a consideration for you now, but for when you move on to your next destination.

I might be financing simply because I do not have quite enough cash for the full purchase price - pay off will be quick, but I won't tell a lender that. I would stay away from the older models and I am hoping that the next house will be my last.

[Maineac]

Mohos older than 1996 can't be financed other than with a personal loan (no UCC lien filing). Land can be financed at 50% to 60% loan to value. Mohos older than 1976 generally can't be moved from one town to another, but can be moved within a town. Varies with ordinances. Some of the older mobile homes, with the exception of the formaldehyde glue in cabinetry and/or foam insulation issues (may cause respiratory issues in some people) are well built, others are total crap. I bought a 1989 2 bedroom, 2 bath 14 x 84 that came with a deck, steps and deep well pump, blocking and tires for $10,000.00. It's all 2 x 6 frame, and I fitted it with full size insulated doors front and rear. I can rent it out for $600/mo. You do the math. Instead, one of my kids and his family is using it until they get a house built. That math doesn't work as well.

Funny you should bring this up. I drive by an old junker every day someone with a VERY nice car is living in. It has partial Tyvek on the outside, some tin siding and some other stuff. It's a beautiful powder blue where it isn't Tyvek or tar paper. Lift it up, put a cellar underneath with about 10' foundation extension, add onto the trailer for the cellarway (tyvek and tar paper on the new addition) and you've got a beauty that won't get taxed out of existence. Gut the interior, put in cedar, granite countertops, whirlpool tub and all the amenities and don't let the tax assessor in. Mobile home taxes should slowly go down. They depreciate. I say all this with tongue in cheek, but if you want to save on property taxes you gotta look like hell. I like the idea of self-insuring as well.

[Coaster]

I second the "some good, some bad" sentiment. My chief problem with older mobile homes is that they turn into metal coffins in a fire. I covered too many mobile homes blazes where the entire place went up in less than five minutes from first smoke to totally involved, trapping the residents inside and, if they were lucky, suffocating them with the gases from the burning foam insulation before the flames reached them.

[Maineac]

That's true. The one I bought is 2 x 6 framed, framed roof, with 6" fiberglass insulation. My biggest complaint about mobile homes is the Miller Gun furnace that will simply gag a maggot. I may add a 12 x 12 "woodstove room" on the back of this trailer off the living room just to take up the slack and keep the FWA heat to a minimum, which is what I did in the old farmhouse (added a woodstove).

Father had a trailer park years ago and some of the old 1950's and early 1960's "Detroiters" and others were pretty well built, with incredible birch and maple veneer panel interiors. Didn't like to heat well, though.

I just don't like FWA or FHA or whatever heat. Grew up with BBHW. The woodstove heat from the old Ashley isn't the same as the furnace desert-style gagging heat.

[foglover]

Originally Posted by Maineac

Mohos older than 1996 can't be financed other than with a personal loan (no UCC lien filing). Land can be financed at 50% to 60% loan to value. Mohos older than 1976 generally can't be moved from one town to another, but can be moved within a town. Varies with ordinances. Some of the older mobile homes, with the exception of the formaldehyde glue in cabinetry and/or foam insulation issues (may cause respiratory issues in some people) are well built, others are total crap. I bought a 1989 2 bedroom, 2 bath 14 x 84 that came with a deck, steps and deep well pump, blocking and tires for $10,000.00. It's all 2 x 6 frame, and I fitted it with full size insulated doors front and rear. I can rent it out for $600/mo. You do the math. Instead, one of my kids and his family is using it until they get a house built. That math doesn't work as well.

Funny you should bring this up. I drive by an old junker every day someone with a VERY nice car is living in. It has partial Tyvek on the outside, some tin siding and some other stuff. It's a beautiful powder blue where it isn't Tyvek or tar paper. Lift it up, put a cellar underneath with about 10' foundation extension, add onto the trailer for the cellarway (tyvek and tar paper on the new addition) and you've got a beauty that won't get taxed out of existence. Gut the interior, put in cedar, granite countertops, whirlpool tub and all the amenities and don't let the tax assessor in. Mobile home taxes should slowly go down. They depreciate. I say all this with tongue in cheek, but if you want to save on property taxes you gotta look like hell. I like the idea of self-insuring as well.

What is 'self-insuring'?

Hmm. I go back and forth on this mobile home issue. Posts such as yours sway me to the view that I am too ignorant to take on such a home. Now if I could find a rehab like what you envision in your second paragraph for my price...

[flycessna]

I have to go back to your price point of 100k... mobile homes decline in value (and quality) over time and are hard to sell. IMO! I think you could get a home on a lot with a piece of land all which would be what you are looking for and still be around 100k. Then if you HAD to sell you might find it easier.

[Maineac]

You can survive in Maine in just about anything. Personally, I'd look for 2 x 6 framed, pitched roof (preferably standing seam metal - almost lifetime) and good bones. "Self insuring" just means not paying an insurance company ever-increasing premiums. I just had a bad go-around with Concord Group insurance on ice dams. They threatened to drop me if I didn't replace ALL of the roofs on my home (extensive), even though they only leaked in January when we had ice dams. I told them to shove it and switched companies with another Agency. Had I let them drop me, my premiums would have doubled or more no matter who insured me. When I bought the house several years ago, and lived out-of-state, these people (Concord) DEMANDED that I paint the back of the house and garage, which was tar paper and decaying cedar shingles. I explained I planned to re-side the house with wood siding, and I'd get to it when I got to it. The continued to DEMAND that I paint the tar paper and decaying shingles. I simply ignored them and, 3 years later, put on my wood siding and painted it. I despise these insurors, who will do everything they can not to pay a claim, dictate whether you can have a dog or not, a woodstove or not, and on and on. If you do decide to have pets, they'll charge you for it. All the while fighting you for increased premiums and the lowest payout possible on any claim, if they pay at all.

That is not to say that a low priced policy on a mobile home wouldn't be a good idea. When I build my house on the back 40, I'll probably do it with cash, build what I want and screw the insurance companies. I know it sounds silly, but it's a roll of the dice either way. You spend your money and never get it back, or you don't give away your money and nothing ever happens. A lot of people see that as a bad gamble. I see it as somewhat controllable.