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Also consider: "That's just my salary. I didn't include my fiance or her dad". What will happen in the event those added income streams disappear ? What can you afford then ?
I net close to 5k a month. Even with the other 2 disappearing, I can still swing all bills to the house, my other monthly expenses, and walk away with about 1500 a month.
Or moving. Or changing jobs to make more money to stay in the Massachusetts area. Or taking out a larger mortgage than they intended.
You have choices. You just don't like them.
How much of my life do you know about?
I am making the top $ for my job.
Getting an 8 year degree MAY bump me up 10-25k a year, at a 200k expense incurred.
FIL isn't leaving MA. Fiance isn't either.
So I will sacrifice some of my personal wants for the better of the family.
I've made due on less in this rip off of a state.
That's my beef. This state is a rip off and it's due to things beyond my control or rational thinking.
How much of my life do you know about?
I am making the top $ for my job.
Getting an 8 year degree MAY bump me up 10-25k a year, at a 200k expense incurred.
FIL isn't leaving MA. Fiance isn't either.
So I will sacrifice some of my personal wants for the better of the family.
I've made due on less in this rip off of a state.
That's my beef. This state is a rip off and it's due to things beyond my control or rational thinking.
I agree and if my wife weren't firmly entrenched here, I'd relocate my family to greener pastures. There are so many beautiful parts of this great country that are more affordable and every bit as connected to the world today thanks to the internet. But if I relocated to my destination of choice -- southern Arizona -- then I'd definitely buy a decent house in a good community and not bother with a mobile home except as a vacation alternative in Prescott or Flagstaff for example. $20,000 seems like a reasonable price for a 2-bedroom and it would be a very pleasant get-away from the 115 degree summers of Phoenix.
We have our house for sale now. It gets real old, real fast when we shell out over $22K per year on a house, insurance and taxes. We don't have cable because we can't afford it. We drive 16 yr old cars. We don't have cell phones, or iphones, etc because we can't afford it (we have tracfones for emergencies, which is $20 each every 3 months), and between the 2 of us (my tiny pension and SS) we almost make $100K/ yr.
I get $1150 SS and work PT for another $800 net.
I live nicely on $2K month, I have most everything you can't afford.
Cell, internet, nice volvo ( I do the work) but I don't own a house here, the taxes would be tremendous.
Moving up to maine the tax is below $800 yr. I won't be working any more.
The more money I see people accrue, the more they worry. Its that affluenza.
How much of my life do you know about?
I am making the top $ for my job.
Getting an 8 year degree MAY bump me up 10-25k a year, at a 200k expense incurred.
FIL isn't leaving MA. Fiance isn't either.
So I will sacrifice some of my personal wants for the better of the family.
I've made due on less in this rip off of a state.
That's my beef. This state is a rip off and it's due to things beyond my control or rational thinking.
For a happy life, you don't follow a woman. You can carve that in stone.
We have lived in several Mobile Homes and they were very pleasant and cozy. My only problem is that someone up there seems to have it out for them and really wrecks havoc.
Mobile homes are not built to last long. That's why they depreciate in value. The material is not the same. Not only that, but most mobile homes can only be built in certain areas and those areas are not always desirable. For these reasons, the resale value is not good.
Another problem with mobile homes that you haven't factored into this is that most mobile home parks are like being in an apartment complex. Meaning you have to pay very high associations and maintenance fees in the mobile home parks and they're out of your control. That's thousands of dollars you have to pay while you are in that land. If you bought a regular house with no home owner association (HOA), you don't have to pay association fees or lease the land that you buy.
In the long run I think it's more economical to get a cheap house at an affordable price, especially because the house itself maintains its value and can even rise in value, so you can cash out if you need to. Even if it loses value, it usually retains most of its value.
That being said, I can understand why someone might want to start out buying a mobile home, if you're just starting out from scratch or if homes are too expensive in your area. As far as actually living in them, some of the newer mobile homes look almost like houses and are beautiful.
I think the bigger issue is, can you afford a home? I'm not saying that everyone should go out and buy a home. A home mortgage is definitely a big payment that should not be taken lightly. A lot of people buy homes when they just can't afford it. In that case it might be better to just rent or to save up money and then buy when you're ready. Or if you want to live in a mobile home that's an option too. You'll have a little more money to spend on other fun stuff you want, and maybe you value those other activities you do more than you do your own home and dwelling place. It's all about how you want to spend your money. For lots of people saving up and sacrificing for a home might not be worth it, if they would rather spend that money in other ways and don't care for the place that they live in.
Also the parts of a mobile home are different from the parts of a regular home. So there's a whole other ecosystem you have to deal with. That being said, somebody who understands the mobile home industry can make it work, and some people have been able to profitably own mobile homes and even rent them out.
Mobile homes are not built to last long. That's why they depreciate in value. The material is not the same. Not only that, but most mobile homes can only be built in certain areas and those areas are not always desirable. For these reasons, the resale value is not good.
Another problem with mobile homes that you haven't factored into this is that most mobile home parks are like being in an apartment complex. Meaning you have to pay very high associations and maintenance fees in the mobile home parks and they're out of your control. That's thousands of dollars you have to pay while you are in that land. If you bought a regular house with no home owner association (HOA), you don't have to pay association fees or lease the land that you buy.
In the long run I think it's more economical to get a cheap house at an affordable price, especially because the house itself maintains its value and can even rise in value, so you can cash out if you need to. Even if it loses value, it usually retains most of its value.
That being said, I can understand why someone might want to start out buying a mobile home, if you're just starting out from scratch or if homes are too expensive in your area. As far as actually living in them, some of the newer mobile homes look almost like houses and are beautiful.
I think the bigger issue is, can you afford a home? I'm not saying that everyone should go out and buy a home. A home mortgage is definitely a big payment that should not be taken lightly. A lot of people buy homes when they just can't afford it. In that case it might be better to just rent or to save up money and then buy when you're ready. Or if you want to live in a mobile home that's an option too. You'll have a little more money to spend on other fun stuff you want, and maybe you value those other activities you do more than you do your own home and dwelling place. It's all about how you want to spend your money. For lots of people saving up and sacrificing for a home might not be worth it, if they would rather spend that money in other ways and don't care for the place that they live in.
Also the parts of a mobile home are different from the parts of a regular home. So there's a whole other ecosystem you have to deal with. That being said, somebody who understands the mobile home industry can make it work, and some people have been able to profitably own mobile homes and even rent them out.
What about the idea of owning your own land? Then you don't have to deal with the rules and fees; just stick a house there, set up your water, power, and septic tank, and you are good to go. That would be my approach if and when I decide to move farther out from town.
Also, there's nothing to keep you from extending the mobile home into a real house. Build additional rooms, maybe dig out a basement, add a larger porch, build a sturdier and better insulated outer wall. At a certain point... it's a house!
Mobile homes are not built to last long. That's why they depreciate in value. The material is not the same. Not only that, but most mobile homes can only be built in certain areas and those areas are not always desirable. For these reasons, the resale value is not good.
Another problem with mobile homes that you haven't factored into this is that most mobile home parks are like being in an apartment complex. Meaning you have to pay very high associations and maintenance fees in the mobile home parks and they're out of your control. That's thousands of dollars you have to pay while you are in that land. If you bought a regular house with no home owner association (HOA), you don't have to pay association fees or lease the land that you buy.
In the long run I think it's more economical to get a cheap house at an affordable price, especially because the house itself maintains its value and can even rise in value, so you can cash out if you need to. Even if it loses value, it usually retains most of its value.
That being said, I can understand why someone might want to start out buying a mobile home, if you're just starting out from scratch or if homes are too expensive in your area. As far as actually living in them, some of the newer mobile homes look almost like houses and are beautiful.
I think the bigger issue is, can you afford a home? I'm not saying that everyone should go out and buy a home. A home mortgage is definitely a big payment that should not be taken lightly. A lot of people buy homes when they just can't afford it. In that case it might be better to just rent or to save up money and then buy when you're ready. Or if you want to live in a mobile home that's an option too. You'll have a little more money to spend on other fun stuff you want, and maybe you value those other activities you do more than you do your own home and dwelling place. It's all about how you want to spend your money. For lots of people saving up and sacrificing for a home might not be worth it, if they would rather spend that money in other ways and don't care for the place that they live in.
Also the parts of a mobile home are different from the parts of a regular home. So there's a whole other ecosystem you have to deal with. That being said, somebody who understands the mobile home industry can make it work, and some people have been able to profitably own mobile homes and even rent them out.
Do you just make this up as you go? In most states, the code for a manufactured home is stricter than for a site build home. For example, in Florida... A stick built home must withstand 3 second "bursts" of wind. A ON FRAME manufactured (not modular) home must withstand 30 second gusts of wind. How many hurricanes have you been in that have 3 second wind bursts?
As for parks... if you own the land, which is roughly 40% of all communities based on DCA reports, you pay small fees based on the amenities of the community. I worked with one locally that had the HUGE fee of $400 a YEAR! But you can also, like the OP was asking, place it on your own land.
If you have not owned, lived in or worked with manufactured homes since Hurricane Andrew, than you are not aware of what is available.
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