What's the stigma with mobile homes? (recommendation, plumber, square foot, mortgages)

[Katana49]

Buying a home (a REAL home) is statistically proven to be one of the most important aspects along the path of accumulating wealth.

A mobile home will NOT do that for you. Buy a real home. A mobile home can make sense in a few situations, but not in yours. My father for example, he lived in a mobile home... during college. He figured that it would be better to buy one and live in it for 4 years vs paying rent for that time. He ended up selling it when he graduated to another student for the same price he paid.

It made sense for him because he couldn't afford a real home, but he didn't get any appreciation out of it.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

i think the stigma is going down to the basement , looking up and seeing axles ha ha ha

If it has axles or a hitch it's an old fashioned mobile home, not what you want. Modular homes OTOH don't have axles and aren't built on a steel frame like that.
My ex is in construction and I had him check some modular homes for me. He went up under the homes, jumped up and down on the floors, and did some other crazy embarrassing stuff, so that he could tell me that they were actually pretty well built.

[Avalon08]

The stigma with mobile homes is the connotation of "trailer-trash". I mean, they're just not known as upscale communities. Now in FL, we have some beautiful mobile home communities. The one near me has some large homes with screened lanais, carports, landscaping...very lovely and obviously a strictly controlled park. However, the three things that would prevent me from buying are:

Soundproofing - I have dogs that bark and I know those metal walls are not going to muffle that sound, with neighbors that are a few feet away.

Storm worthiness - It does seem like mobile home parks are the first to go in a hurricane or tornado.

Investment appreciation - See all the above comments.

And I'll throw in "stigma". I don't want to feel like I live in the type of home with a "stigma".

[LGR_NYR]

A friend of mine just bought a mobile home in PA as a vaction home. He owns the trailer and the land underneath it. It's a nice size piece of lake front property. Hos mobile home is ok. But, the community at large has trailers ranging from trashy to magnificent. Double wides, two story mobile homes. Some have decks screened in porches. They are very nice.

On a side note AND IT MAY HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED AT some point in this thread there is a "tiny house" movement supposedly taking place in which people are going tiny and are willingly moving into these 20x9 trailers to live with full families.

I was thinking of putting a nice mobile home on my property for my MIL to move into. She would never go for it.

[1973PINTO]

there`s no stigma .. a tornado recently went thru a mobile home park near me and did 1.5 million $ in improvements .....

[evening sun]

I care not what others think, if they are so shallow as to think a home, in a mobile home park is not worthy of them, well a pox on them. So take that! stigma.

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl

This is my impression of what the stigma is, based on an ex girlfriend's place. I'n sure not all MHs suffer from all these issues, but many do.

• Cold.
• Neighbors can be sketchy.
• Almost all components are exceptionally cheap.
• Parks full of animals.
• Noise from highways, neighbors, animals, badly running cars.
• Cramped.
• Fire Trap.
• Must be tied down, but still susceptible to bad storms.
• I've seen few with parks that don't flood often (a couple inches).
• Park may be sold out from under you and it may be difficult to find a new location in the same city, school/safe zone.
• Rain on tin roof sound.
• Retains almost no value.
• Easy to break into.
• Easy to trap someone inside.
• Difficult to get loans for them.
• You don't own the land and can be kicked out.
• Expensive to find a new place to put it.
• Cookie-cutter design.
• Still have to answer to "land-lord."
• In most places, there is a stigma attached to them and can affect your kids and yourself in social situations.
• Interest rates are high because it is not "real" property, but "personal" property.
• Few have a permanent / quality structural foundation.
• No garage/out buildings so many must purchase additional storage space.
• Landlord may prohibit working on cars.
• Landlord may be quick to tow undesirable vehicles.
• Often very little control over landlord increasing rent every year. Then the moving issues come up again.
• Cost of insurance can be excessive compared to perm home.
• Old trailers have almost NO value, an old house is considered "charming."
• Parks generally have no trees between units to block sunlight and heat.
• Open a door and visitor is looking right into your living space.
• Very little opportunity to remodel/improve.
• Walls are paper thin.

True dat. Note that most of the un-fixable problems are due to being on a rented lot in a mobile park. If you buy some land and then put a reasonably good mobile on it, that can be a much better deal. I have posted before that in the North Georgia mountains, where they get a lot of rain, it's common to put an awning or roof on poles up over the mobile, sort of like a car port for a car. This makes them age better, although, an old "true trailer" (not made anymore, but you can find them used) does not age well period, while newer "mobiles" that I would be inclined to call "pre-fabs" age better.

[BostonTankah]

Ya. Trying to make the best of a crap deal in Massachusetts.
Sadly it's going to the elites.
In the meantime us regular folks are getting the crap and of the stick

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by BostonTankah

Ya. Trying to make the best of a crap deal in Massachusetts.
Sadly it's going to the elites.
In the meantime us regular folks are getting the crap and of the stick

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.

[StillRoaming]

I have seen some mobile homes hold their value if they are in the right location such as near the beach or in very nice 55+ communities. You can't expect appreciation like a stick built home. If the mobile home is on a piece of ground you own that is in demand, then you'll do fine selling it for the value of the land. As with any property, location, location, location is the key.

Some of the 55+ communities are a great option for retirees. They are well maintained with little if any crime. Most are rented land though, and that is where you have no control over rent increases and such.

As for buying a mobile home and putting it in an all-age park, I'd be very careful. Parks can feel so cramped, and neighbors seem so close. Years ago my brother bought an older cute 12' x 60' for $6000, put it in an OK but not great park, then resold it for the same amount when he graduated college. He didn't have any problems, but then he was rarely there with work and school.

The quality of the mobile homes I saw wasn't the same as stick built homes. Things like kitchen cupboards were cheaper and more lightweight and they had lightweight walls such as paneling rather than drywall. That may have changed since I haven't been in a new one in years, but I think they shoot for lightweight because they don't want cracking walls and such in transit. Oh, and I knew someone in a nice new doublewide that wasn't leveled correctly and the doors kept closing.

I come from a rural area and there were some low income people living in mobile homes. Some rented a piece of land from a farmer, but lucky ones bought a couple of acres to place it on. Of course zoning always tried to make things difficult for people to place a mobile home even though this was out in the sticks. We fought with the zoning department to be able to put one for a friend on one of our farms. An older mobile home can be a great option for some people without much money, but only if you have a good place to park it.