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Hi all, I posted part of this in the Real Estate forum but want some advice so here is a crossover, if that's allowed.
My elderly husband is in decline (he's 81, I'm 68) and in the near future we may be looking to sell our current home and make significant changes.
My dilemma is this: should I purchase a beautifully appointed, so-called "tiny house" (they used to be called "mobile homes, lol) in an over-55 community with a $600 per month rental fee or a "real house" in a regular neighborhood? The price differential for the home would be around $150k, which could be otherwise invested. Still, there is that rental fee.
The MH's are all around 1100 square feet with a 3/2 layout, large bathrooms and beautiful kitchens. The park is being rebuilt after an arson fire three years ago to a very high standard (including a pool!). If the homes weren't so nice I wouldn't consider them but a stick built house which is just as nice, to me anyway, will cost a minimum of $150k more.
I'm talking myself into the MH but don't want to regret it down the line.
Hi all, I posted part of this in the Real Estate forum but want some advice so here is a crossover, if that's allowed.
My elderly husband is in decline (he's 81, I'm 68) and in the near future we may be looking to sell our current home and make significant changes.
My dilemma is this: should I purchase a beautifully appointed, so-called "tiny house" (they used to be called "mobile homes, lol) in an over-55 community with a $600 per month rental fee or a "real house" in a regular neighborhood? The price differential for the home would be around $150k, which could be otherwise invested. Still, there is that rental fee.
The MH's are all around 1100 square feet with a 3/2 layout, large bathrooms and beautiful kitchens. The park is being rebuilt after an arson fire three years ago to a very high standard (including a pool!). If the homes weren't so nice I wouldn't consider them but a stick built house which is just as nice, to me anyway, will cost a minimum of $150k more.
I'm talking myself into the MH but don't want to regret it down the line.
Thanks in advance.
A "tiny house" is not the same as a mobile home, and certainly not 1100 square feet, which is bigger than my two-bedroom condo.
Quote:
What is a tiny house, and just how tiny is it?
Typically, tiny homes are between 100 and 400 square feet. While there isn’t a set standard, a tiny house rarely exceeds 500 square feet. Beyond that size, they’re merely, um, small.
With a mobile home your real estate taxes will be lower than a comprable stick built home. OTOH, a mobile will not gain in value the way a stick built will. 55+ parks usually are safe and quiet. Good luck to you.
With a mobile home your real estate taxes will be lower than a comprable stick built home. OTOH, a mobile will not gain in value the way a stick built will. 55+ parks usually are safe and quiet. Good luck to you.
But wait, the OP said there is a rental fee, presumably for the property the MH sits on. Would they have to pay taxes on top of that? Not sure how this works.
But wait, the OP said there is a rental fee, presumably for the property the MH sits on. Would they have to pay taxes on top of that? Not sure how this works.
It depends on how the park is regulated by the town, when I lived in a mobile we were taxed on the value of our residence and we also paid rent for the spot it was on. Still it was cheaper than renting an apartment.
If its NOT a co-op and the park pays the tax, then there is no tax paid by individuals but the cost will be passed along in higher rent. I'm no tax expert and things are different everywhere. I speak in generalizations only.
I love mobile homes but you have to be careful. In many cases the owner of the park can sell it and then you're stuck. Or the owners can raise the rent on the land and again, you're stuck.
My parents had a mobile home in a retirement park as a summer home after they retired but there had been one of those messy predicaments like what I described above. It was settled by having all residents pay into the ownership of the land. Everyone bought a share and in that way there was no owner able to sell the land beneath their feet.
The mobile home parks I've seen offered more privacy than a condo and were quiet. You had your own yard, which you don't get in a condo. I wouldn't want the upkeep on a house and it gets worse and worse as time goes by and you are able to do less for yourself.
However, I have seen condos that had teeny fenced in backyards but it's still more like an apartment home. Depends on what you like--a yard of your own? A real house? Just a unit in a building? A mobile home will depreciate in price and you have to watch out for the possibility of the owners selling the land out from under you but if they had them around here and you could be sure the land wouldn't be sold I'd go for a cute mobile home with a little bit of a yard so I could have a garden and some privacy.
Mobile homes (which can be 2000sf or larger) are not the same as tiny homes, which are usually less than 600sf.
Modern "mobile homes" are not really mobile, and are now called manufactured homes (MH).
You can have a manufactured home on your own property, not just in a park. No rent, possibly larger lot, no HOA rules.
Manufactured homes can go up in value. We sold my MIL's home (in a park) for 50% more than she paid for it, because residential property of all kinds went up in value.
Our MH on acreage is worth about twice what we paid for it four years ago.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
Hi all, I posted part of this in the Real Estate forum but want some advice so here is a crossover, if that's allowed.
My elderly husband is in decline (he's 81, I'm 68) and in the near future we may be looking to sell our current home and make significant changes.
My dilemma is this: should I purchase a beautifully appointed, so-called "tiny house" (they used to be called "mobile homes, lol) in an over-55 community with a $600 per month rental fee or a "real house" in a regular neighborhood? The price differential for the home would be around $150k, which could be otherwise invested. Still, there is that rental fee.
The MH's are all around 1100 square feet with a 3/2 layout, large bathrooms and beautiful kitchens. The park is being rebuilt after an arson fire three years ago to a very high standard (including a pool!). If the homes weren't so nice I wouldn't consider them but a stick built house which is just as nice, to me anyway, will cost a minimum of $150k more.
I'm talking myself into the MH but don't want to regret it down the line.
Thanks in advance.
There are way too many variables above what you state to allow any reasonable choice between the two.
I could relate my journey, but it is irrelevant. Finances and location, long term values, proximity of medical care, general neighborhood ambiance, taxes, HOA fees, lot rent, income tax on retirement income, utilities cost, all of those play a part.
What happens when an investor buys the park and you have to move? It is happening all over the country.
Maybe you should think about a small condo. Would be less expensive per month than a trailer and less expensive to buy than a house.
^^^This. Not an insignificant risk. It is indeed happening all over the country. The real estate where the MH is located is not yours. Its rent can be raised without limit as and when the owner wants to. Even if the current owner is not inclined, who can say about the next owner. In this scenario, the owner of the MH is out of luck - either pay a hugely inflated rent or move the not so mobile MH or abandon it. And, this is happening a lot as some REITs have discovered "untapped value" in the mobile home parks.
That is the risk you should understand before making such a decision.
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