Is being trailer trash really all that bad?

Jay_W wrote: I know someone who lives in a t-park, everything was fine till the park owners sold, now her expenses went up 700/month, just like that. Can't sell, can't move, danger will robinson.

That's one of the same dangers you have with condos.

Anything you buy that people other than you influence your ability to sell is a bad idea.

Taken to an extreme any home has other people influencing your ability to sell since even in a Single Family Home the overall desirability of the neighborhood and how others keep up their homes influences your ability to sell to some degree. But it's a totally different risk level.

I get calls ever day from people in trailers, manufactured housing and condos who are desperate and cannot sell.

My parents owned a MH as a winter abode in (where else) Florida. It was a double wide and even had an attached utility room on the side (behind the covered carport) and the ubiquitous sunroom at the front. Build quality was "OK", sturdiness was debatable; I wouldn't want to be in one during a wind-event.

What made it nice was the community, the most important aspect for any domicile. The 'rents place was on a dead-end canal; more like a long, skinny lake that was too small for power craft. The opposite side was undeveloped farm land. It was great fun to go out back, sit on the dock under the big old oak trees, fish and drink beer. And look across the water to see basking gators on the bank with grazing cows behind them.

The 'rents also once bought and installed a modular in a "lake" community. Full-basement, trucked in with two big-azz sections. Build-quality was actually very good and it coped extremely well with the cold winters in NW PA. It was not unlike a well-built stick home. But the interior walls were marred by those damn ugly exposed strips that covered the wall panel sections; nothing screams MH more than that concession. Ewwww........

There's a Modular manufacturer near me, I see them going up and down the highway all the time. Two halves, each on its own trailer, sometimes with a third trailer carrying something else, widow's walk? I agree with oldsaw, build quality has come a long way, unfortunately some communities won't allow them.

The same Mfr. made a ton of coin in Japan. He made up two story stackable homes that fit in a shipping container, 1/2 in each container. They had the traditional Japanese recess on the porch for shoes, old world paper charm and cheaper to mass produce here and ship there that to make over there. I understand wood is expensive over there.

Dan

I would run away, but then again, I had to live in one from 4th-12th grade after my parents divorced. Would have moved in, in the early 90s, in an early 80s trailer.

I'm sure they have come a long way since then, but I absolutely refuse to ever live in one again.

I'd rather try to rent a condo or something.

I lived in a travel trailer for about 5 of my college years.

As a single guy, it was perfect. Right amount of space, super-easy to move, cheap rent while still being my own place that I could do whatever I wanted to (seriously, I was paying less than half of what the apartment-dwellers were, while I was living by myself vs them splitting between multiple people).

Having two people started stressing the space, and I ended up selling the trailer and moving into a house about 2 months after getting a dog.

If I became single again, I'd have no issues picking up another as a new bachelor pad, but while I've got the wife, kid, and mulitple canines, it's not even remotely an option.

Plus, I like having a garage.

I have nothing to add except:

It the trailer is rockin', don't come knockin'

Jay_W wrote: I know someone who lives in a t-park, everything was fine till the park owners sold, now her expenses went up 700/month, just like that. Can't sell, can't move, danger will robinson.

That sounds like a lawsuit... 700 per month extra? per year I can see feasible.

Our bookkeeper lives in a mobile home that she owns outright, but pays lot rent. Hers is about 350.00/mo. Not a bad location, all the crappy ones were literally blown away in our recent storms. BUT, hers is older and in bad shape. Park has been sold to an industrial park developer. Her home cannot be moved, new owners have offered her 3K for her to just leave. Now it's lawyer time. Don't know how it will work out, but there has been a lot of this happening in SoFla. MH parks are big properties, usually in a decent area, don't bring in much profit. Easy prey for developers, even now.

Ahh...Didn't know they are month-2-month. Still sounds iffy legally to raise that much.

It's like any neighborhood/area: how are the neighbors, clean yards, nice people, low crime, .... Seen some really great loking m-f housing areas.

Carguy is right: often--most of the time, actually--motor home loan are akin to car loans. I know a few realators who wouldn't touch one because the financing can be a nightmare. Though I suspect in different areas of the country lending will vary.

The manufactured-_kit" house moved in a day, and doesn't have axles under it: that's a house. Regular financing applies.

THE WORST: a liveaboard boat. OMG!!! I got an apt for a month, then I was OK!

speaking to mofo selling his rolling house... it's a nice place... i'd live there for what he paid for it...

as for selling it... I don't know about MI but here in FL you can easily do a rent to own type deal... seen it done all the time around here... a $2000 down payment and $400 a month "payment" don't know the ins and outs of it but know its done... and my grandpa who owned a few hundred dwelling places (hard to call em houses as he was a slum lord for the most part :-/ did the rent to own type deal in MI (there was a proper term but it was pretty much the same thing)

donalson wrote: speaking to mofo selling his rolling house... it's a nice place... i'd live there for what he paid for it... as for selling it... I don't know about MI but here in FL you can easily do a rent to own type deal... seen it done all the time around here... a $2000 down payment and $400 a month "payment" don't know the ins and outs of it but know its done... and my grandpa who owned a few hundred dwelling places (hard to call em houses as he was a slum lord for the most part :-/ did the rent to own type deal in MI (there was a proper term but it was pretty much the same thing)

then reposess and evict on the first late payment, keep the proceeds and rent to own to someone else. a lot like the buy-here-pay-here car lots.

I have one. My MiL bought it new. It was the best one available about 10 years ago, with the "arctic insulation package," >2K sq ft. It is very nice, and nothing at all like the ones from years ago. I would put the build quality at better than average apartments, or about inexpensive house level. Heating is a little cheaper than my house, cooling a little more, but there's more sun on it. Real roof, etc. I hate to call it a MH, but it did arrive on wheels, so there you go. Lot rent is free.

Only if I can have these guys as my neighbors

Sorry, I just couldn't believe no-one hotlink'd them yet.

As usual, I have nothing useful to add. carry on.

I did the mobile home thing a few years ago when a relationship went bad and I needed a place to call my own.

It was not TOO bad.. but the neighbors.... well, they were better left forgotten

914Driver wrote: I agree with oldsaw, build quality has come a long way, unfortunately some communities won't allow them.

There's a reason they don't allow them as the quality of even the best modular home doesn't meet the standards of the worst stick built and therefore they bring the value of the whole area down because they don't "weather" well.

There is a time and a place for a mobile home or a modular home but if you're contemplating buying vs. renting the odds don't favor the purchaser.

NO. There are McMansions that you would NEVER tell were a modular home, and in fact have raised the value of the houses in the area. And they meet the SAME inspection standards as a "normally" built house.

You're thinking of the garbage ones built by fly by nights--esp in the '50s. Go look at a modern 3 story modular home, and you might rethinik about modular homes.

A mobile home should never be thought of as in the same category as a modular house...

Someone (cwh?) brought up MH parks that get sold out from under the renters; yes it does happen. There was one ~3 miles from my house that happened to maybe 3 years ago. The owner of the MHP said 'mobile home park is what you do with land while you are waiting for something better to happen'. Something like 35 families lost their homes, some of the MH's were so old they couldn't be moved but instead were bulldozed- at their expense, not the landowner's. Bad deal all around for the families involved.

And the land is still vacant to this day.

carguy123 wrote:

914Driver wrote: I agree with oldsaw, build quality has come a long way, unfortunately some communities won't allow them.

There's a reason they don't allow them as the quality of even the best modular home doesn't meet the standards of the worst stick built and therefore they bring the value of the whole area down because they don't "weather" well. There is a time and a place for a mobile home or a modular home but if you're contemplating buying vs. renting the odds don't favor the purchaser.

Not always true, carguy. I'd venture it depends on thequality of the home and the attitude/requirements of the community.

My folk's place in PA is a good counterpoint to your assertion. They purchased a lot in a restricted-access lake community; no pass - no entry, no OK from a resident - no entry. Strict standards had to be met; their home met those standards.

Their "house" was next door to a stick home, the homes directly across the street were stick built, the homes behind their property were stick built. Anyone driving down the road wouldn't immediately identify their place as a manufactured abode.; the only real clue was the roof pitch.

I'm not saying you have no points, but your blanket statement doesn't wash either.........

Watch the obituaries <<<<< the kids want to sell these places for cheap >>> 50 or older only parks are Bull shizzle they have to take a couple young people by law. I just had a 14 by 70 with front room ...... end lot.......... water damage ... wanted to give away . Could have fixed and rented>>><<< the $239 park rent water/sewage/garbage <<<<<<< no cable electric .

Maybe all hope isn't lost on a stick built yet.

One of the factors of me looking at a MH was a mortgage application I filled out last week. I filled it out online with a pretty large mortgage company. I received a call back right away from a loan officer. For 2 days he was in constant contact asking questions and then poof he never called back. I left a couple of messages for him this week and still nothing.

Well it does seem that those little "contact us" tabs on company web sites DO actually work. I wrote a honest but scathing email "to whom it may concern".

Less than an hour later I received a reply from the Senior Vice President saying - "Mr (blank) WILL be calling you shortly, if he doesn't I will."

Unfortunately, I was working and wasn't available to answer one of his 3 calls or 2 emails in 3 hours.

Either way I'm still taking the wife to tour the park were I thinking about relocating and touring some of the models for sale tomorrow. Will post more soon.

triumph5 wrote: NO. There are McMansions that you would NEVER tell were a modular home, and in fact have raised the value of the houses in the area. And they meet the SAME inspection standards as a "normally" built house. You're thinking of the garbage ones built by fly by nights--esp in the '50s. Go look at a modern 3 story modular home, and you might rethinik about modular homes. A mobile home should never be thought of as in the same category as a modular house...

I see all kinds of modular homes and I see the results plus I see the lending standards. A number of the McMansions use prebuilt walls, not the whole house moved in on wheels. Prebuilt walls are not necessarily better, but they're not necessarily worse either.

My point

oldsaw wrote:

carguy123 wrote:

914Driver wrote: I agree with oldsaw, build quality has come a long way, unfortunately some communities won't allow them.

There's a reason they don't allow them as the quality of even the best modular home doesn't meet the standards of the worst stick built and therefore they bring the value of the whole area down because they don't "weather" well. There is a time and a place for a mobile home or a modular home but if you're contemplating buying vs. renting the odds don't favor the purchaser.

I'm not saying you have no points, but your blanket statement doesn't wash either.........

Which blanket statement? The one where I said there was a time and a place for a mobile or modular home or the one about the huge financing and resale issues with mobile homes?

OK, there may not be a time or a place for a mobile home, but there IS a huge financing issue. It's the first loan money to disappear and the last to reappear. It is usually more expensive and NO they do not last as long as a traditionally built home.

I've worked with them my entire life. I moved around the country in one just about my whole childhood and I live in the country where they are many more of them than you'll find in any city.

I have a mortgage company and I deal with the guidelines on a regular basis.

Your parents home may be very nice, and it may fit their needs, but it will never have the resale value, ease of sale or the life expectancy of the neighbor's houses.

carguy123 wrote:

914Driver wrote: I agree with oldsaw, build quality has come a long way, unfortunately some communities won't allow them.

There's a reason they don't allow them as the quality of even the best modular home doesn't meet the standards of the worst stick built and therefore they bring the value of the whole area down because they don't "weather" well. There is a time and a place for a mobile home or a modular home but if you're contemplating buying vs. renting the odds don't favor the purchaser.

I don't know if there is a terminology gap here or what, but a statement that modular homes built by a reputable builder isn't as well built and long lasting or even better than a stick built simply isn't true. You can argue that a "mobile home" or "manufactured home" that you tow to a site, pull the wheels off and fasten the two sections together and anchor down isn't equal, but a true modular is a whole different animal.

Quality modulars are built to the same standards or better as on-site stick using the same materials. The only difference is that they are built in sections (in a better controlled environment) and assembled on site. I've been to modulars that you positively couldn't tell it wasn't stick