Trailer or house?

[Josephhgoins]

So here is the option that I have and I am having trouble deciding. What would you do?

Option 1 - Purchase a mobile home and a small tract of land. This is the cheapest thing. It will depreciate, which isn’t that big of a deal if I keep it forever. These are now very comfortable but there is a stigma about them. Although, I would want to do some basic upgrades (i.e. hardwood floors, nice counter tops, etc.) I could easily do those as I had cash on hand and not finance those with the mortgage.

Option 2 – Purchase a House with a small amount of land. This is much more expensive. It will appreciate, which is a great thing if for some reason I need to sell in the future. Most everyone wants a house. I would be more inclined to have friends over and more proud of my purchase.

Both options get me a home. I can have a small garden, work shop and separate office with either option. Both would keep me warm and dry and do all the things that a home should.

Payment – payment will be about the same for both options. A trailer would be paid for in 7 years and a house in 30.

It comes down to the costs, a house with a 30 year payment or a trailer with a 7 year payment. I just can’t decide what to do.

One option is to buy the trailer to live in while I am saving for a house. If I did that and paid cash for a house the mortgage interest alone saved would be far more than the trailer costs.

What would you do? House or trailer?

[fernykins]

I live in a mobile home. At one time I wanted a stick house but not any more. Where I live we have had Vince Neil come in his limo to pick up his daughter and girlfriend. If you think living in a mobile would embarass you go for the stick house. My mobile is my home. It's where my memories are.
Fern

[Debbie-cat]

We bought a brand new trailer and had it custom built to our specifications. I always said I would never live in a trailer, now I love it. We had custom cabinetry and countertops installed and upgraded bathrooms (we have 2 full baths). Our whole home has huge top of the line windows with a skylight in the one bathroom. Our heat run $800 per year (propane) and we live in Minnesota!!! Cheap to heat. We also installed the home on a slab then installed brick for the lining. We have four windows in the brick and it looks like the house sits on a basement. We can open those four windows and have storage under the house.

The best part is..... We paid cash....to have all the upgrades we paid $65,000 for the house. We already owned the land. Had to install a well and septic...also paid for with cash. If we would have built a home we would have had mortgage payments. Now we don't have to worry about it.

[xtena]

I was going to tell you NO to the trailer but I see you are talking about putting it on your OWN land.

Ex and I had a double wide mobile home in a park in Salinas, CA. At the time I loved it. We couldn't afford a house in that part of California and we got it for a steal because of all the work it needed. Our rent-controlled park was full of nice people and we had use of a swimming pool in the summer and clubhouse :-) for less than the cost of our apartment rent. However, we couldn't sell it when we moved to Vegas and had to pay the lot rent for over a year, so it was a huge mistake in that respect. The landlords rejected several buyers supposedly based on their credit (but at least one, I am sure, was actually based on racism). So never EVER buy a mobile home in a park, unless it is occupant-owned, or rent controlled and you never intend on moving.

A mobile on your own land? I'm sure many people will tell you it's a lousy investment. But then again, my current 'real' house was an even worse investment than the mobile, given it has depreciated to less than half of the purchase price...

Debbie Cat seems happy and I would be too, in her situation. Modern manufactured homes (as opposed to my 30 year old double wide!) can be beautiful luxurious homes. Oh, and I never felt a stigma about living in a 'trailer'. It was a comfy home; we fixed it up to look good on the inside and acceptable on the outside, and the park itself was one of the best neighborhoods I ever lived in, in terms of friendly neighbors.

[zakity]

The new manufactured homes are really nice. I have a friend who lives in one. It is so much nicer than my stick built house. And, I am sure that hers will be standing after an earthquake. Mine, well, it was a "kit house" and the people who built it were less than handy.

[nuisance26]

~Well, my mom would be a better person to answer this than me since she bought a 2 year old trailer on 5 acres the same year we bought our house on 3/4 acre.
Over the years we've put a bit more money into our house than they have in their trailer but it's nearly equal.
They put in a wood stove and AC. They put a roof on the back deck. At this point(trailer 12+ years old)it needs a fair amount of cosmetic work due to the laminate woods used throughout the trailer and low quality flooring installed. It still looks really great though for the most part.
We have put new windows, flooring and roofing on our house.
The cost of our repairs and modest improvements have been about the same for the time period.
The cost of our utilities have been very different.
Our house is much more comfortable and energy efficient than their trailer. So they pay quite a bit more to be comfortable than we do. Our square footage is about the same.
In NC, heating won't be a big deal for you but do think about AC usage. You may be able to get a model of trailer with an ideal amount of windows that when placed well on your property will negate the need for AC.
And depreciation doesn't seem to happen here on decently kept mobile homes outside of trailer parks. Their trailer has appreciated at the same rate as our home because of the location and condition of the trailer and property. Look into how they depreciate in your area. It might not be as bad as conventional advice touts it to be.
A trailer makes a lot of sense for you so long as you get one rated for a hurricane zone. ~

[Spirit Deer]

I gave up years ago caring what other people think. If someone else thinks you should be in a stick house and not a trailer, let them pay your mortgage.

We put a used single wide on our property when we first moved out here, then later bought a new double wide. We love it, for the most part. At the time we bought the single wide, we thought we'd be building a stick house later. If we had it to do over again, we'd put in the biggest single-wide that would fit and call it good enough. We would also not have remodeled our double-wide. It cost a lot and didn't turn out like we thought it would.

We love that our house is all on one floor. We missed having a basement for a while, but then realized if we had one, it would just be a major clutter-collector. Now, we have plenty of space BUT have to stay on top of the clutter, which is a great thing.

Definitely put any trailer on a concrete slab to keep things from shifting.

If you haven't looked at modern mobile homes, you might want to go check out some dealers. You'll probably be pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind different manufacturers have different levels of quality, so look things over carefully to decide who you think does the best job.

Mortgage free in seven years vs. thirty? What was the question again?

[krbshappy71]

Are you in a tornado area? Any of you with mobile homes?

That's my only issue with mobile homes, I've seen a ton that are so amazing, they have upgrades I could only dream to have. But, having lived in a tornado area in the past, I have a crazy "need" to have a basement and/or cellar but preferably a basement.

Its just a super-fear of mine.

[ladytoysdream]

The best tip I can gave you is LOCATION.
Where do you want be located. Near a city, town, or rural ?
In our situation, we are rural, but only 3 miles from the closest village, and about 5-6 miles from the closest city. So in the 3 mile range, we have a post office, bank, grocery store,churches, school, and a few small stores. And also where the hubby's job is located
Hubby had worked for a dairy farmer for 17 years. We wanted to stay local. We did do a lot of house looking prior to our final decison. We ended up buying 2 acres off the farmer. It was a cow pasture and took some work to get it ready for our house.
We had the well dug, and septic put it. We wanted a full basement but did not feel comfortable with a $ 10,000 bill for that. We put in a 40 cement cones/ pier system, each 4 ft deep. It is our base for our doublewide 24 by 40 ft, which we bought new just over 20 yrs ago. We did not want a mortgage for 30 yrs. We paid off our mortgage early.
We physically ourselves built our pole barn garage 24 by 40 ft, the following spring after getting our house set up.
House has 6 inch walls and has always been decent to heat.
5 yrs ago, we added a new room, and a deck with roof 52 ft long and 10 ft wide. At that time, we also redid all the roof shingles, all the siding, and all new windows entire structure. 3 yrs ago, we put in our outside wood boiler.

So I think we did good When we had the doublewide brought in, the dealer said not to ever call it a trailer. Trailers have wheels under them, he said.

Location
A reasonable mortgage payment
Length of mortgage
Easy to heat and or cool
Property and school taxes
How close are the neighbors
Transportation

[MaryCarney]

I like the third option. Live in the manufactured home now, and save for a stick built. If you find you like the mobile well enough say ten years down the road, think of the pile of cash you'll be sitting on - with a paid off home

[craftypam]

I think mobile homes aren't what they used to be and are very nice. I also would not want to have one on land I didn't own and in my area resale value is awful and they are hard to sell.

I know that is true of some homes today, but that isn't going to last forever.

[nuisance26]

~Here's a mobile home question for those of you that have them or purchased them. Can you buy one on a lot that is rented(a community), move it and then sell the empty lot?
There are some sweeeeet deals on 3bd/2bath trailers in my area($30K!)that are making me reconsider building a house on the land we want to buy. We could actually own outright at that price.~

[craftypam]

I'm not sure I understand the question. If the lot is rented it is not yours to sell.

[nuisance26]

~What I mean is, do you get some kind of contract when you buy one on a lot that prevents you from moving it or locks you into paying rent. Do you sell that contract like you would a timeshare?~

[2ndGenGranola]

My sister lived in a trailer and it was beautiful. It was much nicer than many homes in the area.

To make a good decision, I would have to have a specific home in mind or a specific trailer in mind and your location. What kind of repairs/expenses would you encounter in your area? While sister's trailer was beautiful, it was a beast to heat and cool. Pipes were more likely to freeze also.