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The economics of living in a trailer park are much more complicated than that. Prefabs and trailers are two different things, but for the sake of argument, you

The economics of living in a trailer park are much more complicated than that. Prefabs and trailers are two different things, but for the sake of argument, you seem to think that for $20k you can buy a trailer and plop it down in a park. Someone owns that park. They expect rent, on top of the mortgage payment you're making for the trailer. Trailers are cheaply built and depreciate rapidly. Repairs are not always straightforward and often require specialized parts. Things you take for granted as being standard in size often aren't, which forces you to buy overpriced replacements from a dealer instead of just grabbing one at Home Depot. (Prefabs, not so much.) You own the house, not the land. If you stop paying rent, you get evicted. But you get to keep the trailer, right? Even if you still have enough money to move it, you don't own any land to put it on. You can't just park it at Wal-Mart while you figure out what to do. So you're forced to liquidate it for pennies (probably to the same landlord, who in turn rents it out) and now you're homeless and $20k poorer. Trailer parks are not the answer to lack of homeownership. They are a more complicated form of renting that net you all of the responsibilities of homeownership and none of the equity. The sorts of people who choose to live there do so for a reason; if it were truly cheap or affordable every trailer park would be packed with hipsters. You can't market such an abysmal deal to any working individual with a brain. The right answer would be to forget the trailer park idea and go buy a plot of land on the side of a mountain in Montana. You'd need to install septic, dig a well, buy a gas tank, etc. before it's truly livable, which raises the upfront cost by about $75k. But as you develop you build equity. There is no simple, affordable solution unless you want to live like Eric Rudolph.

dragontamer 9y ago
> Trailer parks are not the answer to lack of homeownership Never claimed them to be. Some trailer parks allow you to rent the trailer, all together without purchasing it. The $20,000 figure was more about the cost of manufacturing these homes on a wide scale. As you said, rent prices in trailer parks can be large ($500+ / month), which can be as much as actual homes nearby. But that's the nature of real estate: the value is in the location, location, location, and not necessarily in the home itself. In any case, the raw material cost of a mobile / manufactured home is anywhere from $20k from the low end to $100k to the higher end. ---------- > You can't market such an abysmal deal to any working individual with a brain. In my view, its no worse than the deals given on a Condo with $hundreds in HOA fees. Trailer Homes tend to be much cheaper than most Condos packages too. There are some bad deals out there, there are probably some good deals out there. Its all a matter of expectations, community, and yes, location. Just like any other Real Estate deal.
- jstarfish 9y ago
  > Never claimed them to be. "The cheap, affordable, practical house has been invented: its called a trailer park. The question is simply how to market them." Perhaps I misinterpreted? > In my view, its no worse than the deals given on a Condo with $hundreds in HOA fees. Trailer Homes tend to be much cheaper than most Condos packages too. Not saying condos are worth it, but this isn't a fair comparison. Condos make sense in some circumstances-- they do retain some equity so you're not just hemorrhaging rent money, and the community shares the cost of significant repairs. If you can get a decent one and live in it for a few years without getting hit by a special assessment, they're a viable alternative to renting long-term. Buying into a trailer park only makes sense if you consider all of your income disposable and intend to die there. They're poor investments. There's no such thing as a good or bad deal on something so worthless.

dragontamer 9y ago

> Trailer parks are not the answer to lack of homeownership Never claimed them to be. Some trailer parks allow you to rent the trailer, all together without purchasing it. The $20,000 figure was more about the cost of manufacturing these homes on a wide scale. As you said, rent prices in trailer parks can be large ($500+ / month), which can be as much as actual homes nearby. But that's the nature of real estate: the value is in the location, location, location, and not necessarily in the home itself. In any case, the raw material cost of a mobile / manufactured home is anywhere from $20k from the low end to $100k to the higher end. ---------- > You can't market such an abysmal deal to any working individual with a brain. In my view, its no worse than the deals given on a Condo with $hundreds in HOA fees. Trailer Homes tend to be much cheaper than most Condos packages too. There are some bad deals out there, there are probably some good deals out there. Its all a matter of expectations, community, and yes, location. Just like any other Real Estate deal.

jstarfish 9y ago
> Never claimed them to be. "The cheap, affordable, practical house has been invented: its called a trailer park. The question is simply how to market them." Perhaps I misinterpreted? > In my view, its no worse than the deals given on a Condo with $hundreds in HOA fees. Trailer Homes tend to be much cheaper than most Condos packages too. Not saying condos are worth it, but this isn't a fair comparison. Condos make sense in some circumstances-- they do retain some equity so you're not just hemorrhaging rent money, and the community shares the cost of significant repairs. If you can get a decent one and live in it for a few years without getting hit by a special assessment, they're a viable alternative to renting long-term. Buying into a trailer park only makes sense if you consider all of your income disposable and intend to die there. They're poor investments. There's no such thing as a good or bad deal on something so worthless.