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I lived in a mobile home for 6 years. 920 square feet purchased for $50,000 with $600/month rent on land. I live in New Jersey where apartments cost no less tha

by yboris 6y ago

I lived in a mobile home for 6 years. 920 square feet purchased for $50,000 with $600/month rent on land. I live in New Jersey where apartments cost no less than $1,200 in my area. Simple calculation says I saved about $40,000 so far while living in a better environment and space. Buying a house in this area costs no less than $200,000 and land taxes come out to ~$500/month anyway. I highly recommend mobile home living for just-married couples. ps - our community does not allow people to rent their homes out, so everyone who lives here takes care of the property well. I suspect this may be an important feature for better quality of life in such a community. And there are no trailers -- all homes are stationary.

bane 6y ago
I have some relatives who lived in a trailer for a dozen years or so. However, it definitely provided my relatives a considerably better quality of life at a considerably cheaper cost than nearby apartments. I know that after speaking to them about it, their only real regret was that there was no real equity in the home since they sell like vehicles -- depreciating assets. They bought it for $40k, sold it for $5k, and paid about $500/mo in rent for the land. They were forced to move when the land owner decided to get out of the mobile home tenancy business and sold their property to a developer.
sonotmyname 6y ago
> Simple calculation says I saved about $40,000 so far That only works out if you can sell your mobile for $50k - typically (there are exceptions based on location and market conditions, but typically) mobile homes depreciate in value, while 'fixed' homes appreciate. 6 years ago if you'd put that $50k down on a 200k house, you'd have had a ~1k mortgage and a home that has appreciated to ~240k, instead of a mobile home that has depreciated.
- yboris 6y ago
  The housing appreciation is overrated: your house is worth more, but so are all the other houses you want to buy when you move. And people complaining when the housing prices fall also confuse me: so what, the house you buy when you move is cheaper too. The trailer home I bought was built in 1984. With all the people moving out of NYC into New Jersey, similar mobile homes in my development have sold for $80k. I may end up selling for a similar amount. Though I do think you're right and it is typical to lose money when re-selling a mobile home. As a side note: I paid 0 tax when purchasing it (it's not a house, no house tax). My "closing" expenses were $40 to get the title registered at the local DMV / MVC (Motor Vehicle Commission). It's pretty nice.

by yboris 6y ago

bane 6y ago

I have some relatives who lived in a trailer for a dozen years or so. However, it definitely provided my relatives a considerably better quality of life at a considerably cheaper cost than nearby apartments. I know that after speaking to them about it, their only real regret was that there was no real equity in the home since they sell like vehicles -- depreciating assets. They bought it for $40k, sold it for $5k, and paid about $500/mo in rent for the land. They were forced to move when the land owner decided to get out of the mobile home tenancy business and sold their property to a developer.

sonotmyname 6y ago

> Simple calculation says I saved about $40,000 so far That only works out if you can sell your mobile for $50k - typically (there are exceptions based on location and market conditions, but typically) mobile homes depreciate in value, while 'fixed' homes appreciate. 6 years ago if you'd put that $50k down on a 200k house, you'd have had a ~1k mortgage and a home that has appreciated to ~240k, instead of a mobile home that has depreciated.

yboris 6y ago
The housing appreciation is overrated: your house is worth more, but so are all the other houses you want to buy when you move. And people complaining when the housing prices fall also confuse me: so what, the house you buy when you move is cheaper too. The trailer home I bought was built in 1984. With all the people moving out of NYC into New Jersey, similar mobile homes in my development have sold for $80k. I may end up selling for a similar amount. Though I do think you're right and it is typical to lose money when re-selling a mobile home. As a side note: I paid 0 tax when purchasing it (it's not a house, no house tax). My "closing" expenses were $40 to get the title registered at the local DMV / MVC (Motor Vehicle Commission). It's pretty nice.