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Having spent a decent amount of time in one of these myself, I much prefer the term "trailer park" to "mobile-home community". The article uses the term interch

by dtwest 6y ago

Having spent a decent amount of time in one of these myself, I much prefer the term "trailer park" to "mobile-home community". The article uses the term interchangeably, but they explain this important detail themselves: "The homes in the park are not as portable as its name implies; they’ve been placed on foundations, and their hitches have been removed." In my experience, in older parks especially, there is no way to economically move the trailer. Which means you don't really own a "mobile home", you own a slot in the park with a worthless trailer on it. This allows the park to have the negotiating power. I just wanted to point out this key detail to people who may not be aware of the situation.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
mc32 6y ago
What people tell me is that it stops being mobile after you “park” it. So basically mobile from the dealer lot to the park and not so much after that.
pram 6y ago
The term I always heard is “manufactured home” which makes more sense. I grew up in a double wide. Once it’s set up you quite obviously can’t move it again without wrecking everything lol
- milkytron 6y ago
  I've heard that term as well, and I suppose it's useful to have a different term for that type of home vs one that is built on its foundation from the start. But the term manufactured home seems odd to me, aren't nearly all new homes nowadays "manufactured"?
  - bityard 6y ago
    "Manufactured" means built in a factory and can be transported on a semi. As opposed to most buildings (in the U.S. at least) which are built on-site by a contractor.
    - akvadrako 6y ago
      It seems a bit confusing compared to prefab homes though, which are mostly made in a factory and assembled on site.
      - diggernet 6y ago
        Yes, it is confusing. My brother in law works in that industry, and explained the differences to me this way: Mobile home: Factory built before a certain date in the 1970's (which I've forgotten), with no particular quality standards in place. Manufactured home: The new name for mobile homes, indicating that they have been factory built to clearly defined standards. Considered depreciating personal property by insurance companies and lenders. Modular home: Also factory built, but to the same standards as homes built on-site. (These are the prefabs you mention.) Considered real estate, the same as site-built homes, by insurance companies and lenders. Edit: Wikipedia links to this archived page, which provides more specifics: https://web.archive.org/web/20120323074714/http://www.mhcommunities.org/cm/lib/showtemp_detail.asp?id=63&cat=consumer_resos https://web.archive.org/web/20120323074714/http://www.mhcomm...
        klipt 6y ago
        All buildings depreciate though. It's only land that appreciates.
        diggernet 6y ago
        That is true. I guess what I meant to say is that mobile/manufactured are considered personal property separate from the land, while modular is considered attached to the parcel in the same way that site-built homes are. One result of this is that for manufactured, lenders have much more restrictive terms. Typically 10-15 years max, min 30% down, and a significantly higher interest rate.
        refurb 6y ago
        Is that true though? In the Bay Area the cost of new construction keeps going up ($400-500/sq ft for the most basic). If it costs more to replace a house than it cost to originally construct it I could see the value of the house appreciating.
- brudgers 6y ago
  The technical difference is a mobile home has a license plate, is registered with the DMV, and taxed like a vehicle. A manufactured home (or modular home) is built to the building code and taxed as real property at the same rates (typically) as a site built house. But in ordinary usage people use the terms interchangeably.
  - hprotagonist 6y ago
    > and taxed like a vehicle. and, critically, depreciates like one. Which is kind of the opposite of what you want in a house.
    - brudgers 6y ago
      Location is what matters. If a home depreciates, that is why.
    - xnx 6y ago
      Buildings depreciate. Land appreciates.
    - yencabulator 6y ago
      A 10 year old mobile home is pretty much worthless on paper too; they're built to fall apart quickly.
evancox100 6y ago
Fascinating. In searching on the difference between an RV and a mobile home, I came across this gem from Frank Rolfe, who's profiled in the New Yorker article: "If it has to be pulled by an actual truck (which is what costs the $3,000 or so in the move) then it’s a mobile home. But also remember that there is a component that can only be pulled by a truck in most RV parks, which is called the “park model”. These are like mobile homes, but do not have wheels or axles on them – they arrive on a flatbed truck – and also cost $2,000 or so to move. Since we don’t want our customers to ever leave, we only consider the type of mobile home or park model that requires expensive transport to be worthy of our investment dollars. RVs can be moved for next to nothing, so there’s no barrier and that’s too risky for us." http://forum.mobilehomeuniversity.com/t/official-difference-between-mobile-home-and-rv/9762 http://forum.mobilehomeuniversity.com/t/official-difference-... And a long article on Rolfe from the NYT in 2014: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/magazine/the-cold-hard-lessons-of-mobile-home-u.html?_r=2 https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/magazine/the-cold-hard-le...
- chadcmulligan 6y ago
  All part of the poverty industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_industry

by dtwest 6y ago

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

mc32 6y ago

What people tell me is that it stops being mobile after you “park” it. So basically mobile from the dealer lot to the park and not so much after that.

pram 6y ago

The term I always heard is “manufactured home” which makes more sense. I grew up in a double wide. Once it’s set up you quite obviously can’t move it again without wrecking everything lol

milkytron 6y ago
I've heard that term as well, and I suppose it's useful to have a different term for that type of home vs one that is built on its foundation from the start. But the term manufactured home seems odd to me, aren't nearly all new homes nowadays "manufactured"?
- bityard 6y ago
  "Manufactured" means built in a factory and can be transported on a semi. As opposed to most buildings (in the U.S. at least) which are built on-site by a contractor.
  - akvadrako 6y ago
    It seems a bit confusing compared to prefab homes though, which are mostly made in a factory and assembled on site.
    - diggernet 6y ago
      Yes, it is confusing. My brother in law works in that industry, and explained the differences to me this way: Mobile home: Factory built before a certain date in the 1970's (which I've forgotten), with no particular quality standards in place. Manufactured home: The new name for mobile homes, indicating that they have been factory built to clearly defined standards. Considered depreciating personal property by insurance companies and lenders. Modular home: Also factory built, but to the same standards as homes built on-site. (These are the prefabs you mention.) Considered real estate, the same as site-built homes, by insurance companies and lenders. Edit: Wikipedia links to this archived page, which provides more specifics: https://web.archive.org/web/20120323074714/http://www.mhcommunities.org/cm/lib/showtemp_detail.asp?id=63&cat=consumer_resos https://web.archive.org/web/20120323074714/http://www.mhcomm...
      - klipt 6y ago
        All buildings depreciate though. It's only land that appreciates.
        diggernet 6y ago
        That is true. I guess what I meant to say is that mobile/manufactured are considered personal property separate from the land, while modular is considered attached to the parcel in the same way that site-built homes are. One result of this is that for manufactured, lenders have much more restrictive terms. Typically 10-15 years max, min 30% down, and a significantly higher interest rate.
        refurb 6y ago
        Is that true though? In the Bay Area the cost of new construction keeps going up ($400-500/sq ft for the most basic). If it costs more to replace a house than it cost to originally construct it I could see the value of the house appreciating.
brudgers 6y ago
The technical difference is a mobile home has a license plate, is registered with the DMV, and taxed like a vehicle. A manufactured home (or modular home) is built to the building code and taxed as real property at the same rates (typically) as a site built house. But in ordinary usage people use the terms interchangeably.
- hprotagonist 6y ago
  > and taxed like a vehicle. and, critically, depreciates like one. Which is kind of the opposite of what you want in a house.
  - brudgers 6y ago
    Location is what matters. If a home depreciates, that is why.
  - xnx 6y ago
    Buildings depreciate. Land appreciates.
  - yencabulator 6y ago
    A 10 year old mobile home is pretty much worthless on paper too; they're built to fall apart quickly.

evancox100 6y ago

Fascinating. In searching on the difference between an RV and a mobile home, I came across this gem from Frank Rolfe, who's profiled in the New Yorker article: "If it has to be pulled by an actual truck (which is what costs the $3,000 or so in the move) then it’s a mobile home. But also remember that there is a component that can only be pulled by a truck in most RV parks, which is called the “park model”. These are like mobile homes, but do not have wheels or axles on them – they arrive on a flatbed truck – and also cost $2,000 or so to move. Since we don’t want our customers to ever leave, we only consider the type of mobile home or park model that requires expensive transport to be worthy of our investment dollars. RVs can be moved for next to nothing, so there’s no barrier and that’s too risky for us." http://forum.mobilehomeuniversity.com/t/official-difference-between-mobile-home-and-rv/9762 http://forum.mobilehomeuniversity.com/t/official-difference-... And a long article on Rolfe from the NYT in 2014: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/magazine/the-cold-hard-lessons-of-mobile-home-u.html?_r=2 https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/magazine/the-cold-hard-le...

chadcmulligan 6y ago
All part of the poverty industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_industry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_industry