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I lived in a mobile home from 1st grade until I left home at 16. My own family will never live in a mobile home. Regardless of the sacrifices required, I will

I lived in a mobile home from 1st grade until I left home at 16. My own family will never live in a mobile home. Regardless of the sacrifices required, I will never have them experience that. In addition to the safety concerns, it’s a poor financial decision. I replaced two water heaters and a toilet in a mobile home for a realtor about 18 months ago. I was shocked that the trailer was listed for $90k and sold the next week. We’ve got to do a better job of teaching financial literacy in this country.

Syonyk 4y ago
Genuinely curious, what's wrong with a mobile/manufactured home? Do you object to the "trailer park" aspect, or simply the entire concept of the structure? I'm a detached, on-our-own-land double wide with a foundation, and I've no problems with the house at all. It's a higher end manufactured, we have drywall, quartz counters, upgraded electrical, etc, but... most people don't even realize it's a manufactured unless they already know what to look for (strong marriage line, all the water on one half of the house, etc).
- hollywood_court 4y ago
  Mostly the quality and safety aspects. I made all of my money with my trades. My first and most lucrative trade is carpentry. There is no way anyone will ever be able to convince me that a mobile home is as safe as a traditional built home. I spent many an anxious night as a child in Alabama fearful that I wouldn’t live until the next morning due to inclement weather. And they are depreciating assets. I come from a single parent violent home where I had to leave before I even finished high school. I somehow managed to become what I am with nothing but a high school education. I worked hard and sacrificed a lot to escape that lifestyle. I don’t want my own child to see me ever make poor financial decisions. Edit: The above makes me sound like an incredible asshole. So the best answer would be: there are far better ways to spend my money and energy than on a mobile home. Ways that are better at ensuring my family’s safety and financial wellbeing.
  - Syonyk 4y ago
    Can I ask what rough year the homes you're familiar with were built in? And if you've been around anything ~recent (2010 or later)? The standards changed in the 80s, and quality has continued improving since then. If your experience with mobile homes is pre-1980 or so, yes, they were... sketchy. But in the late 70s, the standards changed rather dramatically, so experience with older manufactured homes doesn't really translate. None of the older ones (within a rounding error) meet the newer standards. I've got 2x6 exterior walls, a concrete foundation with the house quite tied into that, a metal roof, drywall, etc. I've also done a factory tour, and was quite impressed with how everything was put together. They're able to do things like "assemble the roof separately at a safe working height and then tie it to the rest of the house without having to do roof work," so lower insurance rates and such for workers. It's a bit noisier in high winds than I'd prefer, and the combination of metal roof and vaulted ceilings make the rain sound harder than it actually is, but it doesn't rain that often out here, so... not going to complain too hard about that. I wish the local tax authorities would agree with you that it's a depreciating asset, though. They certainly like to argue that the value keeps going up (and as I get the property and house tax bills separately, I can see the house-only values climbing rapidly - I didn't do the paperwork to merge them, as I simply don't care). You're clearly opposed to the concept, which is fine, but I just don't see any of your assertions being true of manufactured homes from the past... oh, 20 years or so. I know an awful lot of people who live in them, though it's not "mobile home parks" - they're just a standard enough style of housing out where I live, usually on foundations. And I consider having spent less money on a perfectly suitable house than having something built onsite to be a very reasonable financial decision.
    - hollywood_court 4y ago
      The mobile home I grew up in was a 1987 Sunbeam. I've been in and out of hundreds during the course of my career. For the past 12 years my base of operations has been a college town where it is popular for parents to buy trailers for their children while they attend college. I made a great deal of money repairing those trailers which allows for my (maybe worthless) anecdotes. The accessories and fittings like faucets and toilets and such are often lower than "builder grade" which is perfect for someone like me who makes repairs, but not so good for the home owner. Is your mobile home on a cinder block perimeter foundation or a slab? I imagine the slab would allow for a great deal more peace of mind, but the cinder block perimeter would not. You're absolutely correct that I am a bit biased and am opposed to the concept. But I'm also opposed to owning any vehicle that isn't a Honda/Acura or a Toyota/Lexus. Simply because my shop never made any money repairing those just like I never made much money repairing modern traditional homes built by credible and competent builders. Depending on where you're located in the US, if you're going to raise a family in a mobile home please at least consider having an underground storm shelter installed. That would allow for more peace of mind. I lost a few friends in high school due to storms when they lived in mobile homes. And more recently I lost a handful of clients who perished when storms ripped through Beauregard, AL.
vsareto 4y ago
>We’ve got to do a better job of teaching financial literacy in this country. Reducing the complexity of every day finances would be a much better option. We can't keep trying to cram more course work into high school/college to fix society's complexity (and maintain the same time frame). We can't even address teacher quality-of-life and pay for the regular course work. And also, RVs and mobile homes should not cost near what they do for the shit that they are, and there shouldn't be a rent/own situation with mobile home lots.
- hollywood_court 4y ago
  There used to be a class in junior high and high school called “Home Economics.” People will give you varied opinions on why we know longer have that class, but it certainly was useful.
  - MaxDPS 4y ago
    Those classes are still around, in California (Los Angeles) at least.
  - MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
    Wait, what did you learn in home ec? I had that class but learned things like sewing and baking.
    - hollywood_court 4y ago
      How to balance a budget and a checking account. How to plan purchases for the month such as grocery lists. And the other stuff like cooking and sewing buttons onto clothing.
      - MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
        That makes sense, I guess I got a watered down version. The amount of deviation out there is wild. At least with math you can have clear and translatable standards. For home ec, I've met people whose classes basically ran the school's lunch and breakfast programs. I don't think the kids where I'm from could've handled that responsibility.
jollyllama 4y ago
>poor financial decision >listed for 90k and sold the next week It probably turned out not to be a such poor financial decision for the seller, in this case. I think the whole "mobile homes don't go up in value" rule is no longer true, if we continue to see the degree of housing price increases / inflation we have seen in the last 3 years.

Syonyk 4y ago

Genuinely curious, what's wrong with a mobile/manufactured home? Do you object to the "trailer park" aspect, or simply the entire concept of the structure? I'm a detached, on-our-own-land double wide with a foundation, and I've no problems with the house at all. It's a higher end manufactured, we have drywall, quartz counters, upgraded electrical, etc, but... most people don't even realize it's a manufactured unless they already know what to look for (strong marriage line, all the water on one half of the house, etc).

hollywood_court 4y ago
Mostly the quality and safety aspects. I made all of my money with my trades. My first and most lucrative trade is carpentry. There is no way anyone will ever be able to convince me that a mobile home is as safe as a traditional built home. I spent many an anxious night as a child in Alabama fearful that I wouldn’t live until the next morning due to inclement weather. And they are depreciating assets. I come from a single parent violent home where I had to leave before I even finished high school. I somehow managed to become what I am with nothing but a high school education. I worked hard and sacrificed a lot to escape that lifestyle. I don’t want my own child to see me ever make poor financial decisions. Edit: The above makes me sound like an incredible asshole. So the best answer would be: there are far better ways to spend my money and energy than on a mobile home. Ways that are better at ensuring my family’s safety and financial wellbeing.
- Syonyk 4y ago
  Can I ask what rough year the homes you're familiar with were built in? And if you've been around anything ~recent (2010 or later)? The standards changed in the 80s, and quality has continued improving since then. If your experience with mobile homes is pre-1980 or so, yes, they were... sketchy. But in the late 70s, the standards changed rather dramatically, so experience with older manufactured homes doesn't really translate. None of the older ones (within a rounding error) meet the newer standards. I've got 2x6 exterior walls, a concrete foundation with the house quite tied into that, a metal roof, drywall, etc. I've also done a factory tour, and was quite impressed with how everything was put together. They're able to do things like "assemble the roof separately at a safe working height and then tie it to the rest of the house without having to do roof work," so lower insurance rates and such for workers. It's a bit noisier in high winds than I'd prefer, and the combination of metal roof and vaulted ceilings make the rain sound harder than it actually is, but it doesn't rain that often out here, so... not going to complain too hard about that. I wish the local tax authorities would agree with you that it's a depreciating asset, though. They certainly like to argue that the value keeps going up (and as I get the property and house tax bills separately, I can see the house-only values climbing rapidly - I didn't do the paperwork to merge them, as I simply don't care). You're clearly opposed to the concept, which is fine, but I just don't see any of your assertions being true of manufactured homes from the past... oh, 20 years or so. I know an awful lot of people who live in them, though it's not "mobile home parks" - they're just a standard enough style of housing out where I live, usually on foundations. And I consider having spent less money on a perfectly suitable house than having something built onsite to be a very reasonable financial decision.
  - hollywood_court 4y ago
    The mobile home I grew up in was a 1987 Sunbeam. I've been in and out of hundreds during the course of my career. For the past 12 years my base of operations has been a college town where it is popular for parents to buy trailers for their children while they attend college. I made a great deal of money repairing those trailers which allows for my (maybe worthless) anecdotes. The accessories and fittings like faucets and toilets and such are often lower than "builder grade" which is perfect for someone like me who makes repairs, but not so good for the home owner. Is your mobile home on a cinder block perimeter foundation or a slab? I imagine the slab would allow for a great deal more peace of mind, but the cinder block perimeter would not. You're absolutely correct that I am a bit biased and am opposed to the concept. But I'm also opposed to owning any vehicle that isn't a Honda/Acura or a Toyota/Lexus. Simply because my shop never made any money repairing those just like I never made much money repairing modern traditional homes built by credible and competent builders. Depending on where you're located in the US, if you're going to raise a family in a mobile home please at least consider having an underground storm shelter installed. That would allow for more peace of mind. I lost a few friends in high school due to storms when they lived in mobile homes. And more recently I lost a handful of clients who perished when storms ripped through Beauregard, AL.

vsareto 4y ago

>We’ve got to do a better job of teaching financial literacy in this country. Reducing the complexity of every day finances would be a much better option. We can't keep trying to cram more course work into high school/college to fix society's complexity (and maintain the same time frame). We can't even address teacher quality-of-life and pay for the regular course work. And also, RVs and mobile homes should not cost near what they do for the shit that they are, and there shouldn't be a rent/own situation with mobile home lots.

hollywood_court 4y ago
There used to be a class in junior high and high school called “Home Economics.” People will give you varied opinions on why we know longer have that class, but it certainly was useful.
- MaxDPS 4y ago
  Those classes are still around, in California (Los Angeles) at least.
- MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
  Wait, what did you learn in home ec? I had that class but learned things like sewing and baking.
  - hollywood_court 4y ago
    How to balance a budget and a checking account. How to plan purchases for the month such as grocery lists. And the other stuff like cooking and sewing buttons onto clothing.
    - MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
      That makes sense, I guess I got a watered down version. The amount of deviation out there is wild. At least with math you can have clear and translatable standards. For home ec, I've met people whose classes basically ran the school's lunch and breakfast programs. I don't think the kids where I'm from could've handled that responsibility.

jollyllama 4y ago

>poor financial decision >listed for 90k and sold the next week It probably turned out not to be a such poor financial decision for the seller, in this case. I think the whole "mobile homes don't go up in value" rule is no longer true, if we continue to see the degree of housing price increases / inflation we have seen in the last 3 years.