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Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Originally Posted by NataliNC
I started thinking about it 2 years ago... We cannot buy anything right now, but it's possible in a year or two. We are students...so our income is extremely low... though in about 5-7 years it will be ok. So we will not be able to afford to buy a normal house within 5-7 years. There's no way for us to rent and keep saving money...
Do u think that buying a land (1+ acre) and a small 1 or 2-bedroom mobile home would be a good idea? (not to waste money on rent during those 5-7 years). After we pay it off, we could start saving for a house... to build it on the same land later on.
We consider Hunstville, AL and Charlotte area in NC.
I asked our relatives about this but unfortunately they cannot give any advice. They bought their homes long ago..
I have read forum's postings about mobile homes... buying a mobile house and renting a lot is not recommended, and we do not even consider it.
Is it a good idea or not?
Thank you for any ideas/suggestions!!
I haven't read all the responses so I apologize if this is redundant.
Absolutely do not buy a new mobile home. Any money you put into a mobile home for "new and unused-ness" is just thrown away. As with any intrinsically depreciating asset, it makes more financial sense to buy used and let someone else absorb the larger portion of the loss. Land is a solid investment in most cases, but if you are unable to save renting how will you afford land and the accompanying taxes, insurance etc.?
Just make sure you aren't setting yourselves up to be completely upside down over a mobile home.
I don't know what it's like where you live, but it is quite possible in most rural areas to buy a good manufactured home on its own land for an excellent price. It is NOT difficult to get bank financing if the manufactured home has been made "real property." This means that it has been set up and installed properly on an approved type of foundation, and on land that you either own or is part of the package.
I would suggest, however, that you look at Fannie Mae, HUD and similar government agency-owned properties. You'd get special deals and financing since your husband is in the military. You can find the properties listed through local Realtors or through the Fannie Mae, HUD, etc. websites. Do a search on available properties in your area.
I bought my manufactured home through a Realtor but it was owned by Fannie Mae. I paid $29,000 and here's what I got -- a lovely double-wide home (3 bedroom, 2 bath), only six years old and in excellent condition inside and out with 1350 square feet. It's on its own land, came with a huge shed, double carport and driveway, front porch, privacy fencing and picket fencing.
When I bought homeowners insurance for it, they sent an appraiser to determine the replacement value of the home -- he calculated that the replacement value for the home itself is almost $64,000; he said the other structures (porch, carport, and shed, plus a small deck I added to the back) are worth about $15,000. The land value is nearly $8,000. So, I got $87,000 worth of home/property for $29,000.
Could I sell it for $87,000? Probably not. But a similar type of manufactured home near me did sell for $52,000, which is still a whole lot more than I paid for my place. This home has withstood crazy West Texas storms with winds in excess of 75 mph with no damage. The same can't be said for many stick-built older homes. I saw the damage they suffered and thanked God for my home!
These days, manufactured homes are VERY attractive. I LOVE mine! Moreover, they are easy to upgrade and quite inexpensive to maintain. If you get one that's less than 10 years old, you may find it so comfortable that you are content to live in it for quite a while. I would never pay for a new manufactured home since fairly new repos are plentiful and inexpensive. The manufactured home sales offices make big money on financing -- the terms really stink, from what I've read. They talk people into more of a loan than they can afford with unfavorable terms, and that accounts for a lot of good used manufactured homes being available at great prices.
As I said, check with Realtors, Fannie Mae, Sallie Mae, and HUD for foreclosed manufactured homes on their own land. You'll likely find a bargain!
I have a home that my father and i own.. A small mortgage of 15,000 i also own some land behind our home.. I'm getting ssd not much trying to figure out capitalize on small rental home and thinking about putting a small one bedroom trailer on the property for rental income.. I found a trailer for 6000. I have it saved need help
I have a home that my father and i own.. A small mortgage of 15,000 i also own some land behind our home.. I'm getting ssd not much trying to figure out capitalize on small rental home and thinking about putting a small one bedroom trailer on the property for rental income.. I found a trailer for 6000. I have it saved need help
You need to talk to your city or county planning department and find out what you can do, legally. Maybe you can tie it into your septic and water, electricity, and maybe you can't.
Start out by finding out what you can legally do.
Sometimes, the law won't allow you to build a rental unit, but will allow you to build an in-law unit for your parents. So, maybe you could do that, have your dad move into the trailer, and then rent out your father's place?
And once it's in place legally, it might be easier to convert it to a "rental" down the road?
I forgot to mention i have a small nail salon in the home.. My father doesn't live with me..MY husband and i live in the home.. My husband brouht a fixer upper behind the lot for rental income alsi but it needs major renovation. I'm just looking to make the extra property useful
I have a home that my father and i own.. A small mortgage of 15,000 i also own some land behind our home.. I'm getting ssd not much trying to figure out how to build a small rental home and thinking about putting a small one bedroom trailer on the property for rental income.. I found a trailer for 6000. I have it saved need help
Consider buying a cheap. tear down home (mobile or not) sitting on a good piece of land. Live in it for a few years. When the higher income starts, tear it down and built what you want.
You can get a used mobile home for next to nothing, or actually nothing if it needs some work. There is a cost to move it, but since it cost only $20,000 to move our whole house, a mobile home cannot be that expensive to move.
You will need a foundation for it. That could cost $2000 - $3000.
The idea of finding some cheap rural property and putting a trailer on it sounds great until you realize why it is so cheap to buy rural property.
Developing the property may be the big cost. You will need natural gas or propane, water, sewer, electricity. A driveway. The cost of this can be really high (like up to $100,000), or almost nothing if the land already has these things available. What you might do if allowed is find a collapsed abandoned home. arrange to tear it down (can be pricey) and put your trailer there until you can afford to build a house.
Another option is to buy some land and just put a camping trailer on it. You will have to bring in your own water, empty chemical toilets regularly, fill the propane tanks for heat and cooking and get a generator for electricity. It will be too expensive to run the generator all the time, so you will have to use electricity just when you need it. Showers are the most problematic issue. If you live where it is warm enough to have an outdoor shower, just get a bunch of those camping shower bags that heat up in the sun. If you live where it gets cold, join a health club and shower there.
There are functioning houses in Cities like Detroit that you can buy for $14,000. That is the really cheap way to go if you are just looking at $. You will need some fence a big dog and probably a gun to be safe, but more and more people are jumping into this urban pioneering movement.
One thing people are overlooking is getting a piece of raw land zoned for a home then bringing in the utilities required can be quite expensive even if a cheap, throw away mobile home in installed.
You might have better luck buying land with a small, run down house than just trying to buy land. Not only is it hard to get a loan on a mobile home, its hard to get a loan for land only. Expect to need a 50% down payment. Land only loans are light risk and banks don't give them easily. Banks will mortgage a house, but not land. At least not easily.
But land they can buy very cheap for cash right now. About 3-5K for an acre in semi-rural area. Even cheaper, depending on location.
Septic plus water would be a bigger expense though. For the electricity they can go solar and live off the grid.
But in a long term perspective that's not very good investment. If they want to live in a comfort. If they can afford 15-25K downpayment right now and 1K monthly payment, it's better to go with the regular starter house and FHA loan or even conventional loan.
I don't believe they can't find anything within 100-150K budget. Especially in Alabama. You still can find it in Houston area (pretty hot market).
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