What's your opinion on mobile homes?
Yesterday, Joe had posted 2 mobile home fires, 1 of which a father had died. Some feathers got ruffled with inappropriate comments about families living in mobile homes.
Voice your opinions here. Here's mine:
I grew up in a trailer park in Parsonsburg until I was 6 or 7. I don't remember much about it. My parents barely scraped up a down payment on a home in Willards to get us out of the trailer park. When I moved out at 18, I bought my own brand new mobile home for $28K, since I chose to rely on NO ONE to give me anything. It's mine, paid for. I will soon have my first "house" at 30 years old. I'm not looking forward to a mortgage payment, but I need to know my children are safe from fires and such, not to mention we need more room. For those who choose to live the "grand" lifestyle with majorly ridiculous mortgage payments, congrats to you. I will certainly enjoy my new home, but I will miss the "closeness" my family has in the trailer. Finally, I am not borrowing more than the bank is recommending. Bank fraud is just 1 of the reasons people are in foreclosures. My payment is lower than what most mortgages are these days (which is about $2200+ around here).
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23 comments:
Personally, I would hope I never have to live in a Mobile Home. However, the newer versions are much better and almost look like a house. The old style that sit up on concrete blocks just dont look good at all.
I have been in some Mobile Home parks in the south
that look almost like houses. That being said, I guess it would depend on where it is located and how much it has been made to look like a house rather than a mobile home.
I for one feel that we should live within our budgets. If that means living in a trailer so be it. I lived in one for 2 years and had no complaints. If people would stop trying to live beyond their means in McMansions they cannot afford we would all be better off.
Too many people buy big homes as status symbols only to be so house poor that one catastrope puts them into foreclosure. Maybe we should build more trailer parks like Strawberry Village in Pittsville so people can actually afford to live.
Anon 7:45 Amen!! I know a lot a folks that reside in mobile homes and I think they are the perfect choice for young folks starting off.The problem with people today is that they try to keep up with the Jones and get their asses in deep crap. Live within your means , If that means a mobile home then so be it.They have some pretty nice ones out there!
Even stick built homes burn to the ground, you have to be responsible. People just sensationalize trailer fires b/c they associate them with rednecks and trailer trash.
First home a doublewide. If I can not afford to pay $750.00 a month MORTGAGE, then I have issues. I CHOOSE not to have a $1,200 - 1,500a month mortgage payment that the bank said we got approved for. Smart on our part. Besides, I also pay less for my mortgage then I did for rent - for 10 years. No foreclosure for me.
Average Girl, good on you! Whether it's a trailer, modular, or a less-than-desirable neighborhood...
We also could be approved for much more than we are paying. We could even afford more, but don't really need it. (Besides, if our mortgage were higher, we couldn't have as many toys!) And we have a great sense of community where we are.
Best advice I could give anyone is to go for an older neighborhood with a house that is livable but needs a little bit of work. THAT is what will revive our older neighborhoods. You should see some of the turnaround over by Church Street - the revival is starting to work.
Agreed also anon 7:45
My house came with wheels underneath and I'm thankful. Everything is new and has 3 baths!
It's peaceful and quiet and the noisiest neighbors are the ducks during this mating season.
A family member bought a Mcmansion at the height of the boom and ended up having his in-laws mortgage their home to help with payments when his job started paying less and child support increased.
And during the winter he heated with a kerosene heater.
I hope he can handle the painful lesson coming.
I live in a doublewide with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and a fire place. The money we saved on this double wide allowed us to afford the 46 acres of privacy we enjoy. So go ahead and build your McMansions in your communist neighborhoods where someone else tells you what you can and can't do with your property. Our payments including land are $878.53per month, including insurance. Go ahead and talk all you want about us mobile home dwellers, we have money to play with, do you?
With rents being so high these days, it's remarkable that anyone just starting out can afford to live! There are some more affordable options in the area, however. With the building boom over, a buyer can choose from some developments which would have been out of their reach just a couple of years ago. One thing is for sure, if you can afford to buy you should buy. Paying rent is the same as paying your landlords mortgage.
Do what you can, where you are, with what you have...Theodore Roosevelt
We all need to live within our means.
I personally think that mobiles are dangerous, and think that God has issues with them too.
I don't look down on people who live in them, I pray for them, because I have seen how fast they can burn up.
Frighteningly enough, all of the old houses that have been wrapped in vinyl are now just as dangerous.
The fumes from the melting plastic and nylon rugs will kill you faster than getting burned will.
I encourage anyone in the market for a home to go to run down neighborhood and buy a house that has been let go, and fix it up.
Property ownership and pride in ownership are the number one things that will turn a neighborhood around.
Our house was built in 1853, and it always needs something done, but it has lots of room and with a pellet stove we have been able to make it nice and cozy...mortgage $227.00 per month!
I was so proud to buy my first home (a newer trailer) @ age 29 as a single mom with 2 kids! We loved that house! I was very proud of it and myself for getting out of the renting cycle. I stayed 2 years while I saved enough for our "permenant" house on our own land. I wouldn't change a thing! It is a smart STEP and a wise choice financially.
Wymzie, God has a problem with mobile homes? Are you kidding me? Leave religion out of something that has nothing to do with it!
SUNNYINOC - You have raised some very good points about living affordably. I imagine that by living modestly you were able to save for a downpayment on the new home that you mentioned. Perhaps some stereotypes were triggered by Joe's stories, but it would be interesting to know if living in manufactured housing like a mobile home provides an economical advantage and a stepping stone to a more secure financial future. If so, maybe more people should do it rather than criticizing it.
ANON 12:59 - I have a self employed family. If anyone has ever owned a business, they/you would know it's not for profit. It took a fews years to get ahead of the ball. For the first few winters, I paid the shop bills with my payroll check to avoid borrowing money. It has been a very long road. I feel that a mobile home is a very good stepping stone for young people and even retired people. The only people criticizing is the people who have the exploded mortgages that are unbearable to pay.I also looked into modular homes, which are just as good as stick-built, except that it's all build inside, which means no water damage during framing. Also, as I find deals online, such as ceiling fans, plumbing fixtures, etc, I buy them immediately. These are things that are paid for now so I don't have to incorporate them into my mortgage.
If someone wants to live in a nasty trailer, by all means let them. Just don't expect others to feel sorry for them when it burns to the ground.
anonymous at 10:18 said
"Go ahead and talk all you want about us mobile home dwellers, we have money to play with, do you?"
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yes I have money, and I don't have to live in a disgusting "house" to have it. get real. stop having kids you can't afford, and get a real home. there should be a quoto on how many people can live in trailers before social services takes your kids away!
Folks, the fire resistance, or lack thereof has nothing to do with the "status" of ones lifestyle, debt service or spending habits. The "lower end" mobiles, and double wides with "drywall" finished interior are far safer than the wood interiors. FACT, they burn like crazy, and to compund that, older models may not have the newer required smoke detectors and exits. ANYONE that has the above mentioned "models" get smoke detectors, if you can't afford them, go to your local fire dept. There is no excuse to lose a life, the cheaper trailers, yep..... they make a good fire.
People seem to group mobile home owners all in one group. I mean I know there are trailer parks that are absolutely disgusting like "bonack"(don't know if that is how you spell it). My family lives in a very nice mobile/modular, it came on wheels and in different sections, but is finished with drywall, has a fireplace, 4 bedrooms, a very large custom kitchen, huge family room with built in surround sound, energy saving windows and doors. Built indoors with with no chance for any mold growth and NO I do NOT live in a trailer park. Our house is over 2000 square feet, so I get tired of hearing that Sh?t about trailer park trash and assuming that everyone that lives in a "mobile" home is white trash or whatever. Get over yourselves in your half a million dollar or more homes you are no better than anyone else, in fact most of "us" probably appreciate things we have more than you do.
I think Foxworthy said it best. If your brother in law has to come over and help you take the wheels of your new house then you are probably a ............
Anon12:08
"and I think that God has issues with them too".
I was kidding!!!!
Whenever my kids would see natural disasters on TV so often it would be clips of trailers/mobile homes being destroyed. One day my son said to me "I think God doesn't like trailer parks"
I have even heard adult say the same thing.
As I previously stated, I think everyone needs to live within their means and if that is a mobile home so be it. I still worry about the safety of them.
Rest assured I wasn't invoking the Lords name seriously.
For the God hates mobile homes crowd:
They're made of cheaper materials and the "foundations are nowhere near as secure as those on a stickbuilt or prefab modular home. Therefore mother natures energy is apt to exact a much greater toll upon them in terms of structural damage.
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For the buy something better crowd I suppose you don't recognize that the gap between the wealthy and poor in this country has grown to a point not seen since the great depression.
Whilst looking down your nose realize that not everyone is born and raised in a situation with the means to start out purchasing a better dwelling.
I myself only got to my station in life for the education my parents were able to provide. If I had to rely on student loans I'd be well behind the position of comfort I currently exist in.
If I were to be a more recent graduate I'd be in much worse shape.
Perhaps a few of you snobs should step down off your high horses. You too are probably only where you are for the welfare provided by your parents to some degree. Too bad you're unable to fully value that gift.
I value the gift my parents gave me of PRIDE and DIGNITY! Those that want to claim a trailer is involved with those words is greatly mistaken!
Anon/buffoon 3:45 Read back a few and take note on comments about going with a trailer as means to an end that involves ultimately owning more.
I suggest to use online mortgage calculator on the website of Fizber.
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