Buying a Mobile Home a Bad Idea?

[DeletedUser0287]

Want your opinions if this is a good idea. Strapped on cash, but need a room and a place to run my business.

Apartments/Condos are out of question. Can't really afford single family home or really anything...

Am I willing to take a huge ego hit so I can build a business. But mobile homes don't appreciate I be, although that is secondary concern.

 

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[Pink Sheep]

Want your opinions if this is a good idea. Strapped on cash, but need a room and a place to run my business.

Apartments/Condos are out of question. Can't really afford single family home or really anything...

Am I willing to take a huge ego hit so I can build a business. But mobile homes don't appreciate I be, although that is secondary concern.

If you can, go for it.
Youll have less distractions than most when you have nothing but a bed and a table.
Also no rent is fantastic. A few months of that extra money invested in a business can be all uou need to succeed

 

[ChrisV]

I mean go for it, but most of those places you have pay a monthly lot fee as well.

But then you won't have an extra room to rent out. Maybe @Rabby has some suggestions

 

[Timmy C]

Do it.

 

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[NursingTn]

What kind of business are you running that requires a space in your home?

Where are you living right now? Dorm? Parents house?

Can you rent an office space instead?

A mobile home is a pretty big investment off cost since you're strapped for cash. You also have lot fees to pay and everything else that typically comes with home ownership, e.g. repairs.

Give us more information so we can provide you a more personalized advice.

 

[DeletedUser0287]

What kind of business are you running that requires a space in your home?

Where are you living right now? Dorm? Parents house?
Can you rent an office space instead?

A mobile home is a pretty big investment off cost since you're strapped for cash. You also have lot fees to pay and everything else that typically comes with home ownership, e.g. repairs.

Give us more information so we can provide you a more personalized advice.

Cut and sew business, so pretty much need industrial space, but those are extremely pricey. Which is why I want to do it at my own place. Two birds with one stone. Living in my business.

At parents, but literally no room. Industrial sewing machines are large.

Work and love lofts would be perfect, but they normally are in cities and also extremely pricey.

 

[foodiepersecond]

This reminds me of a Last Week Tonight episode of John Oliver. Its been ages, but the gist is you may own the home, but not the land. That can get dicey. Here is the vid if you are interested in it. Beyond this info, I am not too sure about the idea.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCC8fPQOaxU

 

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[Rabby]

Do you need 220 volt power hookups? Do you need 3-phase power? These are questions that come to mind since you mentioned industrial machinery. I don't know how big the things you're talking about are... just make sure you can power them.

Mobile homes are nice as long as you're not in a coastal hurricane zone... if you are in a hurricane zone, then the insurance is expensive, and your house will blow away if there's a named storm.

They make good rentals later on. I have a friend who owns 6 or 7 of them, and they've been great for cashflow. They tend to be pretty cheap, so as long as you're not paying big park fees you can probably make your investment back on rentals. Look up the rental rates in the area for mobile homes and see what you think.

Alternatives... I've known people to rent storage units for working on cars, storing business stuff, etc. If you don't need the living space away from home, this might be a good option. The same power issues above are good to keep in mind. But you can rent a climate controlled, powered storage unit, go in and operate your machines on the weekends or whatever. Just find out if the storage place has any problem with that.

Another one is that you don't need a whole warehouse. Obviously, since you're thinking of cramming the stuff into a mobile home. You might find that there is someone you can meet who doesn't use their whole warehouse space. They can sublease a corner to you for a small amount, and they're getting more out of it than they would if they left the corner empty. Set up your machines and go. I see a lot of these kinds of arrangements with office and warehouse space.

Finally, see if you have a local makerspace. You might be able to join, get some space to set up your equipment (again, I dunno the size), and you'll also get access to other machinery and expert geeks. My local makerspace has memberships starting at $50/mo.

 

[Rabby]

This reminds me of a Last Week Tonight episode of John Oliver. Its been ages, but the gist is you may own the home, but not the land. That can get dicey. Here is the vid if you are interested in it. Beyond this info, I am not too sure about the idea.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCC8fPQOaxU

That depends. you can buy a mobile home in a park, or you can buy one with its own land, or you can buy one and have it put on your property.

 

[Rabby]

This reminds me of a Last Week Tonight episode of John Oliver. Its been ages, but the gist is you may own the home, but not the land. That can get dicey. Here is the vid if you are interested in it. Beyond this info, I am not too sure about the idea.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCC8fPQOaxU

Ok, the end of that video is hilarious. Also, it's a good point - you probably don't want a mobile home in a park.

 

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[minivanman]

Another perfect example...... without at least a state or country, I can't answer. I have a great one..... but who knows, you may live in Rucker, Texas which means my answer wouldn't make any sense for you. Or maybe you live in the Himalayas. No one can really give a real answer without knowing at least a little about where you live. If you live in Omaha, Nebraska a trailer won't really work because they don't allow trailer parks to have any older trailers so you would need to buy a newer trailer which would cost a lot of money, which you don't have. But if you live in Council Bluffs, Iowa, a trailer could be just the fit you are looking for.

Another thing, if you are going to have workers, you can't have some run-down-rat-trap trailer.... no one will want to work there. If in a park, they are strict on rules so if you live by lil ol' lady Sally who has her trailer all nice and neat.... she is going to snitch you out. On the other hand, if you live by crack head Betty, she won't snitch you out but good workers probably won't want to show up for work.

See how important location is for a question like this.....

 

[ChrisV]

This reminds me of a Last Week Tonight episode of John Oliver. Its been ages, but the gist is you may own the home, but not the land. That can get dicey. Here is the vid if you are interested in it. Beyond this info, I am not too sure about the idea.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCC8fPQOaxU

Ok, the end of that video is hilarious. Also, it's a good point - you probably don't want a mobile home in a park.

I kinda agree. I did this a while back as an investment thinking I could just fix it and flip it.. and it was a f---ing disaster. As soon as I heard the price I JUMPED on it. But then the sale took months, and I had to pay fees that whole time. It was really one of the worst things I've ever done.

 

[EvanOkanagan]

How cheap can you buy a mobile home where you live?

I would look into the fees (we call them PAD fees here). Even if you buy a mobile home in a park, the PAD fees (to rent the "pad" that your mobile home sits on)here are $500/mo on average. You also have to factor in property taxes and insurance. All said and done (in my area), you're starting at about $650-700/mo+utilities.

On top of this, whereas Real Estate will typically appreciate, you're essentially just buying the mobile home (similar to buying a car) that's a depreciating asset.

I would look into the monthly fees, taxes and insurance and see if it's worth it after all this vs just renting a place.

Next question: Do you have the ability to get a mortgage? If so, the amount you'd pay for a mobile home might be around the down payment amount you could use towards a house (I'd look for a home with multiple dwellings ex: duplex, house w/ basement suite, etc). Then you could be earning rental income while living there, building equity through mortgage pay down, better chance of appreciation, and living fairly cheap by having a good portion of the mortgage covered by renters.

 

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[DeletedUser0287]

How cheap can you buy a mobile home where you live?

I would look into the fees (we call them PAD fees here). Even if you buy a mobile home in a park, the PAD fees (to rent the "pad" that your mobile home sits on)here are $500/mo on average. You also have to factor in property taxes and insurance. All said and done (in my area), you're starting at about $650-700/mo+utilities.

On top of this, whereas Real Estate will typically appreciate, you're essentially just buying the mobile home (similar to buying a car) that's a depreciating asset.

I would look into the monthly fees, taxes and insurance and see if it's worth it after all this vs just renting a place.

Next question: Do you have the ability to get a mortgage? If so, the amount you'd pay for a mobile home might be around the down payment amount you could use towards a house (I'd look for a home with multiple dwellings ex: duplex, house w/ basement suite, etc). Then you could be earning rental income while living there, building equity through mortgage pay down, better chance of appreciation, and living fairly cheap by having a good portion of the mortgage covered by renters.

Yeah thanks to everyone in this thread, I'm realizing I should hold off till I can just get a cheap single family home.