The Michigan Telephone blog

Maybe I should have written this article a year ago… but anyway, it seems there are a lot of people who have been forced to move out of their homes for one reason or another. Very often they go looking for an apartment and unless they are really fortunate, they often find that apartment living is nowhere near as desirable as their prebvious living arrangements.

For many of these people, there is another option they may have never considered, but probably should. Today, it’s called manufactured housing. When I was younger, they were called mobile homes. Very old people may still think of them as trailers. But a trailer is to a manufactured home as a beat-up VW from the 60’s is to a luxury car of today. Manufactured housing has gotten MUCH better over the years, yet far too many people can’t stop thinking of them as “trailers.”

So, let me explain to you the advantages and disadvantages of manufactured home living:

The biggest advantage is that whether you currently own a home or are renting an apartment, you can get far more bang for your buck with a mobile home. Single wide mobile homes (even ones of recent manufacture) can often be had for under $10,000 used, in a mobile home park. As with any home, some folks don’t take care of their homes, while others keep them immaculate, so if you look at used manufactured homes, don’t be surprised (or put off) if the first one you see looks like a dump – just say “no” and move on. In any case, when you find one you like you will almost certainly find that even with the lot rent (or property tax, if you buy one on private property), you will be paying less per month for your home payments than you are paying for your current living arrangements – and if that’s not the case, then I can pretty much assure you that the manufactured home will be a step up for you!

Another advantage is that you are building up equity in your home. Granted, it may not be all that much, but then again if you keep up your property and don’t overpay to begin with, when you move out you may be able to recoup much of what you’ve paid. EDIT: Don’t read too much into this – it is very true that many types of manufactured homes, particularly the older single-wide mobile homes, depreciate in value over the years.  However, if you buy one that’s nearly fully depreciated, fix it up and improve its appearance, and then resell it, it is possible to actually make a little money on the deal – and by “a little” I mean “maybe enough to fill your gas tank a few times”, not “enough to make a down payment on your next home.” My point here is that when you do decide to move, unless the place is a real dump you can probably get something out of it, whereas with an apartment you might get your security deposit back, if you’re lucky.

And one other BIG advantage for some is that, because you own the home, you have more control over it. This is particularly true when it comes to pets. Whereas many landlords won’t allow pets at all, most mobile home park owners tend to be much more lenient – after all, since you own the home, they won’t get stuck cleaning up after your pet when you move out. So if you are being forced out of your home and your kids are crying at the prospect of having to give up Fluffy (particularly if Fluffy is a cat or a small dog), you really should start looking into manufactured homes.

Speaking of kids, in many areas with mobile homes the streets are dead ends or cul-de-sacs, or may have speed bumps or other mechanisms to slow down cars. You may actually be able to let your child ride their bike on the street in front of your home without worrying that some idiot will come tearing through and mow them down. And in a mobile home park, your kids will almost certainly be able to find other kids to play with (of course, if it’s not a nice mobile home park, they may not be the kind of kids you want yours playing with).

One other thing to consider is that most mobile homes, whether new or used, come with appliances (if you are buying a used home, ASK the seller to state which appliances are included, and be sure those appliances INCLUDING make and model/serial numbers are listed on the the bill of sale or purchase agreement. A member of my family bought a mobile home once that contained a nice refrigerator – when they came to move in a couple days later, that new refrigerator had turned into an old, single-door wheezer that sounded like it was about to gasp and die. They called the local police, who paid the previous owner a visit and informed them that it would be illegal for them to sell or dispose of the refrigerator until the matter had been settled in court. When said previous owner realized they were probably going to get hauled into small claims court, it took them about half an hour to show up with the new refrigerator and make a swap. YOU may not be so lucky, so be sure you and the seller understand EXACTLY what you are buying, and get everything listed on some kind of document relating to the sale, and signed by the seller!). You may get furniture too, but if it’s furniture that originally came with the home when new, it’s probably not real high quality.

Now, the fact that you own (or are buying) a home can also have its disadvantages. Unlike an apartment, you can’t just walk away after giving 30 days notice. If the home is in a park, you may be responsible for either selling the home to another person, or moving the home out of the park. Until you do one or the other, you will still be responsible for paying lot rent. If it’s on private property, you will have the same hassles as you would in selling a house (although if you don’t overprice it, a mobile home should be a lot easier to sell in today’s market).

You will have maintenance costs. On a newer home these will likely be minimal — remember, a manufactured home is built to go down the road at 70 miles per hour, so if it survives that intact, it will probably take quite a bit to damage it. But when something does need to be fixed, it may be a bit more costly that the same repair in a home because even today, manufactured home makers sometimes use weird parts (like non-standard sized doors). It’s not that replacements are unavailable, but they will probably cost you more than you’d like. If you’re careful not to damage your home, these expenses will hopefully be minimal. With an older home, you may be faced with replacing a water heater or even a furnace at some point, and those are expensive repairs. If in doubt, have those big-ticket items checked out before you buy.

The bad: Who has seen the wind? Well, if you see a tornado, you don’t want to be in a mobile home, new or old. So if you live in “tornado alley”, make sure that there is a tornado shelter (or an accessible basement) in the park or on your property. By the way, it’s not really true that tornadoes are attracted to mobile home parks, but it is true that when a tornado his a manufactured home community it generally leaves a real mess, and what that attracts is news crews and their cameras.

The ugly: Before you even think of moving into a mobile home park, there are some things you absolutely want to do. The first is to talk to the park management and ask for a copy of the park rules, and find out what the monthly lot rent is, and find out if you will be changed for utilities such as water, sewer, electricity, garbage removal, Cable TV, broadband Internet, etc. Also find out who provides those services or utilities – if it’s the park, and you will have to pay extra for a service provided by the park, you can just about bet they are adding a surcharge above what you’d pay if you were buying the service directly. And if you are looking at a particular manufactured home, make sure that if you buy it the park management will allow you to stay in the park (unless you want to move it to a different park, which is of course your prerogative, but moving a manufactured home sometimes causes unanticipated damage to the home, and in any case you’ll want to find out how much that move is going to cost you.  And in some states, their may be exit fees in a mobile home park, although those are illegal in other states such as Michigan). Also ask about your pets, if you have any – you don’t want to move in and THEN find out that the management has a problem with your pets.

There are a lot of mobile home park owners that are just great folks, but then again, there are a some that are horrible people and scam artists. To make sure that you don’t get one who thinks their park is their own personal version of a mini-Nazi Germany, and they are taking the role of a little Hitler, go to the park on a weekend (preferably a pleasant afternoon) and stop and have a chat with a few random residents – preferably those who appear to be about your same age/gender/race etc. Ask them how they like living in the park, and if they’ve ever had any problems with park management OR with their neighbors. If they seem hesitant to respond, or appear to be choosing their words carefully, that’s a bad sign. And if the management actually shows up and berates you for talking to residents in the park when you don’t yet live there, drive away and never come back!

EDIT: I forgot to mention, though I had intended to, that there is a wide variance in the quality of manufactured homes. Some are mass-produced in such a way that the construction is rather poor, whereas other brands have a reputation for much higher quality.  Another possible reason for visiting a mobile home park, if you’re considering the purchase of a used home, is to try and talk to people who own a similar model to the one you’re considering (or an even older model from the same manufacturer) and see how they feel about their homes.  Also, if you find that the park managers seem like reasonable folks that you can chat with, you can ask them their opinion of various manufactured home brands that you might be considering.  The caveat here is that they might be in cahoots with a local dealer (or they might even be a local dealer), and thus may have some incentive to talk up whatever brand that dealer is selling — even so, they can often help steer you away from a brand that’s got a reputation as having really poor construction. Now back to the original article…

Definitely read the park rules, and discuss them with your spouse/children/anyone else that may be living with you in the home. Some parks will have rules that sound okay at first glance but when you think about them a bit more, you realize that they’re something you can’t live with. For example, if you are a bit absent-minded, you don’t want to live in a park where you are penalized for forgetting to cut your grass on a particular day, or to take in your garbage cans by a certain hour. If the rules seem a bit unreasonable, the park owners might be very unreasonable. And if a park looks extra nice when you drive in – almost like a garden spot – it might be that way because the park management is quite anal about forcing residents to make their properties look that way (or the management will do it, and send the negligent resident a big bill!). Can you live with that?

The upside of a nice park is that it may be less attractive to those you might not want to live close to. Just as you are looking for inexpensive housing, so are many other people, for various reasons. Some want inexpensive housing because they’d rather spend their money on alcohol or drugs. This is why it pays to take some time to talk to existing residents – you can get a pretty good idea of what the park is like, and if you ask the right questions you can find out if there are residents that are likely to try to sell drugs to members of your family (which, hopefully, you want to avoid — or at very least, you’d want to be in a different part of the park).

A far better alternative in many cases is to find a relatively new mobile home in good shape on private property. These do exist in many areas, but are hard to find. Real estate agents hate them (and often will use every trick in the book to talk you out of buying one) because their commission isn’t nearly as high on a mobile home as on a stick-built home. And if a real estate agent does accept a listing for one, they will often jack up the selling price far beyond what the home and property is worth (in one case I know of, the real estate agent priced the home and property at just under $70,000. You could have bought land in the same area, had well and septic and concrete pad installed, and a brand new mobile home placed on the property for about $40,000 at the time).

Which brings me to another point – if you know what you are doing, sometimes the best thing to do is buy a piece of vacant land in an area zoned for mobile homes, and develop it yourself, then place a new or used mobile home on the property. Be sure to talk to your city or township officials before attempting this, as you will need to be concerned about things like proper zoning and minimum lot sizes. You’ll also want to know what utilities are available in the area. Buying real estate is tricky, so you may want to hire a real estate agent to act as YOUR real estate agent (to protect YOUR interests, not the seller’s) during the process. On the other hand, if you can use some property that’s been in your family for a long time, and there are no zoning issues, that may be a way to go.

EDIT: Keep in mind that newer manufactured homes (the type that come in two or more sections, sometimes called “modular homes”, that are virtually indistinguishable from stick-built homes after they have been placed on the property) can usually go anyplace that a comparably-sized home can go, depending on local laws.  Those units generally aren’t limited to areas zoned for mobile homes, but the cost will be higher because the original purchase price is higher (generally at least $10,000 or more higher than a brand new, comparably-sized double-wide mobile home) and they generally have to be placed on a regular house-type foundation (not just placed on a concrete slab and supported by cement blocks, as is often the case with mobile homes).  Depending on how well-made the home is, this is the one type of manufactured home that actually can increase in value, although to a large degree that can depend on the condition of the property and the surrounding neighborhood. In some areas you can buy these homes and have them placed on a lot for only a fraction of what a similar contractor-built home would cost, and considering that not all contractors do the best possible job when building a new home, you may actually be happier with a factory-built modular when all is said and done.

[Tip: What's the difference between a double wide mobile home and a modular home? Look under the home. If you see long I-beams that span the length of the home, and metal framing, and maybe axles where the wheels would be attached (although those are often removed after the home is delivered) then it's a double wide mobile home. Also, if it's sitting on a cement pad and supported by concrete blocks, with vinyl or metal skirting hiding the underside of the home, then it's more than likely a double wide mobile home.  However, if when you look under the home you see wood framing (similar to what you'd see in the basement of a home that doesn't have a finished ceiling), and if the home is sitting on a regular house-type basement or a foundation with crawl space, it's probably a modular home. If it's in a mobile home park, it's almost certainly a double-wide mobile home, except under very special circumstances (e.g., it was previously the park owner's residence).]

Often, a great way to find a manufactured home, or property where you can place a manufactured home, is to drive around in places where there are already such homes, be it a mobile home park or an area where you see manufactured homes on private property. Look for “For Sale” signs, and use all the normal caution you’d use when buying a regular house or piece of property (particularly with private property, do not assume that the zoning laws have not changed since the homes you see were placed there! You can often keep using an existing home as a residence, but you may never be able to move a newer or better home onto the property, or onto adjacent vacant property you might purchase. Don’t assume anything!).

You can also look for manufactured homes for sale in newspaper classifieds, in the free “real estate” throwaways they pass out in some cities, and even online in places like Craigslist or eBay. Note that when buying from a private owner, you want to be extra diligent in looking for needed repairs. If possible, take someone with you that has lived in a manufactured home for several years – they may spot problems that you wouldn’t think to look for.

Unless your only other option is sleeping in a tent, never buy a manufactured home that was built more than about 20 to 25 years ago. Prior to that, the same construction standards used today were not in effect, and you may find homes that have very thin walls, non-standard fittings, and lots of other problems. Never buy a home with windows you have to crank to open, unless you are in a very temperate area – those windows lose heat in the winter like you would not believe.

This is just a suggestion for those who may need affordable housing. Newer manufactured homes can be quite nice, especially when compared to some of the overpriced, run-down apartments being offered in some neighborhoods, and many people don’t even consider the option because all they think of is drafty trailers with next to no insulation, and tin roofs, and bathrooms so small you can wash your hands in the sink while sitting on the john. You may still find some of those things (particularly in used homes) but very often people are VERY pleasantly surprised when they walk into a newer manufactured home, and find it’s nothing like what they imagined. You can, of course, buy a brand new mobile home (in which case the dealer almost certainly knows of several mobile home parks where you can place it) but be aware that mobile home dealers are very much like automobile dealers – some will give you a fair deal and a wonderful experience, and others will give you an experience that you’ll regret forever (there is nothing like talking to previous customers to find out about a particular dealer).

Also, if a dealer offers to do the prep work on your private property before delivering a manufactured home, make sure that it is clearly understood and that you have it in writing who is responsible if anything goes wrong.  For example, if the dealer hires a contractor to install a septic tank and drain field, and then the plumbing inspector refuses to pass it because it’s not up to code, do you really want to be on the hook for having it done over?  You probably will be, if you’re not very careful about how the contract is written!

In any case, if you are looking for housing, good luck in your search!

EDIT: I am pleased to note that The Consumerist found this article, and that many of their readers made comments on their site. While many of the comments there are quite valid, I take personal offense to the one guy who suggested that this might be “a spam blog grabbing stuff from Associated Content.” I want that person to know that every word of this “most obvious garbage” was written by myself.  And yes, my blog is on WordPress.com – so what, at least it’s not Geocities! Also, I will note that my comments were primarily based on what I know about mobile home living in the Great Lakes area. If people in the SF Bay area are paying $200,000+ for a mobile home then all I can say is that some enterprising Californians ought to start buying mobile homes from the factories in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, etc. and hauling them out to the Golden State – even after the transportation charges, there’s got to be a huge profit potential there, if they really sell for that kind of money.  Now, if we are talking newer manufactured (modular) homes then that’s a slightly different matter, although even then I still tend to think somebody’s making a HUGE profit out there!