explain mobile homes to me

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 05-20-2021, 02:22 PM

This might be an instance where the difference between "house" and "home" is significant. Yes, if you live there, it is your home.

I'm guessing you are wondering why banks might not provide a regular home loan for a mobile home. Unlike most built-in-place houses, mobile homes do not appreciate in value, except in unusual circumstances. In fact, they may lose value pretty quickly. So a mortgage on a mobile home is not really backed up by good on-going value.

Is that what you are asking about?

**ua_guy** · 05-20-2021, 02:41 PM

Going from memory here... In a nutshell, the difference is, is it classified as a home or vehicle. And then how and what materials are used to build it, as determined by Federal HUD building code.

A manufactured home, like double, single, triple wide, is made in a factory and delivered to a site and is intended to stay put once installed. They can be put on blocks with skirting or they can be put on more permanent foundation types. "Manufactured" is a specific term relating to the HUD building requirements which changed in 1976. The more stringent requirements differentiated manufactured homes from mobile homes, which are meant to be moved around. Mobiles were built on a trailer chassis, also called "trailer home". Financing for a manufactured home is more complicated than a site-built or 'stick built' home, because the land on which it sits may or may not be owned. Moving a manufactured home can be done, but it is usually a significant undertaking.

Modular homes are built offsite and are delivered in pieces, joined together on a permanent foundation. Financing is very similar to stick-built or site built homes, the real difference being, they are built offsite. They comply to at least the same HUD code requirements as site-built homes. Land is typically owned.

And then, there are RV's and Park Model homes. An RV is your camp trailer, 5th wheel, motorhome which is meant for travel-living, the kind you buy from Jayco or Forest River, etc. A park model RV is not really an RV but it's built to RV building code, and usually resembles a manufactured home in style. These are often known as "Tiny homes". They are limited to 400sqft. Park model RV's also meant to be hooked up to utilities for semi-permanent living versus a travel RV, which has temporary utility connections like a power cord, plastic sewer hose, etc. Land can be owned in the form of a recreational lot or open space, or, like at an RV park or resort, you can rent a space nightly, weekly, monthly, etc. RV's and Park models, like a true mobile homes, comes with a title like your car does, a VIN, and are financed like cars and RV's, and separately from land.

Local regulation is thick in determining where and how you can put various types of non- site-built homes, as well as how they can be relocated (typically requires a permit, for a manufactured home).

**HundredK** · 05-20-2021, 02:50 PM

A mobile home is a depreciating asset versus a stick-built home which hopefully is an appreciating asset. The mobile home industry is rife with taking advantage of the poor. I grew up in several of these homes - they typically are garbage. The walls weren't drywall, everything was super cheap, it creaks and moans and groans when you walk through it. They're pretty awful to live in. But they're better than having nowhere to live. So, think of a mobile home how you'd think of a vehicle - it won't be worth what you paid for it if/when you want to sell it and it's not going to last forever.

**HundredK** · 05-20-2021, 02:51 PM

Also, John Oliver did a great bit on this topic a while back:

**TexasHusker** · 05-20-2021, 04:43 PM

Isn’t Berkshire Hathaway big into manufactured homes? As RE skyrockets, I think they might be an option to many.

**corn18** · 05-20-2021, 04:51 PM

Mobile = wheels. Really isn't any more complicated than that. Single wide is the width of a single lane on the freeway. The rest should be self explanatory.

**Vulpes** · 05-23-2021, 07:39 AM

A single wide is something like 14' x 70' and brought in as one piece. Double and triple wides are just that, double or triple the width of a single wide. They are brought in by sections and joined at the property site. As others have said, they are not real estate but are considered an auto by the DMV and the insurance company.

Yes, they are homes for many. According to the quality of the home, it may last anywhere from a few years to more than 50 years. I grew up on a farm, and there were many people in the area who lived in mobile homes for many, many years. They just built on rooms when they wanted more space. Some farmers would place single wide homes on their property for workers. I knew some farmers in old farmhouses who eventually moved out of their houses and placed nice new mobiles on their property to live in. They loved the comfort of their new smaller homes compared to their old drafty stick homes. Even my brother bought a used small mobile home in a park when going thru college because it was cheaper. He sold it a few years later for what he paid for it so only ended up paying for the lot rent.

The problem is where to park the mobile home. At a park, you pay land rent to place your home. That can add up and you still are only a tenant who is financially at the mercy of the park owner. If you own your own property where mobiles are allowed, you can live very cheaply. Many areas have cracked down on where you can place a mobile home even if it is your own property.

I'm in Florida now, and there are many older but very nice senior mobile home parks. The owners take great pride in their homes and parks and work to keep them nice. For most, once they buy their home, it's much cheaper to pay the lot rent than to rent an apartment. The home is theirs to do whatever they want inside, they have some outdoor space, and they don't have to put up with shared walls. We have a very old small senior park in town, and it is amazing that the homes have survived many hurricanes. I'm sure many were rocking and rolling, but to my amazement, they're still standing.

**bjl584** · 05-23-2021, 04:31 PM

True mobile homes have axels and towing tongues attached.
They have a VIN and are considered vehicles by the DMV

Modular and manufactured homes are built off-site and delivered to a property.
They are assembled together on-site and become permanent structures once fixed to a crawl space or basement.

The waters get a little muddy with these when it comes to bank financing.
A lot of lenders won't touch them
The ones that do will write special loans, sometimes with different terms, fees, and interest rates.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 05-25-2021, 09:27 AM

interesting. I had heard of senior mobile home developments

**myrdale** · 05-26-2021, 01:33 PM

Mobile Home is just a fancy way to say trailer.

A trailer is hauled in by a truck. There are wheels on the bottom used to move them. The trailer is set up on blocks and the wheels are removed.

A double wide is two trailers nailed together.

Trailers are much lower quality than an traditionally built stick house. The walls are cardboard.

You can spend $100,000 on a brand new trailer and it will be worth $5,000 within the decade.

People who live in trailers, more specifically trashy white people who live in trailers, are affectionately called "trailer trash"

God hates trailers, that is why he invited tornadoes. I'm not joking, if you don't believe me it's in Leviticus.

They burn really good.

My first year of life was in a trail. I lived in one for three years while at college.

I have an uncle who has lived his entire adult life in a trailer. About 15 years ago he replaced it with a Manufactured Home. That is a fancy way of saying trailer too.

After my grandmother burned her house down, we used the insurance money to purchase her a trailer to live in for a couple of years before she had to be moved to the nursing home. We spent $60k on it and sold it for $40k.

Ultimately it's like everything else in life. If you take good care of it, it will last. There's maintenance associated with them. You need to seal the roofs on occasion. If you're going to buy one, buy a good used one. We spent $10k for the one I had at college, and then sold it for $10k after I graduated. Also you're going to need a light pole for the meter. And there are tax stamps you have to have stuck it as well.

explain mobile homes to me