Community Chat

[lil Sophie]

I am toying with the idea of buying one. My husband and I have moved 18 times during our 39 years of marriage and I think we are ready to settle down in a mobile home. What are the ins and outs of owning one? We have owned 6 homes all firmly rooted to the ground. I now feel we should try a mobile home but I know nothing about them. Can you help? Thank you.

[croemer]

I am going to choose this is a legitimate question.

I did many years ago and Mobile homes have come very far since then. My mother had until recently lived in one...having lived in a conventional home all her life until about 10 years ago. I believe it is a 18 'by 76' and she loved it.

I know from my years of living in one I would not have one that wasn't tied down, rocked in on the bottom...because when a high wind comes the skirt can/will collapse. Of course tied down for safety. I still enjoy looking at the changes Manufactured Homes(as they call them now) which are amazing with sheet rock walls, granite, stainless steal appliances, built on porches, double pained windows, fireplaces, french doors and nice cabinetry.

Do your research there are many online searches you can do. One quality home is Palm Harbor.

[Preds]

Do you still plan on moving around some? If not, I'd advise the permanent under skirting as Croemer mentioned. I grew up in a trailer and my father still lives in one. He never wanted a "solid" house. Haven't been in any newer ones in years, but they are sooooo much better looking than they once were. I've known several people that also add on rooms to their original mobile homes and you would never know that hidden under everything is a trailer.

[irishmama5]

My Uncle lives in a mobile park community in Kentucky, however they are no longer mobile they are beautiful 3 bedroom, sucken livingroom, master bedroom with jaccuzi, state of the art kitchen. The homes are pre-fab homes but still considered mobile. Lots of info on the web,

[spud188]

And Fleetwood,do your research,as always you get what you pay,we looked for 2 months after our house fire in1993 and we are well pleased and have not had one single issue in all this time. Ours is a 25' x 56',3br 2bath. You choose carpet color,kitchen and bath flooring,faucets,countertops,floorplan. And yes have it tied down.

[traveler]

Do you live in a tornado area? Plan on a tie down? Pipes protected? Nothing like a sewage leak. Thin walls make heating expensive in some areas. Are you thinking of private lot or park? Yes, I've lived in several. Some are very nice inside.

[OCGurl]

Check the plumbing pipes under the sinks & the mobile home. in the 70's & 80's many mobile homes had what is called Polybutylene or ""Qest"" . It was cheaper to use these in many mobile & manufactured homes. Many homeowners had so much trouble with these pipes that there was a class action law suit in the 90's & they were able to recoup their costs of damage caused by the faulty plumbing. They are gray plastic tubing pipes. They stopped making these pipes so now if a homeowner has trouble with the plumbing they need to do what is called a coupling or union with old piping and a new piping. Or replace all the plumbing in the home to More current plumbing. Also check with your insurance b4 purchase to see if they will cover any damage related to Qest piping since the piping is no longer made. You can google the 2 names I referred to and read about it so that you can make an informed decision b4 you purchase. HTH

[harcon]

Do your research on the homes by different manufacturers. Know that you can change placement of walls, add or remove closets and cabinets, make showers larger etc.

We lived in one for 15 years and loved it. Ours was set ranch style and had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living, dining, family room with fireplace, laundry room and large kitchen and was about 2000 sq feet. The insulation was more than what is in a stick built house and our windows were very good. Once inside the house you'd never know it was a manufactured home.

When my husband passed away the house was too big for just me and I moved to a an independent senior apartment.

[qvcfreak]

On 7/5/2014 Preds said:

Do you still plan on moving around some? If not, I'd advise the permanent under skirting as Croemer mentioned. I grew up in a trailer and my father still lives in one. He never wanted a "solid" house. Haven't been in any newer ones in years, but they are sooooo much better looking than they once were. I've known several people that also add on rooms to their original mobile homes and you would never know that hidden under everything is a trailer.

My brother had theirs bricked and they added a large master bedroom with bathroom and a huge patio. When we give directions to people, it's so funny as we say, go West and turn right immediately after you pass the canal and 1st trailer on the left is his home and they always call as it doesn't look like a trailer from the outside anymore.

[151949]

My parents lived in one after my Dad had a small stroke and their 3 story home was too difficult for him. They like the home and they liked the park - where most of their neighbors were in their same age range. It seemed like a nice safe place for them at that time, but now the homes are aged and the park has become a low income type of housing - very scary neighbors there. So it is not somewhere I would look for a long term place to live. As the older folks in my parents park died off the used homes were sold cheaply and the people who moved in were highly questionable.