What do you think of mobile homes?

They have the same inconveniences of a condo association, but for 1/6 the money. I think mobile homes are great, and cities should quit limiting the zones where they are allowed.

I owned one back in the seventies- a thirty-two foot with shower/toilet a huge annexe and a full sized kitchen. Had a ball with it. Towed almost completely around Australia when my first two daughters were too young to start school. It took nearly a year and we mostly stayed at beachside tourist parks. It was a fun experience.

Freakin awesome. Someone I know has like the super duper delux version and they say it is a pain in the ass to park. It sounds like you trade one luxury for others.

I looked at some of the new double wides and they were quite beautiful. I think they are better made now than they were years ago. The walls are actual dry wall and not thin panelling or plywood. The bathrooms were huge, they had fireplaces, sunken living rooms, and big pantrys. They have more amenities than my house has.

I think for some people it’s not their first choice but for some it is – if it’s your cup of tea, I think it’s great.

Little better than a chimney when it comes to fire. That being said, if it is necessary to live in one, go for it, if not, it isn’t a home IMHO.

My wife’s mother GAVE her an old, 80-foot mobile home a few months back. We have been rebuilding it ( which is a lot easier than rebuilding a house, and a lot less expensive ) for about five months now and will soon be able to move in. It’s more than enough room for just the two of us, will have the best appliances we can find, will have one bedroom, a large bath with a walk-in shower ( which is something I wanted ), a huge kitchen with a dining area, a nice living area with a home entertainment system ( including a 50” television ), and a home office with two desks and a large space for the HO train layout I have wanted since I was about 8. It will have a smoke alarm system, a security system, and a large generator, AND we won’t owe a DIME on it!

So what’s not to like? : ))

@CaptainHarley My wife’s mother GAVE her an old, 80-foot mobile home a few months back

Eighty feet long? When you add a tow vehicle it would be one hundred feet. How could you possibly tow it?

@DarkScribe The subject is mobile home, not motor home.

We had it professionally moved, and now it will never move again. : ))

@DarkScribe I think there might be some confusion between what we call a mobile home or trailer here and an RV which is a home driven or towed that people can live in and it sounds like that is more like what you had with your younger children.

Two different things.

@chyna The subject is mobile home, not motor home.

I didn’t think that it was a motor home – they don’t have tow vehicles. How can it be “mobile” at that length?

I don’t hate them, but let’s just say I wouldn’t want to live in one unless I had to. It’s a step up from a trailer though. :)

How could you possibly tow it?
In the US, “mobile home” means manufactured (off-site) home, and most are moved once – from the factory to the living site.

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@DarkScribe Sorry, I forget you aren’t from the U.S. I think @rahm_sahriv and @jaytkay explained it better than I did.
@Jaytkay good examples.

@rahm_sahriv what we call a mobile home or trailer here and an RV which is a home driven or towed

Ok, got you. When I lived in the US I most definitely saw mobile homes on the road, called such – but yes, here a large caravan or mobile home is generally a holiday/recreational contrivance. This is about permanently parked “movable” accommodation. Not so common here – but they do exist. (Transportable or site homes are usually what I see them advertised as. A slight difference in nomenclature.)

Yeah ! They are great to ride out Hurricanes !

@Pretty_Lilly Haha yeah I don’t think I have to worry about hurricanes in Tennessee!

@CupcakesandTea Actually they are great to ride “IN” Hurricanes !!

This was something I had never done before, construction work. I learned more in 5 months about it than in all the rest of my life so far! Hard work, but very rewarding to see the final result. I learned a lot more about carpentry, how to take apart a mobile home down to the metal frame, how to put in a subfloor, how to hang sheetrock, how to “mud” over the seams, how to sand it down, how to paint it, how to put in plumbing, how to use painter’s calk to cover any gaps ( and to cover any mistakes! ), and how to lay flooring. The only thing we didn’t do was the electrical work and the sewer connection to the town sewer line ( we had professionals do both ).

Point and mock all you want, but I pay NO MORTGAGE, and we will have a really nice place to live for two old farts! : D

BTW… I just went to measure it again ( it’s right across the street from where we’re renting now ), and it is 80’ long.

I lived in one when I was 8 in Arz. Whe had a bad fash flood, the water was up to the front door, you could feel the traler rocking back and forth as if were going to come off its suuport blocks. It was pretty scarry.

If I were to live in a mobile home now,I would do so only with an underground storm shelter. In the 60’s,tornados in my area,claimed 300 lives, mostly from mobile home parks without shelters. I live in the RV capitol and mobile homes and RV’s dominate industry and provide a lot of local housing. They are well made, quite stylish,affordable, and efficient, but I would insist on a shelter.

@oreo45

We’re not in a flood plain. The home sits on one of the highest points of land in our little town. Hurricaines almost always turn east before they get this far. We do have the occasional tornado watch, but have never had one touch down in the area. Almost every location has some drawbacks, but this one has fewer than any other place I’ve ever lived.

BTW… we do have plans to build an underground shelter, but I would do that even if we had a very sturdy house.

@CaptainHarley I think that exsperenc has tainted me. but I just feel safer in a hous with a foundation.

@oreo45

All any of us have is the illusion of safety. I’m virtually certain that those in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center felt very safe the morning of 09/11/01. My youngest daughter was in the Windows on the World restaurant on top of one of the towers for lunch on 09/10/01. “Safety” is an illusion.

I grew up in one. Hopefully they’re built better nowadays. It was so hot in the summer and cold in the winter because it was made of metal. I swear – peel back the siding and it would be a big box that says “Adidas” on the side.

@laureth

LOL! I guarantee that this moble home is very well insulated indeed .. I put it all in myself! : )) Plus, we have sheetrock walls and ceilings, and all the seams and cracks have been sealed.

I supose they are better built today than in the 70s.

Someday I may be really grateful for one.

I had a boyfriend in the early 1970s who lived off campus in an actual (rented) trailer in a trailer park with two roommates, and I thought it was great. I was amazed at how roomy it was inside. If I had to, I could make myself really comfortable in a compact little place like that. Not there yet, but I wouldn’t look down on such a gift.

I wish they weren’t looked down upon. I think they make a great first home, great for student, great for elderly people…really, it’s just a stigma attached to them. I would LOVE to have my own mobile home (I always called it a trailer..) but it’s considered “ghetto” in my area.
When I was in Michigan, it was common for it to be the next step out of your parents house..because it’s so affordable and perfect size. I live in one until I was 4.

@casheroo

And thereby hangs the real problem with mobile homes… the American obesession with the detached home in an “upscale” housing area where you can “keep up with the Jonses,” and have a huge mortgage for half your life. Been there, done that, never will again.

At my age and given all I’ve been through in my life I couldn’t give a rat’s ass LESS what anyone thinks of where I live. : ))

I lived in a nice one going to grad school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There was no need to worry about extreme weather there. I would do it again in a heartbeat, except that now I live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where we have no mobile homes.

If you’re giving up a basement, then make plans for a reasonably roomy storage shed.

great idea, i live in a caravan (trailer) in the summer, it’s nice if lacking in facilities, makes you appreciate how much resources one is using.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies

Most homes around here don’t have basements anyway.

I grew up in a mobile home park my parents owned and it was fine. We had a piano in our double wide. 3 bedroom.

I saw the big tornado in 74 and houses get destroyed as well. If it is your time to get it, destiny and the wind will knock your sox off.

@jazmina88

I tend to agree with you. A degree of fatalism is good for all of us. : ))

i’d hate to use the toilet while it speeds over a speed bump. and i’ll be too embarassed to empty it, And then carrying your house to the mechanic, pfft. Just the thought of it. The mechanics where i live prefer the vehicle owners to leave their vehicle for a day or two. It lacks discretion. If you already have a home and you want one for road trips yeah that’s a great idea.