Buying a Manufactured Home in San Jose, please advise :)

[d2army]

Hi there everyone

I am single(newb to manufactured homes) new college grad and going to move to San Jose to work, and I hoped to live as close as possible to the company so I could bike to work every day. I have calculated my finances and I will be able to afford a 300k condo, but I discovered two reasonably priced manufactured homes right next to the company on Craigslist :

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/rfs/265889509.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/rfs/268091271.html

This doesnt mean I am going to buy them immediately since that wouldn't be wise, but I was hoping to consult everyone here on whether it is worth it to invest in a manufactured home in San Jose and then possibly rent a few rooms out. I am curious how well this might work out in the Bay Area.

I am not sure if manufacturing house rooms are popular for rental, and also how many tenants would want to live under the same roof as their landlord.

Please share your thoughts , thanks!
I.S.

[scottman]

You may be getting yourself in a financial bind doing this. You may have problems with qualified renters for your manufactured home. Even if you find some decent people then will you really want to share the same roof with them every day? I did the same thing in a college dorm but after college and a mobile home, its a different thing.

Will you be able to upkeep 2 mobile homes? You may/may not have a lot of work since renters may be hard on these homes.

Will you get financing for the mobile homes right out of college? Will you be able to easily resale it later and make a profit? Do you want to put yourself into that situation?

Get the condo, live life after college for a few years, then decide.
My 2c worth.

[Mac]

I'd rent until prices go down - they will, even in SV. That said, manufactured homes in SV do seem to appreciate, slowly. But there are better investments.
As to renting rooms, the park you buy in may not allow it, or may limit it. Be sure to ask.

[Mac]

If you can't buy the condo with a FIXED-RATE MORTGAGE, DON'T do it. Rent and wait. Even in the Bay Area, housing prices have 10-20% to come down, at least. Condos will fall faster, and appreciate slower. You could find affordable housing in, say, Boulder Creek - or land to put a MF home on there.
Bit of a drive, though - I did it for many years.

[JDeborahCoss]

In addition to qualifying for the mortgage, you would want to see if manufactured homes in the area are holding, losing or rising per sqaure foot in value (that is dtermined through "comps"). Usually you must also qualify for the commnunity in which you will be buying. Some are very strict about renting or subletting. Some simply do not allow it and state the community is owner occupied only (they do that to try to keep quality up). So check all that you have to comply with, get a copy of the rules and regulations of any community you are considering and READ them if you think you want to buy into manufactured housing.
Good luck,
Deborah Coss