The Manufactured Housing Forums

Hello! So nice to find a website forum for mobile park home owners! Who knew?

I am new here to the forum, and also Very new to mobile homes and mobile home parks.
I am moving across the nation, to the Clearwater/Largo area of Florida, all by myself. Oddly, that entire area seems to be chockfull of mobile home parks, almost wall to wall MHPs. Clearwater alone, which is popular with us older people, has almost 60 mobile home parks and it is not a big town. The lot rents in that area, are $450 to almost $700 per month!!!!!


My plan is to first RENT a mobile home til I learn which MHP I want, and then, later on, plan to buy my own.

At first, I plan to rent a fairly low-end or low-price mobile home to help me save up to buy one of my own. Surprisingly, mobile homes to *RENT* are hard to find online, for the ballpark figure I am looking for, of $500 to $650 per month. I've found a few and am in process of applying to the parks. (LATER, in a year or two, THEN I will buy my own, and then i'll be back then with plenty of questions!)

There are a handful of mobile homes to rent in that area for high prices, since it is a tourist area, but, finding mobile homes to rent for annual use, in my price range, is harder than i'd thought. Only a few available, and they go like hotcakes.
Any websites to look over that list mobile homes to rent?
I read somewhere, we should try to avoid mobile homes built before 1980 maybe, something about how the wiring was done back then. (?)


Any advice on what I should look for to rent a mobile home? Or in a mobile home park?
I've never lived in one, but, I really want a pool and I don't want to manage a whole home by myself, and a mobile home it seems a world better than an apt:
more acoustical privacy,
a bit of lawn to garden on, (I LOVE GARDENING, even a small patch will do)
no apt mgr coming in to spray for bugs when I am not even there, (leaving bug poison who knows where! also, feels like invasion of privacy, to me..)
and
no mad rush of bugs through the walls when a neighbor sprays their apt,
no one walking on my ceiling at 2am,
yet,
i'd still get "the community" and the swimming pool.


At any rate, i'll be glad to have this move finished, and be settled in my own place! All tips or thoughts or experiences welcome, there are no words for how 'rookie' I am. I am planning to move to one of the Clearwater/Largo parks for those >55 years old, and hope I make new pals fast, who can teach me about mobile home life while I rent, to help me prepare to purchase one.

But any tips or advice for rentals or rental websites, would be appreciated. THANK YOU!

PS---does the age of the mobile home park mean much? Would an older park be more prone to sewer problems?

er, by the way, re: the reference to bugs, my home here, up north, is spotless and bugfree, but, bugs are part of life in Florida, as I recall from my younger years. Down south, even if your home is spotless, you can be battling against bugs.

Being in a mobile home vs. an apt, I'd expect I'd have a bit more control of that situation, than you would in an apt, was what I meant. By the way, any southern mobile home owners on this forum, in a mobile home do you also spray UNDER the mobile home for bugs, is that part of how it's done? I have no idea.

The Clearwater area has the highest concentration of manufactured homes and parks of anyplace in the world. Because of the popularity of the area with retirees demand has created high lot rents.

With lot rent at 450 - 700 it would be difficult to find a home to rent for $500 as that would not pay the lot rent, offer enough income to cover the taxes and insurance or any profit to the home owner.

Visit our archive and read the article Private Property or a Land-Lease Community? by Chrissy Jackson. She weighs the benefits of land-lease vs land ownership or apartment. I think it will help with your decisions.

OH Thank you for reply. I will read that article.

All righty, i just got approved by a property management group, and they have a few available mobile homes for RENT in my price range;

Two different parks, both run by the same propery management group.

There is
A)an older (1984) model, with 2 bed/2ba
in a very lovely park with tons of TREES (hard to find in mhp in the area i am looking)

and
B) a very new model, only a few years old, but it's only a 1bd/1ba,
in a park that does not have many trees at all, but, does have a fitness center, which is kind of appealing.

both parks have a heated pool, and both are in good locations.

Can't decide which will matter more, the park itself being lovely,
or the inside of the home being so new?

Or how important that 2nd bedroom is going to be for me, as i am expecting lots of visitors...



Any thoughts?
Is it better to rent a nicer New home, in a park that probably isn't as lovely to look at,
or,
is it better to rent an older home, in a park that has lovely tree-lined streets?


Again, i've never lived in a mobile home, nor a mobile home park,
so all advice, tips, thoughts, etc,
ARE SO APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!!

HELP!
help...

Location and condition are most important in any home decision.....expecting lots of visitors... ???? go with the 2 bedroom with the shaded lot. A single bedroom is difficult if you expect lots of visitors... ask what price you would pay for shade trees in Florida during the sumnmer

THANK YOU for reply, you make VERY good points!!!

i like to know if you have some available for rent mobile home 500

Different kind of bugs and pest is significant issue in United states these years. This doesn't imply that you having a mobile home so you are free from these pests. These pest can be found anywhere. I've read an article about pest control a month ago which clearly stated that bed bug pest control reporting calls has increased 10 to 20 times as they were few years ago.

Which is really better, renting or owning a house? From time to time, a “rent-or-buy” assessment will come out on a business news website. Most of them are mendacious if not outright propaganda, as most leave out a ton of info and hidden expenses of home ownership. However, Zillow, oddly enough, has actually come up with one that is close to reality. For me, there can be no financial answer as to whether it is cheaper to buy or rent. However, there are considerations including emotional and flexibility can sometimes outweigh decisions that may or may not be financially justified.