Please help me find a nice mobile home that is actually nice and mobile
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:41 pm
So, I figure you could use some context to know where I am comming from, but if you are in a hurry and just want to get to the questions, feel free to skip this section.
For some background, I am a contract engineer. What this basically means is that a company will offer me a position to design a widget. When the job is done, I get a bonus, and then they fire me. In general, these positions last about 1 to 2 years. I enjoy it because I don't get stuck in a dead end job, nor do I get caught up in alot of the office politics that a full time worker has to deal with. It also gives me alot of variety on the things I work on so I don't wind up bored, and contract work tends to pay better then a full time position.
The problem I have with this sort of arrangement is that I wind up moving often. I may only be in a town for a year, or if I can get a couple gigs in the same area 3-4 years at the most. But eventually, I have to move again in order to get my next position.
So then, what are my options for housing? Thus far, I have considered my options to be:
A - rent an apartment (what I do most of the time)
B - rent a home (did this once)
C - buy a home (haven't done this yet)
Renting an apartment works fine for what I need. I am a single adult and plan to stay that way for a while. So a single bedroom, single bathroom unit with a living room is all I need. I have lived in places as small as 625 square feet (about 60 square meters) without feeling cramped. I just don't have that much stuff. Other advantages are that small apartments are very easy to take care of. There isn't that much space to keep clean, no yard to care for, and all maintenence is somebody else's job.
The problem with renting apartments is:
1. I am basically throwing money away on rent.
2. I can't modify anything. If I want to paint the walls a certian color, or install a different lighting fixture, or replace something I can't do that. Which means I am basically stuck with whatever the owner deams good enough.
3. It is very difficult to find a nice apartment in the size I am looking for. There seems to be this idea in the industry that the only people who want nice appliances, or whirlpool tubs are people who also want 3 bedrooms and a two car garage. If your only looking for 1 bedroom apartments, then your lucky to find one with a working dishwasher (as in it actually washes the dishes rather then just getting them hot and wet). Likewise, many apartments also have thin walls, poor insulation, and the cheepest carpet that the owner can buy. For this reason, I usually wind up renting a 2 bedroom apartment, not because I need the second bedroom, but because it is the only apartment I can find that meets my minimum conditions.
Option B (renting a home) is a bit better then renting an apartment because they are generally higher quality, better insulated, nicer places to live. The problems are:
1. I am basically throwing money away on rent.
2. I can't modify anything. (See above)
3. They are alot more to take care of. Often times a rented home comes with a yard. I don't use it, I don't like it, and I either have to pay somebody to take care of it, or waste my time taking care of it myself. Also, rented homes have more bedrooms and bathrooms then I have any use for, so I wind up paying more for things I dont need, and spend more time cleaning rooms I don't use.
Option C is buying a home. This has the benefit in that I am not throwing money away on rent, and I can also modify the place to my liking. The problems are:
1. Its more than I want to take care of (same as renting a home)
2. I wind up losing more money on the resale then I gain in equity after only a few years. If you aren't familiar with how this works, then check out this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/busi ... .html?_r=0
Basically, realtor fees, closing costs, and time taken to shop for and sell the home make it such that if I move every few years, buying a new home is more expensive then renting.
So, for the past few years I have stuck to renting 2 bedroom apartments. But recently, I have started thinking about buying a mobile home, and taking it with me when I move to a new city. I would have to stick to renting a space in a mobile home park, but my rent would go down a lot. I could modify the home as I saw fit. I could put in the luxuries that I want such as nice appliances, whirlpool bathtub, nice carpet, good insulation, etc, without having to get a large 2000 sq. foot home or yard to take care of.
However, I am not sure if they make mobile homes that can do what I want. Many mobile homes I look at are just as bad or worse quality then 1 bedroom apartments for rent, and I don't know how difficult it will be to move the home (which I will need to do multiple times).
So here is the question portion of this post:
Can you give me any advice or information in finding a good quality mobile home that can be relatively easily moved.
By good quality I mean:
Nice appliances
Whirlpool/jacuzzi/soaking bathtub
Stain resistant, soft, long life carpet
Good insulation
Very durable construction(I want this to last a while)
Weather resistant (Should be able to handle high winds, snow, rain, etc. as I will be taking it into many different climates)
And by easily movable I mean it can be packed up and moved for a relatively low cost/effort. Also, the house should be sturdy enough that it wont fall apart and disintegrate, or need major repairs after each move. I anticipate it will probably cost a few grand to move each time, but I don't really know what a reasonable price would be. Nor do I know how things like home width/length affect the cost.
As far as the size that I am looking for. As I said before, all I really need is 1 bedroom, 1 bath, and enough space to live comfortably. I am not opposed to getting a second bedroom (or perhaps even a second bathroom) as I might be living in this a while and potential growth for a family, or just a space to house guests wouldn't be bad. I could also use the second bedroom for a hobby room (as I do now). To me, the relatively small size and easy transportability says a single wide. For reference, I was browsing and something like this looked like the sort of layout that would be fine:
http://www.factoryhomesclearance.com/im ... e/7014.jpg
The difficulty is that I don't know which manufactures sell homes like this. And I don't want to buy a home, have it installed, only to find out later that it will cost alot to move, and need major repairs after each move. Is there a specific company that specializes in rugged, high quality, luxury single units?
And for what it matters, I really don't care about this home looking like a site built home. I will be living in a mobile home park, with a long and narrow house. I don't expect to fool anybody about it's origins.
Many thanks for any help or insight you can provide into this matter.
For some background, I am a contract engineer. What this basically means is that a company will offer me a position to design a widget. When the job is done, I get a bonus, and then they fire me. In general, these positions last about 1 to 2 years. I enjoy it because I don't get stuck in a dead end job, nor do I get caught up in alot of the office politics that a full time worker has to deal with. It also gives me alot of variety on the things I work on so I don't wind up bored, and contract work tends to pay better then a full time position.
The problem I have with this sort of arrangement is that I wind up moving often. I may only be in a town for a year, or if I can get a couple gigs in the same area 3-4 years at the most. But eventually, I have to move again in order to get my next position.
So then, what are my options for housing? Thus far, I have considered my options to be:
A - rent an apartment (what I do most of the time)
B - rent a home (did this once)
C - buy a home (haven't done this yet)
Renting an apartment works fine for what I need. I am a single adult and plan to stay that way for a while. So a single bedroom, single bathroom unit with a living room is all I need. I have lived in places as small as 625 square feet (about 60 square meters) without feeling cramped. I just don't have that much stuff. Other advantages are that small apartments are very easy to take care of. There isn't that much space to keep clean, no yard to care for, and all maintenence is somebody else's job.
The problem with renting apartments is:
1. I am basically throwing money away on rent.
2. I can't modify anything. If I want to paint the walls a certian color, or install a different lighting fixture, or replace something I can't do that. Which means I am basically stuck with whatever the owner deams good enough.
3. It is very difficult to find a nice apartment in the size I am looking for. There seems to be this idea in the industry that the only people who want nice appliances, or whirlpool tubs are people who also want 3 bedrooms and a two car garage. If your only looking for 1 bedroom apartments, then your lucky to find one with a working dishwasher (as in it actually washes the dishes rather then just getting them hot and wet). Likewise, many apartments also have thin walls, poor insulation, and the cheepest carpet that the owner can buy. For this reason, I usually wind up renting a 2 bedroom apartment, not because I need the second bedroom, but because it is the only apartment I can find that meets my minimum conditions.
Option B (renting a home) is a bit better then renting an apartment because they are generally higher quality, better insulated, nicer places to live. The problems are:
1. I am basically throwing money away on rent.
2. I can't modify anything. (See above)
3. They are alot more to take care of. Often times a rented home comes with a yard. I don't use it, I don't like it, and I either have to pay somebody to take care of it, or waste my time taking care of it myself. Also, rented homes have more bedrooms and bathrooms then I have any use for, so I wind up paying more for things I dont need, and spend more time cleaning rooms I don't use.
Option C is buying a home. This has the benefit in that I am not throwing money away on rent, and I can also modify the place to my liking. The problems are:
1. Its more than I want to take care of (same as renting a home)
2. I wind up losing more money on the resale then I gain in equity after only a few years. If you aren't familiar with how this works, then check out this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/busi ... .html?_r=0
Basically, realtor fees, closing costs, and time taken to shop for and sell the home make it such that if I move every few years, buying a new home is more expensive then renting.
So, for the past few years I have stuck to renting 2 bedroom apartments. But recently, I have started thinking about buying a mobile home, and taking it with me when I move to a new city. I would have to stick to renting a space in a mobile home park, but my rent would go down a lot. I could modify the home as I saw fit. I could put in the luxuries that I want such as nice appliances, whirlpool bathtub, nice carpet, good insulation, etc, without having to get a large 2000 sq. foot home or yard to take care of.
However, I am not sure if they make mobile homes that can do what I want. Many mobile homes I look at are just as bad or worse quality then 1 bedroom apartments for rent, and I don't know how difficult it will be to move the home (which I will need to do multiple times).
So here is the question portion of this post:
Can you give me any advice or information in finding a good quality mobile home that can be relatively easily moved.
By good quality I mean:
Nice appliances
Whirlpool/jacuzzi/soaking bathtub
Stain resistant, soft, long life carpet
Good insulation
Very durable construction(I want this to last a while)
Weather resistant (Should be able to handle high winds, snow, rain, etc. as I will be taking it into many different climates)
And by easily movable I mean it can be packed up and moved for a relatively low cost/effort. Also, the house should be sturdy enough that it wont fall apart and disintegrate, or need major repairs after each move. I anticipate it will probably cost a few grand to move each time, but I don't really know what a reasonable price would be. Nor do I know how things like home width/length affect the cost.
As far as the size that I am looking for. As I said before, all I really need is 1 bedroom, 1 bath, and enough space to live comfortably. I am not opposed to getting a second bedroom (or perhaps even a second bathroom) as I might be living in this a while and potential growth for a family, or just a space to house guests wouldn't be bad. I could also use the second bedroom for a hobby room (as I do now). To me, the relatively small size and easy transportability says a single wide. For reference, I was browsing and something like this looked like the sort of layout that would be fine:
http://www.factoryhomesclearance.com/im ... e/7014.jpg
The difficulty is that I don't know which manufactures sell homes like this. And I don't want to buy a home, have it installed, only to find out later that it will cost alot to move, and need major repairs after each move. Is there a specific company that specializes in rugged, high quality, luxury single units?
And for what it matters, I really don't care about this home looking like a site built home. I will be living in a mobile home park, with a long and narrow house. I don't expect to fool anybody about it's origins.
Many thanks for any help or insight you can provide into this matter.