Living in a Mobile Home...

Not sure if there's a better forum than after hours for this, but sure...


I seen an ad in the paper a few weeks back. It was for mobile homes for sale, to live in.

Brother and I were talking about it the other day and, although neither of us would actually buy one, we were thinking of the ups and downs of living in one.

He was saying a friend of his lives in one that has 2 bedrooms in it, and is essentially just a bungalow house. I've never really been in one myself, but I'm lead to believe they're generally built well and aren't freezing cold and damp in the winter, for example.


So I was wondering and thinking about it and I'm wondering - Why isn't everyone rushing out to buy them then? They seem a pretty decent alternative to a normal house at an (apparently) fraction of the cost.

Doesn't quite make sense to me.

We did come to the conclusion though, that a potential issue with them is that you'd own the mobile home, but not the land it's on, so if the people who owned the land decided to sell it and put a shopping centre on it, for example, you'd have little choice but to pack your home and leave. But I don't know what the reality of that situation is (or indeed, if you'd have anything in a contract that says that won't/cant happen for a certain period of time).


Anyone ever lived in one? Got any real life stories or insight? I'm madly curious about this now for some reason.


This is the ad (slightly re-worked to get rid of identifying features, lest the mods think I'm trying to shill my own business or something like that):

P_1

I'd have thought that you'd need to buy toe land to put the mobile home on plus I'd imagine that signing up for utilities might well be a problem too. Not to mention the massive stigma that is attached to the majority of people who live in them...

Pumpkinseeds

I believe in America people who live in mobile homes are knows as 'trailer trash' or 'poor white trash':D

Sir Osis of Liver.

Josie ,Mary ,Bridie get into the van.

dxhound2005

Doesn't look very mobile to me.

Ruu

You may find better answers here. Let me know if you want it moved or not.

I know a girl who lives in one on her parents property, she's hooked up to the mains and her parents will be gifting her the site. It's actually lovely, a little house in every single way. She's saving to build a house eventually, and in the meantime it's a great alternative.

If she was living in a trailer park set-up it would change the whole dynamic, but there is absolutely nothing second rate about the mobile home itself. It's warm, it's dry, it's cheap, and in circumstances like hers, it's a really good working fit.

Stavros Murphy

Caravans are even better. You can hitch them up and head on to pastures greener. Or people greener..

On another note, I used to drive someone verr well off around a bit, and I once drove them to the south of france, to look at a mobile home...I was expecting a yoke with blocks at the four corners and dodgy formica - this thing was like the Ritz on wheels, seriously posh altogether. He paid the deposit on it there and then (50k). I raised an eyebrow. But it was very, very nice. Luxury as it happens. Still reckon he was mad though.

kneemos

I think planning permission is a problem as they're considered a temporary structure.

Rightwing

I'd say that storm that struck a few weeks back made absolute sh!t of many a mobile. That's something to be aware of.

caustic 1

Lived in one for four years before family came along, loved it. The last winter we spent in it was pretty dam cold. duvet froze to side of wall shoes froze to floor, now we talk was minus ten at night. Mind you on a windy night you did wonder what townland you would wake up in.
The intention was to save up to build and have something to sell when we did rather than pay rent which we considered at the time to be dead money. We went out most weekends so the saving we did was light but we did put in a kitchen in our new home with the sale of it. That was 18 years ago mind.

Sir Osis of Liver.

Looks nice but id hate to have to sh1t in a ditch every day.

Stavros Murphy

Sir Osis of Liver. wrote: »

Looks nice but id hate to have to sh1t in a ditch every day.

They have loos.

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Some of the ground rents are crazy €3000 per year ( €60pw )+ they have various scams so the owner of the land always profits ie. you can only sell back to them....But the modern ones are comfy

Sky King

Ive been in several. It's exactly like a small house or apartment with one exception and that's that the walls and doors are paper thin.

A lot of people live in them while they are building their house - or while they are saving for their house. You need planning permission to site one, and yes, they do have toilets but these too needs to be piped into an approved sh!t chute. You don't "go in a ditch" (wtf???)

These days people tend to get cabins for the same purpose that mobile homes once served. A mate of mine has one and I have never been in it but it sounds class

http://www.logcabinseire.ie/product/log_cabin_tcg311_log_cabins_eire_bahola/

Arthur Beesley

Ruubot2 wrote: »

You may find better answers here. Let me know if you want it moved or not.

Classic.

MS.ing

I remember when this was all fields mobile phones were that sort of size

DEFTLEFTHAND

Converted shipping containers are in these days.

gctest50

Angle grinder and away ya go

http://www.benjamingarciasaxe.com/containers-of-hope/

Stained Class

It used to be a pretty normal thing for a couple to buy a site, get married & then live in a mobile home on-site till they built their own house.

The process could take a few years.

They might do the foundations & blockwork the first year & so on..

Once they moved into the house, they'd live in 2 or 3 rooms & decorate the rest as their funds allowed.

None of this getting into (piles of) debt that happened later on.

Sir Arthur Daley

The one draw back of a mobile home is lack of insulation, like an ice box in the winter and sauna in the summer.

gctest50

I wouldn't doubt it - be like sitting in a car in summer ?


The yoke above is a cute layout though

A roof between the two containers,made from the scrap pieces of metal taken to make the windows, not only creates an internal sensation of openness but also provides a cross ventilation which is surprisingly sufficient enough to never have to turn the air conditioning on.

Mrs Garth Brooks

Sky King wrote: »

Ive been in several. It's exactly like a small house or apartment with one exception and that's that the walls and doors are paper thin.

A lot of people live in them while they are building their house - or while they are saving for their house. You need planning permission to site one, and yes, they do have toilets but these too needs to be piped into an approved sh!t chute. You don't "go in a ditch" (wtf???)

These days people tend to get cabins for the same purpose that mobile homes once served. A mate of mine has one and I have never been in it but it sounds class

http://www.logcabinseire.ie/product/log_cabin_tcg311_log_cabins_eire_bahola/

I've always wanted one of these log cabins. Add to basket. They make it sound so easy. Wish I had 17k. It'll be deadly.

shruikan2553

I would be up for it if I somehow came into ownership of land. I like how I can pay with paypal. Im sure my bank wont be a bit confused by that. Then theres "9. Buildings & Products must be on a flat, level base arranged by the customer and installations by 'competent DIY' person"
Is there a qualification to become competent? Im sure there are plenty of people who think they are but would have a shelf fall down after a week, never mind the house.
"You promised you would put up the house last weekend!"

BillyMitchel

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

I've always wanted one of these log cabins. Add to basket. They make it sound so easy. Wish I had 17k. It'll be deadly.

I guess that's just hard luck, woman.*



*sorry I'm going to sleep now.

Sir Arthur Daley

shruikan2553 wrote: »

Is there a qualification to become competent?

There is now, its all red tape, a Diyer cannot self build, wire, plumb, work on gas, work on oil, work on cctv, work on security alarms, work on sewage, work on gardening its all breaking the law huge prison sentence.

Allyall

Isn't this the same conversations them that had the big houses in the early 60's had, about housing estates?

"Little Boxes, little boxes.."?

I don't live in one, but I would.
If it was convenient, warm and saved me a crápload of money every year, until i needed a house...It knocks ten shades of shít out of sharing a house, paying for a room with three strangers.
I've been in a couple of them, and some are pretty cool, bigger than you would think, i.e. more space, and when you're finished with it, you can sell it, get your money back and travel around the World or put a deposit down on a mortgage. Whatever you want. Makes a ton more sense than paying somebody 1½ times their mortgage and getting zero return.

Some are as big or bigger than the cráppy little apartments that are stuck to each other and cost €1000 per month.

Adamantium

Stained Class wrote: »

It used to be a pretty normal thing for a couple to buy a site, get married & then live in a mobile home on-site till they built their own house.

The process could take a few years.

They might do the foundations & blockwork the first year & so on..

Once they moved into the house, they'd live in 2 or 3 rooms & decorate the rest as their funds allowed.

None of this getting into (piles of) debt that happened later on.

I was shocked when I found that my parents never had a mortgage or loan for building our house. It was the 80's. Damn impressed and proud of them as well.

It's nice when it works both ways! sometimes you think "Was my dad a badass when he was younger". Like you love with somebody for 20 years and wonder "what were you before me?,
I don't know anything about this not inconsiderable large chunk of your life!". He worked in coal mines for many years which was well paying, so I'd assume that's how he managed to build the house gradually without a loan.

My neighbour's grandfather dug out hill by spade
to build a house;it took months ; now it'd take a day's work in a digger. Crazy

Tokyo

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Converted shipping containers are in these days.

Lived in one of these in Australia for a while. Comfortable and easily adaptable (just weld a new room on), but the aircon would need to be running full blast in Summer just to keep it bearable. Wouldn't be a problem here though.

My ideal here would be a houseboat rather than a caravan. Don't have to worry about lousy neighbours so much, and a lot more peaceful I'd think.

jester77

Can't imagine they would be very energy efficient, but if you don't like your neighbours it's easy to move.