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The Case for Trailer Parks
The Atlantic ^ | October 24, 2014 | Alana Semuels

Posted on 10/27/2014 3:02:31 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

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To: palmer

My mother’s PEX piping let go in June. $3500 insurance job and 2.5 months to repair.


41 posted on 10/27/2014 3:33:34 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc OÂ’Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I would recommend them to young first time buyers who lack a sufficient down-payment & income combination to make a “regular” house affordable, with these caveats:

1. Research the mobile park choices very well, and one of the things you want the ability for is to rent your unit out in the future.

2. You don’t need to “buy new” as resale value goes down fast but then only up to a point, so condition, condition, condition is more important.

3. Take the shortest loan you can manage. Your mortgage will be small compared to a “regular” home and yet you want it paid off as soon as you can.

4. You have some choices after the mobile home is paid off. (a) Live rent/mortgage free for a while after the unit is paid off & put your old mortgage payment in savings/investment. (b) Plan on renting your unit out to supplement your income for a mortgage on a “regular” house. (c) Sell your unit to supplement any down payment you can make on a “regular” house. (d) Any combination of (a), (b) & (c).


42 posted on 10/27/2014 3:34:44 PM PDT by Wuli
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To: wrench
The only item I do not like is the plumbing and electrical

I knew a guy who owned a plumbing repair company...wouldn't work on 'em due to the type of piping.

43 posted on 10/27/2014 3:36:26 PM PDT by ErnBatavia (It ain't a "hashtag"....it's a damn pound sign, number sign, or octothorpe. ###)
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To: BenLurkin

and hurricanes.


44 posted on 10/27/2014 3:36:43 PM PDT by daisy12
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To: BenLurkin
Earthquakes are also particularly unkind to mobile homes.

Oh, yeah....when Northridge hit, it knocked each and every one in a huge Newhall park off the foundations, taking the gas lines out.

Each. And. Every. One. burned to the ground.

45 posted on 10/27/2014 3:38:28 PM PDT by ErnBatavia (It ain't a "hashtag"....it's a damn pound sign, number sign, or octothorpe. ###)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
There's downsize and then there's tiny size.

Have house will travel: Inside the Tiny House Movement where more and more Americans have rejected tradition for a simpler - and cheaper - lifestyle


46 posted on 10/27/2014 3:45:03 PM PDT by GBA (Can we play follow the Leader now instead of follow the lemming?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’m working on my third mobile home rental now. I buy them in a rural county close to a big city. All the county’s schools are A and B rated. The nearby city’s schools vary from F to B. The homes in the higher rated city areas are VERY expensive. Return on investment is about 20%.


47 posted on 10/27/2014 3:45:50 PM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: steve86

The PEX or an improper joint?


48 posted on 10/27/2014 3:46:34 PM PDT by palmer (Thank you for your patience.)
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To: suijuris
Only problem they seem to be tornado magnets.

Only because of the elitist propaganda.

Look at the aftermath of a tornado. Nice, brick and mortar, $1/2 million homes get the same treatment as the trailer parks. Tornados can wipe out entire suburbs, and the gates at gated communities don't even slow the monster storms down.


49 posted on 10/27/2014 3:49:39 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: GBA

What we really need is “actual modular” houses built like LEGO blocks, with no more than 20-30 different types of “parts” that can be assembled into houses of any size/configuration.

So that if you need to add a room, it can easily be done, if you retire and need to remove a room it can be done easily too.


50 posted on 10/27/2014 3:53:22 PM PDT by GraceG (Protect the Border from Illegal Aliens, Don't Protect Illegal Alien Boarders...)
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To: wrench

The trouble with PEX is the fittings that were used for years to hold them together - a crimping ring setup that wouldn’t last long.

I have a 28X66 MH, and it is fitted with PEX.

I also have a bin full of Sharkbites - when PEX is Sharkbitten, it’s good forever.


51 posted on 10/27/2014 3:54:15 PM PDT by djf (OK. Well, now, lemme try to make this clear: If you LIKE your lasagna, you can KEEP your lasagna!)
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To: palmer

The expansion fitting failed but the report said nothing about improper installation.


52 posted on 10/27/2014 3:55:47 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc OÂ’Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: GraceG

I came up with that idea for modular building parts in high school. Would have plumbing and wiring pre-installed with quick disconnects, so they would snap together like Legos. Structural integrity might be an issue though in earthquake and wind storm areas.


53 posted on 10/27/2014 3:59:22 PM PDT by anymouse (God didn't write this sitcom we call life, he's just the critic.)
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To: bert

“Trailer parks are very often developed by rural slum lords in bottoms subject to 50 year floods.”

The wife’s family trust owns 3 of them, fairly large. They are literally money-printing machines.


54 posted on 10/27/2014 4:07:27 PM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: steve86

Might have cracked the fitting and I would never use the plastic fittings.


55 posted on 10/27/2014 4:11:35 PM PDT by palmer (Thank you for your patience.)
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To: cripplecreek

I don’t hate trailers or trailer parks but do not like trailer park “trash”. I don’t want trailer park “trash” within 50 miles from where I live.


56 posted on 10/27/2014 4:16:37 PM PDT by TNoldman (AN ..AMERICAN FOR A A MUSLIM/BHO FREE AMERICA.)
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To: TomGuy; suijuris

A study of tornados and mobile home parks was conducted last year, and it found that yes, trailer parks are hit more often than surrounding areas.

I don’t think I can provide a link.


57 posted on 10/27/2014 4:17:51 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: MikefromOhio

As long as you put up some decoy trailer parks, tornado season isn’t too bad ...


58 posted on 10/27/2014 4:49:34 PM PDT by spodefly (This is my tag line. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

In my opinion, some of the manufactured houses these days are of far higher quality than those built by contractors.

The manufactured houses use standardized plans and parts and each is constructed with actual quality control standards like ISO9000.

A contractor-built house can be great or a disaster, depending on the contractor, and sometimes it takes years for major flaw to show up.

Put a manufactured home on a basement, and they can be just as good an investment as a contractor-built house.


59 posted on 10/27/2014 4:51:40 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Any energy source that requires a subsidy is, by definition, "unsustainable.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
in a country that’s increasingly eschewing the suburbs for walkable urban areas.

What planet is this ass clown living on? Walkable urban...means target rich for feral blacks, wiggers, and beaners.

60 posted on 10/27/2014 4:56:32 PM PDT by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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