I am debating about selling my house in a small town, taking the proceeds and purchasing a small piece of land and putting a trailer on it or possibly purchasing one already set up. I hope to do this with the equity from the sale of the house (roughly $25,000). This will be an interim step, just so that I can get out of debt and save for my dream place. I've had various relatives that have trailers, so I'm not entirely ignorant of them, but I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions or ideas of modifications - such as replacing all the carpet with vinyl flooring - or things to watch out for. Ken, I especially want to hear from you because I'm thinking about relocating to Hickman or Humphreys County (live in Sumner now). Thanks for any help.

-- Ladybug (sklukas@mail.state.tn.us), December 18, 2000

Answers

In our area-Ozarks-sw MO the one thing I know that you must do if you want to keep snakes out-cover up well ANY holes or gaps between walls. Especially if the land has a wooded area. The one thing you probably do not want to do is open your kitchen cupboard to get a coffe mug and be eyeball to eyebal to snake! (evenif it is nonpoisonous!)

Good luck!

Peace and blessings, Sarah

-- Sarah (heartsongacres@juno.com), December 18, 2000.

Why make it a temporary step? I just did what you are talking about. I sold my house and got out from underneath a 30 yr mortgage. I ended up with $27,000 in equity from it. I found my dream place for $25,000. 16 acres, house (in need of finishing but livable), chicken coop, above ground pool and a pond. If I can find this kind of deal anyone can. Just takes a bit of looking.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), December 18, 2000.

Well, I just happen to live in a single-wide. Original plan was just to live in it for three years and then have a house build elsewhere on the farm. However, I have become quite comfortable here so will stay for some time more.

Problem with mobile homes is it is SO hard to find a used one in any kind of shape. They simply weren't made to withstand any abuse. Walls are only 3/8" wallboard, if that. I looked at maybe 50 before finding this one. Some I walked in and immediately walked out. Supposedly this one was only lived in by a little old lady who only used it on Sundays. Hahaha. A lot more wear and tear than that.

Mobile homes have almost no insulation anywhere. Walls are normally 2"x3" studs. There doesn't appear to be any under the floor.

The floors are particle board, which disintergrates when it comes in contact with water, such as drips from the laundry area. It is not unusual to find soft spots under sinks and washers.

The roof is one piece of tin. In high winds it ripples.

Plumbing lines are what someone told me are called quest pipes. There have been several class action lawsuits concerning them.

Mine is a three-bedroom with a 20-gallon hot water heater. To do more than one load of laundry you have to wait at least an hour for it to heat back up. Converting to a standard hot water heater is difficult because of the lines used.

Yes, they can be remodeled inside to some degree. Replacing carpet with vinyl is a possibility, but the old carpet will be hard to take up. I did this in one bathroom and it took hours just to get up just a small space. Professional carpet/vinyl layers can do it though. You might consider just having new carpet laid over the old, since it is very thin.

Doors offer almost no security. In fact I normally don't even lock my doors. If someone breaks in, the cost to repair the damage would likely be more than what they could steal.

Everything leaks cold air. Before I closed it off, the vent from the range hood was an open hole to the outside.

Living in a single-wide mobile home is different than living in a house. Not bad for me, since I am single, but for a family there is really no place to get away from everyone else.

I have seen a number who have built on an addition to one side, and that is a definite possibility.

However, there are making mobile homes better now than what they use to. On some double-wides now it is getting harder and harder to tell them from the road. However, they are still somewhat expendible as they are simply not designed or built to last for a long time.

What some do is to decide where they want a house and have the well, powerline and septic put in to serve that site. Than a mobile home is spotted to where it can use the same services. That offers a place to live while a home is built sometime in the future. In Humphreys County zoning laws say if you are within the city or its planing area you cannot have more than one housing unit per deeded lot; however, they are pretty flexible as long as no one complains. In the county itself there are NO zoning laws. As has been noted on the forum, once the mobile home is moved out of, it can still be used for storage, guest quarters, shop area, etc.

Given the choice of a fixer-upper house or a mobile home, I'd chose the house.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 18, 2000.

Mobile home living ain't bad. There are lots of things you can do to upgrade them. The carpet to vinyl switch is ok, but be sure you have good tight underskirting first. Those floors can get mighty cold! If the home is an older one, it may have particle board flooring. be prepared to replace some of it from time to time. The plumbing is usually sub-standard, but can be upgraded if you're fairly handy. Ther is a great site on the subject at www.mobilehomerepair.com I suggest you check it out.

-- Dan G. (stagecoach@hotmail.com), December 18, 2000.

Considering what happened to a bunch of mobile homes in the Alabama tornado in just the last few days, I would think a tornado shelter would be a requirement. Just my opinion, of course!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 18, 2000.

My husband and I did just what you are talking about doing 12 years ago. Our intentions had been to make a temp. move to the mobile and build a house later, we just wanted out of debt and this seemed the best way to do it. We have not been sorry and find that our mobile is very adaquate. I think Ken paints a more negative picture of mobiles than is always the case. Perhaps they don't make them as good in the south, but ours is very well insulated. I would look as we did for a better brand (there are a lot of differences). We bought a fairly new demonstration model for a very reduced price. They don't like to but they will take a bunch off if you don't want the furniture, which we did not. We put in a Vermont Casting wood burner which heats the whole home toasty, unless it is like last night when the wind chill was minus 30 with the wind really gusty. I found even quite good houses lacking in that kind of weather. I would surely replace carpeting since I think carpet is a waste on a homestead, but as I say that I look at mine and realize you can live with it. I do occasionally purchase a new area rug that I cover the old carpet with. We have replace some plumbing, but as a whole we have been quite happy with our purchase. We do have vinyl siding and a shingle roof. Not all mobiles have the old metal roof, in fact most of the ones made in the last 12 years do not,except for the cheaper models. No matter where I lived I would set it on a decent slab with ratwalls, and have the anchors shot into the cement. We have had shearing winds here that took down huge trees around us and it did not move us. Tornados take out brick houses as well as mobiles, and I would always want some sort of shelter, basement or other. Hope that is helpful. diane in michigan p.s. we still talk about building but as we get older and see how low maintanence this is and easy to heat, it just gets put off. We are building a little "get away" back in our woods just for fun.

-- Diane Green (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), December 18, 2000.

We're in a singlewide til we get the old house finished.It's fine except for lack of storage and not well insulated.Hot in summer.

Ours was all tore up from vandals while it sat here for the previous owner,so we redid ceiling.Floor is that crappy particle board- would get rid of carpeting,put 1/4"plywood down,and resurface with sheets or tile of vinyl. Our walls were ok once the bird poop was cleaned off them.They are paneling and I painted some first using Biz primer then sponge painted,or regular painted. Still have some to do.

Added a closet to the one that was here and that helped.

Our door are steel with metal reinforcing plates at jamb,screwed into the stud behind, so sneak thief can't break in that way.

We blew so more insulation into ceiling, caulked the heck out of the place,got "sunglasses for the windows" blinds that block the heat in summer,but can be rolled up in winter.

The Kitchen was completely bare,so we did that ourselfs,and it's now pretty functionalwith cabinets everywhere I could stick them. Water heater small undercounter,but sufficient for two people.Roof,wiring and plumbing all new.

Put overhead fans in for each room,put vents and have a fan to put in for attic,and overall it's quite liveable.But will be liking the old house better,even with all the work needed.So finding a fixerupper that can be saved is still preferable.

Also Added a 12' x 60' porch,part is a carport,part a sitting place, and part is now being enclosed for workshop.Plan to do same on other side of mobile,in time.

We have a company out of Louisville making small maybe 16x30 cabinlike mobile homes with 2x6 walls and cathedral ceilings.I saw one go by one day and it looked very nice indeed.So that's a possibility, as well

ASPI redid a demo mobile home with cordwood outer shell.Haven't seen it but that sounds interesting.

Otherwise I'd get a really beatup one and gut it and start fresh,like this one.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 18, 2000.

My husband and I did the exact thing two years ago. we bought a piece of land with a 70's model singlwide with an addition. first thing i would recommend is to replace all electrical wiring if buying an older model. regulations were lax just a few years ago. also upgrade your vinyl and cabinets. I'm lucky because my husband does cabinets for a living. cabinets in trailers are made from very thin board that doesn't stand up to anything. We're glad we made the move. a trailer is definately different than a house, but to be debt free it's a greaat move. good luck!!!!

-- lisa liddle (lisasnat@bellsouth.net), December 18, 2000.

We moved a used single wide onto our land 12 years ago.It was in rough shape but livable.We chose to do this in order to get on our land.Our plan was to build a house within 10 years.Ten years later we could easily afford a house but guess what...new mobile home instead. The newer ones have EXCELLENT insulation and are efficient with plenty of living space.This time we chose the mobile home because we wanted a mobile home. Even rough,older mobiles can be brought up to livable standards by the average homesteader.If it gets you on your own place or gets you out of debt....go for it.

-- JT Sessions (gone2seed@hotmail.com), December 18, 2000.

A buddy of mine just bought and refurbished a late seventies vintage Harmony Home mobile home. He paid $1000 for it. These were top of the line for mobile homes with real cabinets, plywood subfloors, real 2 X 4 walls, well insulated, decent windows etc. He replaced the paneling (which now panels my insulated chicken coop) with drywall. If you can swing it financially tho I'd suggest a basement. It helps to eliminate the critter problems mentioned above, protects pipes from freezing and gives you twice the usable space you'd have without it as well as the added security of a storm shelter.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), December 19, 2000.

I have an uncle who built a building around his mobile home to stop the winds from slicing through it. Nothing fancy, I'm pretty sure it was all used lumber, and they got an attached garage out of the deal to boot! I also found a some dudes website around a year ago that showed how he built a building around his mobile home. It was a lot classier looking than my uncle's, but it was probably more expensive, too. Hope this helps.

-- dave (IA) (tidman@midiowa.net), December 19, 2000.

My parents have a 79 American 14x70. They have lived in it 19 years. set it in with frame to the ground and built a concrete block foundation, added a roof over about 6 yrs ago. Its more secure than our conventional hous. All additions and cost of the mobile home were less than 2/3 the cost of building a lesser conventional home and its apreciating in value rather than depreciating.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 19, 2000.

I have read about mobile homes being surrounded/insulated with strawbales -- a strawbale retrofit. I think Out on Bale might have info on it, if you do a web search for them.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 19, 2000.

Thanks, everybody - and keep 'em coming!! - When I do this it will be a major change and I know the family will think I'm crazy, but it'll give them something to talk about.

I live alone (except for 6 cats) and thought about getting a travel trailer but that would be a little too snug! I also thought about getting a fixer-upper but I work 7 days a week so I don't have much time to make improvements, and besides my dream house is earth- sheltered, with solar electricity and a greywater system. Hard to find those already set up. I don't want a fancy trailer with a fireplace and garden tub, but I do want to try for a newer one that would be better quality.

-- Ladybug (sklukas@mail.state.tn.us), December 20, 2000.

Ladybug, you sound a little like me! One woman, 5 cats, 3 dogs... makes for a warm night, but could get a little cramped in a small trailer! I'm looking into doing that very thing myself... it's basically back to Plan B since my best-laid plans for cohabitation with my S.O. is starting to sound like it just MAY not work out, but that's another subject. Looking back, I've lived in trailers most of my adult life, and they're not bad; some crappy, some pretty nice. One thing about a used one, though, mice can do a LOT of unseen damage. But, really, set a singlewide up in the trees, put a covered deck on the front, a little paint, plant some flowers.. bingo: HOME. I don't know if you have Palm Harbors up there, but they're very nice and have 2x6 walls 16" on center. I did the 'factory tour' in Austin, and they're very well made, but cost more, too. Check out the single-wide repos & trade-ins; most folks are going to double- wides and trading their earlier models in. You could get a pretty good deal.

I'm in a 16 yr old double-wide now, with a permanent foundation on 2 acres. When I bought it, I had some inheiritance (sp?) money and was able to put a sizeable downpayment on it and add a pro-panel roof, 2 extra rooms and a sunroom, new carpet, sheetrock walls, new woodstove; it's a real 'dollhouse' now (as the realtors say!). (And it IS for sale.. anyone looking to move to NM?) But, things are so expensive these days! How can anyone afford homes at over $100K?? Especially single people. I've decided that for me, more land, less house is the way to go. I think you can find what you need. Just take the time and do some good detective work. Good luck to you, Ladybug! dh in nm

-- debra in nm (dhaden@nmtr.unm.edu), December 22, 2000.

I started out in a mobile home also, just be able to live on my land. I bought a 20 year old single wide and it was more than comfortable for me and my dog and cats. I lived in it for 10 years. You learn as you go, but the first thing would be to do a little research. Find a good used one that is well made. My 1964 Fuqua was a beaut! Solid and well insulated, made before they all went to 2 x 2 construction. I had to re-dope the roof every two years and caulk the windows from time to time. Also would have built a roof onto it if I hadn't got lucky and was able to build a Yurt instead. Look around, do a lot of shopping and learn about what you want and what is available. If it smells when you walk in, walk back out. If it's been remodeled, don't buy it. Get one as whole and clean as you can. Negotiate with the seller about set-up. I bought from a used dealer and delivery and set up were part of my purchase price, which also included skirting. Skirting is a must, no mater where you live. If it has a wood stove, as mine did, be sure it was installed properly. Use your eyes, look for discolored ceiling tile, sagging ceilings. Mold on the outside is not necessarily bad, but bend and ripped siding could be a problem. Check around the windows for soft spots on the sills. My windows leaked and dry-rot was a problem. Open the bathroom and kitchen cupboard around the sinks and look for signs of water damage. Wiggle the toilet, it shouldn't be loose. I didn't think I would be in mine for ten years, and by the end of that time had just outgrown it. So, think long term. Mine was 14 feet wide (the largest single they made) by 64 feet long. Two bedrooms, one bath and a laundary area. It's better to have what seems like too much room than to be cramped into too little space. Good luck, and you GO girl. It can be, and has been done.

-- Maggie's Farm (elemon@peacehealth.org), December 24, 2000.

I think your first mistake is calling it a 'trailer'! -G- Today's manufactured homes look just like stick built. I just sold my double wide that's in a different state. It had the highest number you can get in insulation in the ceiling, and the next down in the walls and floors. 2 x 6 structure. I often wondered just how healthy that house was ~ it was built so tight, I only had to dust every 3 months. This was the first manufactured home that I owned.

At one time, I rented a gorgeous triple wide, 2,000 square feet. I've picked out a gorgeous mfg. home and am looking for the land to put it on.

One thing I would highly recommend is to put the home on a stem wall so you won't have the expense periodically thru the years of having to jack it up from shifting in the earth, 'specially if you're on sandy ground. Also, with the stem wall you don't have the tin around the bottom, which I personally find unattractive.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), December 24, 2000.

I bought a 1985 doublewide last August & have slowly been working on it myself. If you hate paneling as much as I do, you can double spackle in the grooves, prime it (Killz) & trowel on smooth textured paint. The results look like plaster - clean, light & more like a traditional house. I'm in the SF Bay Area where fixer uppers go for $500,000. For less than the rent on a 1-bedroom apartment, I have 1100 square feet, parking for 3 cars, a huge storage shed & yard & deck. If you can do most of the work yourself, it's worth it.

-- Missy (qnsrook@earthlink.net), May 26, 2001.

I am looking to buy a single wide myself. I have paid rent in $350/mo apartment and currently live in a $725 a month apartment, and no matter how much or little you pay in rent, you are still surrounded by noisy neighbors! That is why I am looking into them- same price, more privacy! That and I can decorate as I wish rather than the plain white or cream walls.

The one I am looking at is a 1991 Redman and really needs a landscaping job ASAP. Currently it is sky blue with black shutters, which I will paint white. I also plan to add a small wood deck to replace those chinsy looking fiberglass steps!

A coat of paint, or some new carpet can really spruce things up inside too :) If you are crafty, you can really have a great looking home for alot less than you might think!

-- Carrie Seal (truesunn@hotmail.com), August 01, 2001.

We lived in a mobile home in FL for 5 years in a mobile home park (slum, lol). I swore I would never live in one again.

Then about a year before moving to VA, we found this mobile that was originally one bedroom. They had put a regular roof over it, poured a concrete pad under it and added on rooms, screened in porch and laundry. It was awesome. Wonderfully cool in the summer without air conditioning and they said warm in the winter.

We found a place with an old mobile on it. 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Even comes with a new freezer! The lot is only a little more than an acre but the acreage behind it is for sale also, so we may be able to get that to.

It's old but well taken care of. Most importantly its going to be mine.

-- Stephanie Nosacek (possumliving@go.com), August 31, 2001.

My hubby & I recently sold our home of 36 years to our son and purchased a 20 year old 2 1/2 wide in a senior park. The mobile was very well maintained and spotlessly clean. I don't care for some of the seventies color scheme, but we can change some of that. The bottom line is that we are very glad we made this move. It is allowing us to have so much more freedom ~ no yard!! and the equity on our home is allowing us to travel. This is no trailer! Good luck!

-- Jan Ivy (jivyjan@aol.com), November 27, 2001.