My fiance and I decided rather than renting to save money to buy a house, we would buy a trailer instead. In doing so, we are able to save a lot of money and live cheaply vs renting, but there are downsides as well.
The benefits of living in a trailer far exceed in my mind the issues in living in one. For starters, we pay far less to purchase our home than we would be renting one, and when the home is ours we can choose to rent it out to someone else, or we can sell it. This is a huge benefit, as we will have the trailer paid off in less than a year and will one way or another be getting our money back that we’ve put into it.
We also live in a very nice trailer park, and our lot rent is not too excessive. We have trash, water, and sewer included in our lot rent, so we can water our lawn all we like and not have it affect our monthly expenses.
We were lucky enough to purchase from a very understanding seller, who will simply hold the note on the trailer until we have it paid off. We don’t have real estate brokers, loans, or credit scores to worry about, and we had a contract drawn up and notarized before we even handed over the down payment. We have the comfort of knowing so long as we pay our monthly dues every month, the seller can’t take the trailer out from under us.
Buying a trailer is a great way to save money, have an affordable home that is low cost as far as heating and cooling, and a great way to purchase a home when you don’t have a lot of money to put down and have poor credit. Sure beats renting.
However, there are the cons to owning a trailer. First of all, it’s a trailer, and will likely need some work. We’ve had to tar and seal the roof, and all the windows, and we had to dig up all the flooring where the washer valve had leaked and rotted all the hallway and bathroom floors.
You are not likely to sell a trailer for what you bought it for. Trailers only depreciate, no matter how much money you put into them. Expect to sell it for a lot less than you bought it for.
If your trailer park goes under, you may have to move your trailer, and if it’s not up to code (like a pitched roof) or is too old, you may not be able to legally move the trailer somewhere else. So you have to be careful that if you’re buying a trailer in a park that the trailer park won’t be going under anytime soon or else you’ll just have to walk away from it.
Lot rent fluctuates, and managers can be shady. Our previous manager went AWOL, and we had to prove with receipts that we had paid lot rent because the owners weren’t getting their money. Some of the park inhabitants had to repay as they had no receipts to verify payments. With the new managers, we always get receipts.
Some parks don’t allow pets, or if they do, only allow certain pets and you can’t chain pets outside. Most parks will fine you if you don’t upkeep your lawn and allow debris to gather in your yard. In our park, you can’t drive faster than 5 MPH, and if you do, the manager will call the police and report you. You have to keep your lawn mowed and watered, and you can’t have a broken down car in your driveway.
Some parks make you pass a background check (which you have to pay for) in order to move in. We had to, but we didn’t mind. Our park is very clean and has awesome inhabitants.
Not all trailer owners will sell their trailers unless you have all the cash upfront. We were lucky in that the sellers were willing to take a down and payments, but most sellers are selling cheap because they want immediate cash payment for the whole purchase.
Make sure you get a contract written up or else your seller may sell the trailer out from under you, and you can’t prove you were more than a renter. It happens.
Check out the park your trailer will be in before you buy it. Some trailer parks are truly poorly maintained and have a lot of “interesting” people in them. Also, check to see what you are allowed to do with your trailer while it’s in the park. Trailer additions and adding fencing around your property and adding/removing trees often have to be approved through management unless you own your lot AND the trailer.
Not all trailer parks will allow you to rent out your trailer even if you own it. Most of them allow you to sell it or live in it or move it. They won’t let you rent it out.
And finally, be prepared to face the social consequences of living in a trailer. Our friends often ask us if we got stuck living in a trailer or if we chose to, and are further shocked to find out not only did we choose to live in a trailer, but we chose to buy one as well. No matter though, as our goal is to save money to buy a house, and buying a trailer worked out great for our needs. While living in a trailer isn’t for everyone, if you’re smart about it and choose a great park, you can save a lot of money buying a trailer.
