Ten Reasons to Make a Trailer Your First Home Purchase
- Let's say it right of the bat. Trailers/Manufactured homes are largely cheaper then standard homes. For example when I was searching for a house in Colorado at the top of the market in 2008 many of the homes that we looked at were both a) smaller and b)way more expensive then my home now.
2. You become extremely creative in your storage options. My house for example only has one closet. That closet has to fit a LOT of things in it. Paint, snowboards, jackets, extra blankets, vacuums, cords, gloves, and other cleaning/party supplies. Talk about multi-purpose.
3. In terms of improvement, you can really only go up. Adding laminate flooring, repainting, removing the trailer "strips" and texturizing/finishing the walls makes the home seem less like a trailer and more like a conventional house.
4. Since there is no solid foundation to a trailer, you never have to worry about foundation issues!
5. You can basically select and choose the floor plan that you most desire. I wanted a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with a laundry room and driveway. Even better I have a carport! Sure it's not totally a garage but if you own the land that your trailer is on you could always get the permits to build a detached garage if you wanted.
6. Mobile home communities are generally known for inhabitants that are less then charming characters, drug dealers, felons, white trash, etc etc etc. Well in all honesty the majority of my neighbors are elderly couples who would rather spend their hard earned retirement money on visiting family or children rather than spending it on a mortgage.
7. A trailer is about 99% customizable like any conventional home. You can't change the layout on any house but you can change the wall paper, the counters, the flooring. The only thing that makes a trailer different then a conventional home is that it is wearing a skirt.
8. If a trailer is your first home it teaches you how to do regular home maintenance but on a smaller scale most of the time. Generally trailers that are within city limits are within a community much like mine.We have yards, grass, big trees, we go outside on the weekends and plant flowers. When I was growing up I had no idea how to mow a lawn, weedwack, spray bug killer, being in my house has taught me a lot! Now I know when I do move on in the next phase of my life I can handle regular home maintenance with ease.
9. Of course you have to be smart. You do need to get an inspection on the trailer to make sure that the roof is safe as well as the flooring and other electrical components. My trailer is a late 80s double wide so it's standards are a lot higher then a 60s or 70s trailer would be.
10. You can always later on turn the home into an investment property if you do own it. You can rent it out to young couples or families, college students, retirees, pretty much anyone because it is an affordable option. If you keep it clean, take pride in home ownership, and don't let your home get run down you won't become trailer trash. Just like any home if you let it get nasty and dirty then it will be dumpy.
Still not totally convinced? That's okay! Feel free to follow me in my adventures of both first time home ownership and manufactured home living!
