From: egreen@East.Sun.COM (Ed Green - Pixel Cruncher)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: On Buying a Trailer/Mobile Home
Date: 28 Jul 1992 19:16:46 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, RTP, NC
Distribution: world
Reply-To: egreen@East.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: laser.east.sun.com

In article M0r@news.cso.uiuc.edu, tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan) writes:

Nit:  The term is "manufactured housing."  I know, garbage men are
"sanitation engineers," too, but really, very few "mobile homes" built
today are ever moved from their original location.  They have not been
mounted on "trailers" for 10 years.

>	Trailers have the reputation as being "tornado magnets." I live
>in Illinois (a.k.a. Tornado Alley) and the news is often full of reports
>on trailer parks being totally obliterated by tornadoes.

The building code will require it to be tied down.  The mfgr. cannot
deliver a new home without doing this.  This will protect the structure
from high winds, which destroys many second hand trailors that are
never secured properly.  If a tornado happens to touch down directly on
you, you're history.  Buy replacement value insurance.

>	Trailer parks tend to be "bad" neighborhoods, which naturally
>attract criminals and other lowlife because they're so cheap. The
>primary result of this being a higher local crime rate, inconsiderate
>neighbors, etc.

Don't even think about living in such a place.  OTOH, developers, often
in conjuction with housing manufacturers, have been *very* successful
in recent years developing mfg'd housing neighborhoods.  Most middle to
upper class mfg. houses are, when finished and underpinned,
indistinguishable from traditional homes, particularly with additions,
such as a deck or garage.  The land, as well as the home, is sold, not
leased, and thus generally landscaped and well maintained.  There is
usually a clubhouse with pool, etc.  Some are even built around golf
courses.

Such a thing may or may not exist near where you live, of course, but I
predict we will see many more of them in the near future.

>	Unlike traditional homes, trailers have low resale value.

True.

>	Trailers are generally of shoddy/cheap construction, things
>break down easily, walls are thin, etc.

Not true.  Quality control is much tighter in a factory than out on a
job site, and the limited variety means the workers are much less prone
to errors.  There is a wide range of quality/features.  You get what
you pay for.  Where they tend to scrimp is on accouterments, wallpaper,
drapes, carpet, etc.  These can all be upgraded/replaced, with some of
the 90% of the price of building a new home that is saved.  The
fundamental construction is sound.

------Begin inane blathering:

The middle class in this country is rapidly disappearing.  We are fast
becoming a 2-class society, largely differentiated by ownership and
rental.  It costs more, in terms of % of income, to buy a house every
year, and I don't think the trend is going to reverse.  At the same
time, mfg. housing is getting better, and mfg'd housing real estate
developments are going upscale, as different from the steriotypical
"trailor park" as night and day.  Recession and inflation both increase
the economic advantages of manufactured housing.  It's a growth
industry.  I recently saw a very interesting program on housing in
Japan.  It's ALL built in the factory, trucked to the side, and
installed using a crane and some BIG bolts.  That is the future of the
manufactured housing industry in this country.

---
Ed Green, former Ninjaite |I was drinking last night with a biker,
  Ed.Green@East.Sun.COM   |and I showed him a picture of you.  I said,
DoD #0111  (919)460-8302  |"Go on, get to know her, you'll like her!"
 (The Grateful Dead) -->  |It seemed like the least I could do...