7% ? Never, no way. Take your monthly amortization schedule with that loan and look at bottom line total payment after say 20 years, specifically interest paid. After 20 years, I can only imagine what a trailer would look like. Drive around and look at some 20 year old trailers! They are cheaper for a reason. I would take a traditional smaller stick built home all day long over a trailer. For budget, visit with local builders who may be able to work with you. You won' t get a custom house for that price. By comparison, the trailer is no custom either. Just my 2 cents.

You have described some excellent reasons for renting instead of building.

Thank you. We are living now in an 89' single wide trailer.... been in it 9years, & liveable, yes. Falling apart, poorly insulated & $500 a month electric bills.... that's my concern with going trailer route again. I just can't get over the interest on one! Anyone familiar with modulars? We were told they can be financed like a conventional house loan ( I'm guessing that means lower IR?) Our issue is basically ready to get out of what we live in ASAP!! Hubby is going to the bank Friday, maybe in the mean time I can contact local builders....

Contact your local builders, don't make a $100K plus mistake that you'll regret. Won't cost you anything but a little time.

A mobile home is not a trailer. But because it doesn't have to meet the same standards as a stick-built or a modular home, of course it's cheaper. And build quality varies greatly.

In that you own the land, compare costs to a quality modular home or basic stick-built home. In ages past, it was traditional for the country homeowner to build what they could afford, then add on as finances permitted.

Don't be beguiled by the 1,900 sf of surface glitz.

To get anything $75/sq ft you will have to be GCing and doing some of the labor.

There are modular stick built homes now. There are also factory stick built homes transported to home sites. CIF(concrete insulated form) homes built on site. SIP(structural insulated panel) homes built on site.

Having lived in a mobile home community and working on mobile homes, I would not recommend a double wide, even set on a foundation. The difference is construction materials. Single and double wides are not built under the same building codes/standards as other types of construction. Lighter/cheaper materials are used because the weight has to be minimized.

Build less than you need and design for addibility.

Nothing against trailers lol. Thats what my husband is ready to do right now to save us all this headache & time, but its the financing of a manufactured home that gets me. 7% is a lot :/ otherwise we would have already ordered it. My dad can help us with the slab if we build, he works for a concrete company, & as far as plumbing goes, we have help there as well. My husband is just super against building small & adding on later because he doesn't see it happening! I just feel stuck. Getting a headache googling builders lol. About to contact a few now. Keep the advice rolling in! Thank you everyone!

List your pros and cons -- you've gotta accept some negatives somewhere:

Trailer

- Get in fast, but pay big in interest rates

- Quality is an issue; eventually you'll have a broken-down dwelling on your land, and you'll be right back where you are now

- You mentioned higher utility bills, but you didn't mention higher insurance bills. Also fire danger.

Build now

- With a bare-bones budget, you'll probably end up spending more than you intended to spend ... so the result is the same as paying extra interest on the trailer.

- With a lower interest rate, more of your money will go towards the house rather than the bank.

- In 10-20 years you'll still have a house worth living in.

Build small with an eye towards adding on

- Keeps you in a small place for now, but you'll be able to build nicer quality /nicer finishes.

- Right now you're agonizing over a decision. Deciding when to add on /how much to add on /etc. will mean going down this same road again in 5, 10, 20 years.

- With a lower interest rate, more of your money will go towards the house rather than the bank.

- In 10-20 years you'll have still have a house worth living in.

Buy an existing house

- Cheaper and faster than building something of your own.

- With a lower interest rate, more of your money will go towards the house rather than the bank.

- In 10-20 years you'll still have a house worth living in.

- Doesn't take advantage of your land, which is a financial asset.

Rent

- Allows you to build up your downpayment, which is a huge savings in the long run.

- Allows you time to decide what you really want to build and to search for economical options.

What would I do in your shoes? I'd buy an existing house. It's a better investment than a trailer, easier than planning a house that can be built in stages, and gets you into something liveable now. Is it as snazzy as building exactly what you want? Of course not, but since you're budget-strapped, you aren't going to get exactly what you want (today) anyway.

Build.

My parents recently did exactly this. They purchased a brand new trailer to live in rather than building because they thought it was be cheaper and easier. They bought from a good company. Well after they had to pay for the slab, foundation, etc. (which is required in this area) they ended up paying very very close to what it would have cost to build a house.

Also, the trailer is only a little over 5 years old at this point and the roof is leaking, most/all of the cabinet door have fallen off, need a new furnace, had to rewire some things, etc. VERY bad quality materials and workmanship. Their house is a piece of junk.

They also had to pay 8% interest because no one wants to finance a trailer. It's just a bad idea all around, they are loosing equity every month. Now they wish they would have just built a small home that was going to last and build value.

I apologize if I seem rude but I do have something against trailers,
please note that I don't have a problem with the people who live in
trailers other than I feel they may have made a bad housing investment
decision.

Yep, this -- it's not personal; rather, it's about the money and materials involved. As a long-term investment, a trailer is a horrible idea.

Thank you all so much to everyone who has commented! I honestly didn't think I'd get any advice! So glad I found this site! Couldn't thank you guys enough. Got some local builders names, going to start contacting them. A modular home builder contacted me & claims they can finance at a IR just like a stick built home.... we shall see. If that's a bunch of crud, looks like we will just build small.

All of the good things in life are worth working, saving, planning and waiting for. We have a culture of instant gratification. This is what you are trying to reconcile. It's easy to finance a manufactured home. They make it one stop shopping. It couldn't be easier. But, you don't end up with a lot at the end of the day. It is an expensive depreciating albatross.

I've lived in manufactured homes. They are clean and comfortable. But, they are a poor investment. Even if it were available at 5% or 3%, it would still be a poor investment. At the end of the loan period, you would be the proud owner of an asset that is worth a lot less than you paid.

Modular homes can be financed and will be treated by the market as a regular stick built home because they must meet the same standards as a stick built home. I would start looking at modular builders as another option.

If your budget is smaller than the cost of building a suitable for your needs new home on your land, you need to delay gratification and save more money. Find a good, safe, clean rental, live well below your means, save every penny you can and plan for the day that you can build a home you will love.

Trailers are what you pull across country with your SUV or pickup and to campsites. Mobile homes come by 18-wheelers once and there they usually stay till they're moved out for recycling. They're almost always required to be solidly anchored--not that anything remains in place in Tornado Alley when the cleansing winds come.

Mobile homes, as pointed out above, are not built to Building Code standards, so cannot be compared to modular or stick homes that meet Codes and above.

If you can't abide with the idea that your house will grow along with your budget, probably better to rent cheap and save. (Says this greybeard raised by Depression survival parents!)

I'd rather have a well built small home than a mobile home that is made like garbage. There is nothing wrong with living small if you plan for it in advance. That means lots of built in storage, etc.

Ooooh boy, do I know where you're coming from!!! :-D

My husband and I have five kids, and we're currently renting a 2-story, 1300 sqft, 3 bedroom house, with a 20'x40' backyard. It is COZY. Reeeeeally cozy. Enough to drive us completely bonkers at times. Bonkers enough that, yes, we also briefly considered giving in to the temptation of a manufactured home.

We went through all of the standard things... "We can get so much more living space, so much quicker," "Oh, look, they've really come a long way..." "It's really just the land that appreciates, anyway, regardless of housing type (lots of tear-downs in our area)..." All just rationalization, truthfully.

But we just couldn't get past the price difference between doing a manufactured house "right" (foundation, upgrade siding to brick veneer, kitchen gut job, casement windows, etc.), and building a nice little stick built house.

We have children with special needs, who may or may not be able to live independently as adults, so building bigger right out of the gate is what I thought we needed. Honestly, though, I'm not so sure that's the case. Designing big and building small is gonna be the key for us, I think. That means designing with an eye toward both adding on to the house *as well as* adding little cottages to the property. But only as needed. If that day ever comes.

Did you know that some lending institutions will consider the architect's fees part of the borrower's contribution? Designing a home can give you the satisfaction of feeling like you're working toward the goal a little bit more, while you save up more money, removing the temptation to go the manufactured route.

Baby steps are okay! :-)

I have nothing against double-wides, trailers, RVs, tents, modulars, stick-built, log homes, or anything else. The only thing I don't like is McMansions.

Fall in love with numbers, not convenience.

Ichabod

Yup, waiting for the thuds to start as the Mcmasions begin to fall apart or to be torn down.

My 2 cents is to build small and allow for addition of bedrooms and bath. It might be crowed but that will give you incentive to save as you can and add on . Also, you will be building up equity which can help with additions. No equity in a trailer.

Hey Virgil, this is a Texas Question.

In our area, there are a lot of mobile homes. The value tends to drop like a rock, no matter how nice they are. It's just a very poor investment.

Well everyone, seems like we may go with the eeekkkk.... manufactured home. In our situation, we kinda feel like "get out now". We live on 12acres with my father's house beside us. He is alone & I just can't leave him here by himself which is one reason we won't go rent something or buy a house elsewhere. I know I'll be here on this land til I die. We have 3 children, 9, 5, & 5months. Our cruddy trailer is literally falling apart. 3BR, 89' single wide.... cheapest of the cheap! Seriously feel like I can't take anothee day in it. Talking to hubby, we are rushing into this, we know, but we feel for our children, we want better for them to grow up in. Of course we'd rather build, but hubby keeps talking about how he'd rather not, due to small BRs, small kitchen etc. Dun dun duuunnnnn.... he sent in credit app this morning. Our dealer claims this brand is ths heaviest built construction on the market in manufactured homes (deer valley homebuilders) & we've done our research, & dang it, I guess we're guna do it. Am I thrilled? No. I'm terrified. But at this point I do believe in our situation right now, its the right choice. If we didn't have 3 wild boys cooped up in a hazardous junk hole, we would wait 5years to build bigger and better, but we feel time is not on our side. That interest rate will haunt me, but just hoping for the best! Thank you all so soooo much for all your comments. I truly do appreciate them!

I was hoping that hubby would determine that you couldn't afford NOT to build... I am not sure what the expected usable life is with a mobile home - but assuming it's significantly less than a stick built home- you will likely pay for this 2x - not including the increased interest rate and lost appreciation / opportunity costs.

Production site built homes go up in 90 days. Could you not reach out to a volume builder in your area that is building homes in the $170K range and see if they could build on your land? They have the build process down to an art, and as long as you stick to stock finishes, you will stay on budget. And then - your operating costs will be lower and your financing costs will be lower, and I am pretty sure your insurance costs will be lower.

Honestly - making this decision has such far reaching impacts to your ability to build wealth - and it sounds like you are really trying to do the right thing for your family - the right thing is to make sound financial decisions and not ones that will put you at a disadvantage for 20, 30 40 yrs to come.

This reminds me of boots theory...

While I understand that everyone has every right to make their own decisions. As someone who has counselled a lot of people on financial and budgeting matters (the only time I ever really use my Certified Financial Planner title is when I do pro bono work), this is a bad decision.

ur·gent - (of action or an event) done or arranged in response to a pressing or critical situation.

im·por·tant - of great significance or value; likely to have a profound effect on success, survival, or well-being.

Urgent isn't always important. In fact, while it often seems to be very important, it rarely is. Twenty years from now, when you are looking back on your life, is 9 more months in a trailer really going to make that big a difference? Because I guarantee you that making the wrong decision here will. I am not saying you should, or shouldn't, buy a manufactured home. I am saying that even you know that you are going to regret it and are still making the decision.

Why not go to a safer home (rental) while a home is being built? You have an opportunity to have something be worth more than you paid for it. And help pay for college or retirement.

Below some possibilities 10 and 30 years from now guessing land worth and such. Kinda based it on where I grew up and what I see those places are worth now.

100k mobile + 12 acre lot = 140k value
(at move in have read they lose 20% right away)
1 year: 120k
10 years: 100k
30 years: 80k

150k built + 12 acre lot: = 190k value
1 year: 190k
10 years: 220k
30 years: 250k

** of course this could be baloney and your house not appreciate that much. But kept in good condition it should at minimum hold its value around 200k if your land is worth 40k or so.

The difference between the two could be 100-150k or more. Divide 100k for 30 years and that is like putting away 275 a month into a savings account for 30 years... 150k is 400 a month for 30 years.

Short term it is the same payment. Long term it adds up.

Hubby is in charge and clearly disagrees with all the house huggers here.

On the bright side, good mobile homes can have a lifespan of 35-40 years, according to HUD.

That would be twice as long as the one-time official residence of the Lt. Governor of Ontario survived before being consigned to neglect and landfill.

OP, Hon, I know the feeling. ;-) I have 4 crazy awesome young boys, myself, so I feel for ya! Supporting your husband's decision is valuable. Hope it all works out for you guys. Blessings!

Shouldn't this be a decision you both make?

Shouldn't this be a decision you both make?

That was my thought too.

Additionally rushing into a decision usually means you're not making the best decision. You are not in a life or death situation, yet you're acting like you are by rushing your choice. Unfortunately, it may well come back to bite you later on.

It sounds like the decision was made together. *shrug* It also seems like one spouse's vote carries more weight than the other, which is totally acceptable. Some folks have Captain and Co-pilot marriages, and it works for them. :-)

I hope the OP realizes that they could afford more house withrates that are 1/2 that of what they're getting. Rates right now are around 3.50% for a stick built house vs the 7% they are paying for the manufactured house.

On a $100,000 mortgage, the difference in monthly payments is almost $200 a month or $2400 a year. That could give you savings or a larger mortgage, meaning a more expensive stick built home.

This is one of the worst financial decisions I think I have ever seen anyone make.

$100K borrowed at seven percent for a depreciating asset (and that's what a trailer is) is a VERY bad investment.

You'll be wasting $240,000, plus the costs of repairs and upkeep over the time you live in this thing, and end up without anything to show for it.

We spend part of the year in a winter house in FL, the land of trailer parks, and my DH's parent's friends have recently bought trailers for the winter seasons... They paid under $20K for perfectly nice used double wides and the original owners lost a fortune.

You can find SO much on the Internet about why buying a trailer is an abominable investment. Look at Dave Ramsey http://www.daveramsey.com/askdave/posts/120895:

When you’re buying a mobile home, they go down in value. From a financial standpoint, mathematically, you’re buying a car that you sleep in—a very large car that you sleep in. When you buy a home, they go up in value. I’m not against manufactured housing, which means a whole lot of different things when you say that phrase. But if it’s the type of housing that’s done in some way that the consumer buying it really doesn’t detect that they took the wheels off of it, then it usually will go up in value. If it looks like a trailer, smells like a trailer, it’s going to go down in value. That’s why I’m against it. Before, when you were paying out X number of dollars in rent, that’s all you were losing. Now you’re paying out X number of dollars in rent and you’re losing money every day on the ownership of the thing, so you’ve done double dumb now. That’s why I tell people not to buy trailers.

I would seriously do your research on this before you waste hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Since you already own your land (I assume free and clear?), renting or buying an existing home is not really an option.

If you purchase a mobile home, unlike with a stick-built home you will NOT build equity. Your land will (hopefully) increase in value, but a mobile home loses value, as a car does when you drive it off the lot.

Modular homes are great for many situations such as difficult to build lots, but they are not inexpensive.

Have you looked into companies near you that move existing houses? In our area (NW Oregon), there are several companies specializing in this; a house that is in good condition that would otherwise be torn down is, instead, moved to a new property. This is cheaper for the developer/new owner than demolition, so the cost is primarily in the moving. Selection is obviously limited to what is available, and one story ranches are more practical than complex houses. Your father's assistance with a slab would be an important asset in doing this. We considered this possibility, but since we live in the hills with a long, narrow, tree-lined driveway, it wasn't doable. If your property is in a flat area with good access, you might look into this.

What a wonderful idea - moving an existing house!!!!

Hi guys, OP here lol. So a small update: hubby got an approval email this morning with an 8.25% interest rate..... He was pretty discouraged, & we talked again about if anything, just building smaller. I am a FIRM believer in "everything happens for a reason" him, not so much, so of course I threw out that line trying to cheer him up that maybe this is happening b/c it's NOT the right decision. At this point I feel we are back at square one. He's going to talk to the bank tomorrow to see what they tell him about giving us a construction loan & down payment etc... It sucks that we have to be "stuck" in this house longer, but if that's what we gotta do, then that's what we will do & save save save! I really do appreciate the outpour of suggestions! I want to get into something soon, but now it still might be awhile. I also did look into houses to be moved around our area, so far, nothing that seemed right for the price with all the work they all needed. Hoping the bank has great news tomorrow, & then we can go from there! Hopefully pleaseeeee!!! Ahhh! Maybe in the future I'll be making a new thread about questions with construction! Thanks guys :) I'll also try to update after we hear from bank. I don't feel good about it for some reason, but I'm not going to dwell on it. It is what it is. :)

I wish you the best of luck.

I know how frustrating it can be to live in something that just isn't right but jumping into something may be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. (Now I know I sound like my mother!)

And I know frustration in a different way. Others can tell you about my saga in designing my house and then getting permits. What I thought would be an 18 month process to design and build has now turned into a 19 month process just to design and get permits! We have at least another year to actually build and we had already sold our condo thinking we'd be building already.

But like you, I believe everything happens for a reason and in the long run we'll be better off for it. So slow down, reassess and in the meantime save!

Are you expecting an income change at some point (someone is in school/daycare costs/one adult returning to work). If so, I might consider building a small home intentionally suited to easily add more rooms on in the future.

Wow this is crazy. Go plug you numbers into a mortgage calculator and you could get about $170,000 home loan at under 4% and it would be the same payment as your 8.25% at $100,000. This is a 30 year to 30 year loan. Plus build it right I would bet the house is cheaper to run utilities. I would bet your home insurance would be cheaper on a site built home. Other than being impatient, there are no good reasons to go with an manufactured home.

It feels like you know going with a manufactured home is the wrong choice and you have received conformation here that it is. Plan long term and you will be considerably better off with a site built home.

Not everyone can qualify for $170,000 at 4%...

The current average rate today is 3.49%. That's why I said less than 4%. Either way it's long term throwing money away to go with the manufactured home.

Not everyone can qualify for $170,000 at 4%...

I think it is pretty safe to say that everyone who has any business buying a house or manufactured home can. You need a whole 580 credit score to qualify for the FHA 3.5% down payment, even less with more down.

Construction loans usually require a bit higher but there are some low score options there too. In the end, someone who can't qualify for a 4% rate, should probably work a bit on their credit before buying or building a house.