NAYRT but depending where you are there actually are programs that help you with the down payment on a house (usually as a first time homebuyer). In addition, if your credits good enough you can get away with a pretty low down payment (though you may end up with a higher mortgage if they put extra mortgage insurance on you). The ‘has to be 20%’ down payment thing is a common misconception.
i know there are programs, but i really think it has to be a cost/location thing. an apartment in a cheaper area by me is still $130k, meaning 3% closing costs alone are almost $4k, and a 3.5% FHA loan = $4,500 downpayment, so total cash needed is over $8k.
i know mobile homes are cheaper, cuz they get u with the lot fees, but... idk, if Strawberry, with all their moral grandstanding about making good financial decisions, bought a fucking mobile home?? i would have to laugh. mobile homes are great starters but they do not accrue value.
either they got real good programs/incentives for homebuying that covered basically the whole downpayment for a $100k~ home and they just covered closing costs, or they're in a pricier area and bought a mobile, or they're in an state/county/country with cheaper housing. imo.
"with all their moral grandstanding about making good financial decisions, bought a fucking mobile home?? i would have to laugh. mobile homes are great starters but they do not accrue value."
Not everyone is out to accrue value, some people just don't want to be homeless?? "Starter" home?? What in the capitalist dystopia
honestly that's on me, i think i got some of Strawberry's arguments mixed with the anon asking "are there worse things to spend money on" and making the argument that at least irl stuff can accrue in value. however, i don't think Strawberry's arguments are so far off, and they did specifically reference spending that amount of money on a home.
but yes, afaik mobile homes can be good starter homes because of the lower upfront cost/small size. but you don't get to resell and either break even or make a profit like u do with a standard house, unless there's another spike in home prices like early covid (mobile home prices are still hella inflated in my area). starter homes are typically gonna be smaller units like small homes or mobile homes (i'd consider a studio/one bedroom apartment/condo a starter too) and if you're planning on having a family, you'd need to upgrade to a home with more space to accommodate both adults and children. idk how starter homes are inherently capitalist tbqh tho, it's pretty par for the course to move into housing with more space as the family expands in size, and u generally may not prioritize or want the responsibility of a larger home before that happens. maybe u can make the argument that it's capitalist to prioritize accruing value, sure, but the concept of "moving from smaller start space to larger space as money allows/family size requires" is pretty normal?? even if u don't wanna have kids, you may take in elderly parents or cohabitate with close friends.
They CAN be sold- there's a market for them in areas where the majority of folks are lower income.
Not saying where because I don't trust this comm not to be grossly classist about it, but my folks had a mobile home until 2-3 of the kids left the nest, then they sold it to a refurbisher.
Refurb folks buy and pick up mobile homes to clean, polish and fix whatever needs fixing, then sell them to mobile home parks or other programs that help folks get housed.
My folks had a year or so left on payments, but the refurb folks "took over" the payments for a reduced price- got my folks out of those payments, so it worked for everyone involved.
They may not make you a profit, but they CAN be reused, and they do have value after you've outgrown them. Just because they don't have value to the original owners doesn't mean they're worthless.
Also, mobile homes can be big- the one my folks had was a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, with dining room, living room, laundry, and den.
Housed a family of 8. Yeah, we had to share rooms, but it wasn't tight and crowded.
(I hate that "double wides" have become synonymous with "trailer trash" but double wides have plenty of room and despite their rep, the one I grew up in weathered Ivan and Katrina, so they don't blow away like everyone outside of hurricane range thinks they do.)
i know they can be sold, I never said they were worthless-- I was looking at buying one lmao, I'm aware they can be reused, I've seen ones from the 60s/70s on the market around me. I don't have any real issues with mobiles, other than thin walls and the lot sizes in some mobile home parks being too cramped for my preference (but I can't even afford that, and beggars can't be choosers lmao). They can be very nice inside, and you can definitely pour your heart into the lot and make it to your liking.
Honestly? I wish mobile home parks could make a strong comeback, in good parks where folks are taken care of and lot fees aren't fucking exorbitant. Like i said, they're good starter homes BECAUSE they can be affordable, and still be more spacious than an apartment. It's also a good trial run at the maintenance required for a standard home. But some states are fucking allergic to affordable housing and some counties are actively trying to remove mobile homes to increase the home value of surrounding standard homes just cuz mobiles are unfairly judged.
That's my bad; you said you can't break even or make a profit from them, so I read that tone is being dismissive/derisive of them. (the joy of text /s)
I'm 100% with you on parks- I lived in one growing up and despite the bad rep they have, neighbors took care of each other, and the guy who owned the land lived there right alongside us and always helped out with repairs, even if he didn't own the house or even car that needed it.
Then again, that's kinda how it is in highly rural areas when you get parks and little communities like that. You're a 45 minute drive to the nearest school, an hour away from a hospital, and even the nearest gas station is a ten minute drive.
When you're that far out in the sticks and you live in a neighborhood like that, you rely on each other. I miss that shit. (I'm now in the suburb of a major city and I don't even know my neighbor's names.)
That’s fair, apologies for coming at you so strongly. I think my confusion was that (in the culture / area I’m originally from), homes are generally generational and there’s a specific connection to the home and its land, so it’s strange to me (the idea of having a “starter” home that you try to resell and move out later in life). It makes sense given the cultural context- what I meant when saying it feels like a capitalist dystopia is the idea that even a home needs to be a “return on investment”
But I digress, as that’s not really FR related anymore
You can get a mobile home on land and own both. Even if the home doesn’t gain value, the land will. And if you’re in the Southern US, you can definitely get something under 150k. Hell, I can find small condos or even just single family houses that need some major TLC right now for under 100k, and I’m in a major city. If someone is willing to a) have a small home, b) put a lot of work into their home, and c) live in the miserable hellscape of the South, then the options are plentiful.
I don’t know how realistic getting away with a 3k down payment on its own would be, but with an assistance program, a 3.5% down payment, and getting a seller to cover most/all of the closing costs - I could see it being a possibility on a cheaper home. Whether any of this is a wise investment is hard to say, but some people aren’t so concerned with that and just want to own their home.
And of course, neither of us knows anything about StrawberryAlex to say whether any of this applies to them - they could have just bought an beat up RV for all we know or conveniently left out the part where some rich relative covered the other 30k of their down payment. If we’re critiquing them for making weird assumptions about Toxx’s financial situation, we probably shouldn’t be doing the same about their housing situation.
AYRT Agreed, if u buy both home and lot, the land will gain value. Most mobiles I've seen (in my area) are in mobile home parks and do not include the land they're on. (I was seriously considering a mobile, because those were almost in my price range.)
I'm in the Northeast US, tri-state area-- things get cheap in more rural areas but anything in my area is pricey, including mobile homes. Sometimes they get listed in the 50k range, but most are 75-100k+, and they're not even new builds and only some are double wides. There used to be a market for standard homes sub $150k around here, but post-covid people have listed literally burnt full teardowns for $100k+ and they're not even on big lots T_T
wrt investment/accruing value, I mentioned in another comment I think i got another anon commenters point & Strawberry's comments mixed up, I don't think Strawberry explicitly said anything about better investments exactly-- not too far off, but not exactly, iirc. but afaik mobiles or RVs themselves aren't good investments, buuuut if you can truly save money and invest that (in whatever way, be it in standard housing, stocks, 401k, etc., or just irreplaceable life experiences tbqh), very cheap housing that loses value can still definitely be worthwhile, and obvi any housing is worthwhile housing. (i was also looking at tiny homes as a possibility I could afford, but this area is very unfriendly to tiny homes, and even if I could buy the lot and get utilities set up, there were issues with zoning wrt the minimum size of a house-- anyway, point being, I'm not passing any judgment on someone getting whatever housing they can afford, I have looked into non-standard home options myself cuz shit is fucking expensive up here.)
Also, yes, you're right, we shouldn't be making assumptions about Strawberry's situation. Perhaps I've made too many tbh. I just get flabbergasted sometimes when I'm confronted with how cheap housing can be in other areas of the country, shit fucking hurts. That's my L to hold tho.
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(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-08 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-08 03:55 pm (UTC)(link)i know mobile homes are cheaper, cuz they get u with the lot fees, but... idk, if Strawberry, with all their moral grandstanding about making good financial decisions, bought a fucking mobile home?? i would have to laugh. mobile homes are great starters but they do not accrue value.
either they got real good programs/incentives for homebuying that covered basically the whole downpayment for a $100k~ home and they just covered closing costs, or they're in a pricier area and bought a mobile, or they're in an state/county/country with cheaper housing. imo.
(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-08 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)"with all their moral grandstanding about making good financial decisions, bought a fucking mobile home?? i would have to laugh. mobile homes are great starters but they do not accrue value."
Not everyone is out to accrue value, some people just don't want to be homeless?? "Starter" home?? What in the capitalist dystopia
(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-08 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)honestly that's on me, i think i got some of Strawberry's arguments mixed with the anon asking "are there worse things to spend money on" and making the argument that at least irl stuff can accrue in value. however, i don't think Strawberry's arguments are so far off, and they did specifically reference spending that amount of money on a home.
but yes, afaik mobile homes can be good starter homes because of the lower upfront cost/small size. but you don't get to resell and either break even or make a profit like u do with a standard house, unless there's another spike in home prices like early covid (mobile home prices are still hella inflated in my area). starter homes are typically gonna be smaller units like small homes or mobile homes (i'd consider a studio/one bedroom apartment/condo a starter too) and if you're planning on having a family, you'd need to upgrade to a home with more space to accommodate both adults and children. idk how starter homes are inherently capitalist tbqh tho, it's pretty par for the course to move into housing with more space as the family expands in size, and u generally may not prioritize or want the responsibility of a larger home before that happens. maybe u can make the argument that it's capitalist to prioritize accruing value, sure, but the concept of "moving from smaller start space to larger space as money allows/family size requires" is pretty normal?? even if u don't wanna have kids, you may take in elderly parents or cohabitate with close friends.
(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-08 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)Not saying where because I don't trust this comm not to be grossly classist about it, but my folks had a mobile home until 2-3 of the kids left the nest, then they sold it to a refurbisher.
Refurb folks buy and pick up mobile homes to clean, polish and fix whatever needs fixing, then sell them to mobile home parks or other programs that help folks get housed.
My folks had a year or so left on payments, but the refurb folks "took over" the payments for a reduced price- got my folks out of those payments, so it worked for everyone involved.
They may not make you a profit, but they CAN be reused, and they do have value after you've outgrown them. Just because they don't have value to the original owners doesn't mean they're worthless.
(frozen comment) SA
(Anonymous) 2025-01-08 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)Housed a family of 8. Yeah, we had to share rooms, but it wasn't tight and crowded.
(I hate that "double wides" have become synonymous with "trailer trash" but double wides have plenty of room and despite their rep, the one I grew up in weathered Ivan and Katrina, so they don't blow away like everyone outside of hurricane range thinks they do.)
(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-09 12:16 am (UTC)(link)i know they can be sold, I never said they were worthless-- I was looking at buying one lmao, I'm aware they can be reused, I've seen ones from the 60s/70s on the market around me. I don't have any real issues with mobiles, other than thin walls and the lot sizes in some mobile home parks being too cramped for my preference (but I can't even afford that, and beggars can't be choosers lmao). They can be very nice inside, and you can definitely pour your heart into the lot and make it to your liking.
Honestly? I wish mobile home parks could make a strong comeback, in good parks where folks are taken care of and lot fees aren't fucking exorbitant. Like i said, they're good starter homes BECAUSE they can be affordable, and still be more spacious than an apartment. It's also a good trial run at the maintenance required for a standard home. But some states are fucking allergic to affordable housing and some counties are actively trying to remove mobile homes to increase the home value of surrounding standard homes just cuz mobiles are unfairly judged.
(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-09 01:25 am (UTC)(link)I'm 100% with you on parks- I lived in one growing up and despite the bad rep they have, neighbors took care of each other, and the guy who owned the land lived there right alongside us and always helped out with repairs, even if he didn't own the house or even car that needed it.
Then again, that's kinda how it is in highly rural areas when you get parks and little communities like that. You're a 45 minute drive to the nearest school, an hour away from a hospital, and even the nearest gas station is a ten minute drive.
When you're that far out in the sticks and you live in a neighborhood like that, you rely on each other. I miss that shit. (I'm now in the suburb of a major city and I don't even know my neighbor's names.)
(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-09 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)That’s fair, apologies for coming at you so strongly.
I think my confusion was that (in the culture / area I’m originally from), homes are generally generational and there’s a specific connection to the home and its land, so it’s strange to me (the idea of having a “starter” home that you try to resell and move out later in life). It makes sense given the cultural context- what I meant when saying it feels like a capitalist dystopia is the idea that even a home needs to be a “return on investment”
But I digress, as that’s not really FR related anymore
(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-08 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)I don’t know how realistic getting away with a 3k down payment on its own would be, but with an assistance program, a 3.5% down payment, and getting a seller to cover most/all of the closing costs - I could see it being a possibility on a cheaper home. Whether any of this is a wise investment is hard to say, but some people aren’t so concerned with that and just want to own their home.
And of course, neither of us knows anything about StrawberryAlex to say whether any of this applies to them - they could have just bought an beat up RV for all we know or conveniently left out the part where some rich relative covered the other 30k of their down payment. If we’re critiquing them for making weird assumptions about Toxx’s financial situation, we probably shouldn’t be doing the same about their housing situation.
(frozen comment) Re: 100x777 argument
(Anonymous) 2025-01-09 12:01 am (UTC)(link)Agreed, if u buy both home and lot, the land will gain value. Most mobiles I've seen (in my area) are in mobile home parks and do not include the land they're on. (I was seriously considering a mobile, because those were almost in my price range.)
I'm in the Northeast US, tri-state area-- things get cheap in more rural areas but anything in my area is pricey, including mobile homes. Sometimes they get listed in the 50k range, but most are 75-100k+, and they're not even new builds and only some are double wides. There used to be a market for standard homes sub $150k around here, but post-covid people have listed literally burnt full teardowns for $100k+ and they're not even on big lots T_T
wrt investment/accruing value, I mentioned in another comment I think i got another anon commenters point & Strawberry's comments mixed up, I don't think Strawberry explicitly said anything about better investments exactly-- not too far off, but not exactly, iirc. but afaik mobiles or RVs themselves aren't good investments, buuuut if you can truly save money and invest that (in whatever way, be it in standard housing, stocks, 401k, etc., or just irreplaceable life experiences tbqh), very cheap housing that loses value can still definitely be worthwhile, and obvi any housing is worthwhile housing. (i was also looking at tiny homes as a possibility I could afford, but this area is very unfriendly to tiny homes, and even if I could buy the lot and get utilities set up, there were issues with zoning wrt the minimum size of a house-- anyway, point being, I'm not passing any judgment on someone getting whatever housing they can afford, I have looked into non-standard home options myself cuz shit is fucking expensive up here.)
Also, yes, you're right, we shouldn't be making assumptions about Strawberry's situation. Perhaps I've made too many tbh. I just get flabbergasted sometimes when I'm confronted with how cheap housing can be in other areas of the country, shit fucking hurts. That's my L to hold tho.