Who buys mobile homes or manufactured homes?
With more than 10 million people in the United States who own mobile homes, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, there’s a lot of variety.
Homeowners
First, some people purchase or rent mobile homes to live in themselves. Due to their lower price (in 2021, the average mobile home costs $111,900, according to U.S. News & World Report) it’s an attractive option for someone looking for an affordable place to live.
As for renters, the average monthly rent for a mobile home in the United States in 2021 was $593, according to Yahoo! Finance.
Mobile homes’ affordability is thanks to several factors, one being they are easy and quick to build. Some mobile home parks will also offer services like lawn trimming and amenities.
In 2022, a survey from the Census Bureau found that one-third of the more than 10 million people living in mobile homes are 60 and older. The next largest group are 30 to 39 years old.
A mobile home can be a desirable housing option for someone who doesn’t want the hassle of a large house or if they are on a fixed income due to retirement or the inability to work. More than half of older adults who live in mobile homes own the mobile home outright and don’t have a mortgage. That’s a higher percentage than their peers who live in other types of housing, only 43.8%.
For homeowners, one of the benefits of a mobile home is in the name — the property is mobile. If the rent or fees are too high in a mobile park, mobile homeowners can shop around and find one that better suits their financial needs.
That said, it’s not as simple as putting the keys in the ignition of an RV and getting onto the highway. Moving a mobile home costs thousands of dollars, according to Moving.com, and requires disconnecting, reconnecting, permits, and moving the home to its new location.
Landlords
With so many benefits to living in a mobile home, it’s not a stretch to see why it would be a profitable business for landlords. There’s certainly no shortage of tenants looking to rent a mobile home, lease the land for their mobile home, or own stock in the park.
While we mentioned earlier that a mobile home can give a homeowner the flexibility to move, conversely, it could also be cost prohibitive for someone to move their mobile home.
This creates a built-in clientele for landlords. The satisfaction of mobile homeowners is high; the Manufacturing Housing Institute found that 62% of mobile home residents plan to live in their mobile home for at least a decade.
Investors
As entrepreneurs look to diversify, many look to mobile homes to add to their portfolios. And with tens of millions of Americans living in mobile homes and their affordability, it makes sense.
But beyond demand, there are a number of reasons why mobile and manufactured homes are a great investment:
- Lower taxes: It may seem counterintuitive, but because mobile homes depreciate over time, this is a beneficial for tax purposes.
- Lower renovation costs: Mobile homes are factory built, their maintenance costs are low, and they’re smaller than traditional houses or apartments. For an investor who wants to upgrade a collection of mobile homes to attract higher-paying tenants, the finances are in their favor.
- Lower cost to enter the market: Investors may discover that finding a lender for their mobile home investment is easier because the cost is so low, especially for small- and medium-sized parks. For residents who own the mobile home, landlords and investors don’t even have to worry about property taxes.
Selling your mobile home
For mobile homeowners, selling it is different than selling a traditional house. For one, just because one owns the mobile home doesn’t necessarily mean that they own the land it’s located on. In this case, it’s considered chattel and the process is very much like selling a car. If you do own the mobile home and the land, then the process works similarly to any traditional property sale. You may opt to work with a real estate agent or sell the house on your own.
If neither of these options sounds appealing, mobile homeowners who also own the land can bypass the stress of the selling process by working with companies like Meridian Trust, which purchase mobile homes for cash. Meridian Trust has more than 15 years of experience purchasing all kinds of properties in a range of conditions. This includes houses, townhomes, condos, apartments, multi-family units, and mobile homes.
Selling a mobile home doesn’t have to be hard. Call Meridian Trust for a free, no-obligation property value analysis. If we’re able to make you a cash offer, you can decide if you’d like to move forward — no pressure. There are no hidden fees, and we even cover the closing costs for you.
To get started or learn more, call us at (954) 807-9087.
Note: This guide is for informational purposes only. Meridian Trust does not make any guarantees about the sufficiency of the content in or linked to from this blog post or that it is compliant with current law. The content within this blog post is not a substitute for legal advice or legal services. You should not rely on this information for any purpose without consulting a licensed lawyer in your area.
