My partner and I went to look at a mobile home for sale near us.
It's in need of repairs, but the land is decent size for the area, it's got electric, two wells though one seems unused, and city sewer.
I know the whole front wall area especially around the door needs to be taken to the studs if they exist and rebuilt, the one tub is leaking and the subfloor is likely rotten, the other bathrooms need work as well, the walls have other cosmetic issues as well. The hot water heater was replaced, but the new one was bigger than the old one and didn't fit in the original cubby, so the owners put it in the closet area, the furnace likely needs replaced, the central air probably needs maintenance.
The breaker panel looked ok, and it's 100amp service.
We have an RV we live in currently and we would move it onto the property while we make the most urgent repairs.
I think we're probably looking around $20k in repairs if we DIY most of it.
by crow50
15 Comments
Ok. Good luck?
Unsolicited advice: if its as rough as it looks, look hard at the roof / ceilings for leaks and mold.
This is the level of damage/neglect that condemns a mobile home. You can find a mobile home for free (you pay to move it) that is likely in better condition than this one.
Put on your tyvek suit and mask and crawl underneath it.
The condition of the belly fabric and insulation will tell you the real condition of the house.
If it’s wet underneath, on the ground or in the insulation, I would strongly recommend against it.
Everything is fixable, of course. The question is the time/money/effort required.
Any money you put into a trailer you will never get back
Just anecdotal but mobile homes are built very different than houses. Standard doors and windows don’t fit without modification, certain materials are used in the kitchen/bathrooms bc of water contact, just weird little things.
You’d probably fair better at living in your RV while you build a new home structure.
Not the popcorn in the shower!
Looks moist in there, make sure you wear proper PPE for mold
Manufactured homes (especially single wide) have their own set of regulations. They are not built very well especially if they were built before 1976, 1992, or 1994 (all three had significant regulation to upgrades for insulation and quality, and the last one defined wind resistance requirements).
Depending on the state you are in, single wide have higher restrictions on resale, such as it cannot be a 2nd home (rental or vacation).
If you have the space to rebuild, that would be ideal. I almost bought a single-wide on a quality concrete crawlspace foundation. The previous owners who lived there for 40 years even added a basement foundation that they never ended up finishing. It was an ideal situation for a tear-down and new build with most of the utilities already in place (only needed to tap the basement into sewer). In my example, the trailer was in similar shape… barely livable, and the land by itself had the appraisal value that matched the asking price so the barely livable house with all utilities was a bonus. While it was a fantastic deal we passed on that location for a number of other reasons.
The point is that you will always have the manufactured home stigma with that property unless you replace the home or build at least double the sq ft as an addition. The best would be to build the addition, then tear down the old home and replace it with another addition. This would actually reset the home to a new 2026 build instead of the old trailer manufactured date.
Ya i am very concerned about mold here.
I assume you are buying the land as well ? I have never remodeled a trailer but purchased a house that just needed ” some repairs”. I learned that whatever ballpark numbers that you come up with touring the property, multiply x 3 and if you are lucky, that will cover the repairs. I learned the hard way that if the owner let’s problems get to a certain point, more problems are waiting to be discovered.
You buy that place for the land value. Make sure to subtract the cost of having someone demolish that mobile home. Then you either buy another mobile home or build a house.
I would take that mobile home for free, it’s probably worth the cost of moving it (about $12k) or if you are buying land with it on it, it’s a good deal
I would not buy that mobile home if it is currently on a rented spot.
Damn neer thought someone was posting pictures of my house for a moment
Modular home isnt a mobile home they have different standards and are build completely different. All these idiots talking about mobile homes please learn the difference before you make your uneducated opinion.
Mobile home, not a modular.
Old mobile homes are typically worthless for a reason… going to spend a lot of.money fixing that up to have it be worth the same amount. If it gets you somewhere you wanna live for awhile go for it.
Not undoable but also a lot of work. Whatever work you think needs to be done, that’s before you tear into anything. I hope you’re comfortable with tools and are only paying like, $15k for it.