Mobile homes

bbarroso wrote: »

I'm guessing by buying one I could avoid all the mortgage hassle and would not loose my money entirely, as with renting.

But you will (probably) be renting the land, your glorified caravan is only going to depreciate in value, and the leases tend to be rather one-sided.

The pitfalls are:

They depreciate in value as they get older. Like a car, the worst value is to buy a brand new one.

You rent the land, check what the rent is and how much it is likely to go up.

They are expensive to heat, the walls are very thin and not much insulation.

When you sell it on site, the site owner can legally claim up to 10% of the sale price as commission.

Some sites will have an age limit, so when your unit reaches that age you will have to remove it and replace it with a newer one. Check those sorts of detail in the site rental agreement very carefully.

To add to the above excellent points, each park will also define how long you can actually stay there. Year round is rare, many often just have 2 week exclusions in Feb but some are longer.

The homes themselves can be excellent, my parents have one that my dad stays in most of the year as he works on the park. Its roomy, central heating, double glazing and they even have a private garden. However they know the owners well, there are a lot of horror stories about losing mountains of cash through fees/resale/depreciation/age limits.

Mobile homes wear out and depreciate like a car, whereas the idea with a house is it is a home for life that holds its value.

* Mobile homes wear out, getting increasingly expensive to repair until the site typically requires you to replace it. A house has a lower maintenance cost relative to its value and wouldn't need replacing. After you've paid off the mortgage, expect to be able to live there for life.

* Mobile homes depreciate like a car so you lose the decrease in value whereas a house is expected to hold its value or appreciate with inflation, meaning your only cost is the interest.

* Mobile homes face land rent, regulations and the site owner can impose their restrictions on who can live there, whether you can let, mandatory vacancy periods, restrictions on the sale, etc. A freehold house has little/no regular mandatory payments and minimal regulations (only those imposed by council not a superior landlord.

Park home sales are usually targeted at over 50s as the majority of park home parks have minimum age restriction for occupiers and these also tend to prohibit under 16s living there permanently (grandchildren can visit and stay for a few days.

Heating and insulation in a proper park home (as opposed to a static caravan) will be to a high standard. Year round occupation will be allowed as ph parks are for permanent living. The majority of ph will be double width (twin) units usually 36ft x 20ft or larger, smaller and single units are available. New twin units are not cheap, you're looking at six figures sited, £200K+ on a good park is not unusual