buying a park home

turtleneck

It's very expensive where I live and I have seen various park homes for much more affordable prices.

I just wondered what are the pros and cons of buying one?

Here are a couple of examples:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45735005.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30255810.html

Thanks

shegar

Nothing wrong with them at all but, I dont know if you have young children because a lot of mobile home parks dont allow children........

cattie

The cons are they depreciate pretty quickly, just as a car does & unlike a bricks & mortar property, will never increase or retain their value.

Site fees can shoot up at the whim of the site owner/management or if there is a change of site owner.

Sometimes the site owners will have rules about the maximum age that a mobile home can be before needing to be removed & replaced with a new/er one.

If & when owners want to sell the site owner/manager sometimes want the sales to be done through them or to pay a commission to transfer ownership.

Many sites are age related meaning that only say people over 55 are allowed to become residents.

Many sites do not allow pets, so this can be bad news for pet owners or pet lovers.

Often sites are a bit out of the way, meaning that a car is necessary to go anywhere, even to to a local shop.

Length of lease for the plot, fine if it's a long lease, but not so good if not.

Perhaps colder in the winter than a bricks & mortar property.

The pros are, as you mention, a cheap property,

Children not usually permitted, so pretty nice & quite

Residents all of an age if an age related site, so unlikely to be having late night parties or loud barbeques.

Lack of storage compared to the majority of brick & mortar homes.

da_rule

Some may also have clauses against continuing occupation (i.e. only to be used as a holiday home).

EdGasket

My sister and her husband moved into one later in life. I would not recommend it. Once they could no longer drive they were really isolated there. The landowner controlled the price of electricity and added a good amount to what it would have cost direct from an energy supplier. You had to pay ground rent continually too.
As per previous post, they are a bad investment as they do not appreciate in value like you would expect a normal house to.
The only advantage is it was peaceful as there were mainly retired people on the site.

imho

Ground rent £100 per month
Then Council tax.
Some park homes you dont have your own electric /gas meter,the land owner does.
Plus it wont go up in value and sometimes the park owner will only allow caravans up to a certain age.

Oops by time i wrote out my thoughts everyone else had said it all .

harrys_dad

The site owner usually charges a significant percentage of any sale too, and has the right to vet the buyer. This can make selling extremely difficult, and costly.

PasturesNew

They are often unmortgageable - you have to raise a personal loan, with a hefty deposit, to buy one.

And, all of the stuff that's been said above.

When you sell it you have to pay the site owner 10% of the price - and a lot of sites want to interview the potential new owner and "approve" them (or not) before you can sell it.

You will never own the land it sits on, you pay a site fee for that. One day the site owner might decide to sell the land on and you'll get a notice to quit ... and, while there is some protection so it's not fast, there is the potential this can happen - I used to live in one and that site was cleared and filled with newer/expensive vans.

Lots of rules and the site owners are often Hitlers... I experienced that.

Many site owners make you receive services only through an approved list. e.g. on my site I could only buy papers from one shop; only buy my gas through the site owner; only buy the gas on Saturdays; only receive milk deliveries from one farm.

What appear to be the rules when you move in are often adhered to in a severely draconian style, at the whim of the site owner. e.g. if a rule said "lights out by 11pm" you might find them banging on your door at 10:59 shouting at you ... (obviously none have a ridiculous rule like that, but the rule edges shift).

Blue_Max

I have been considering a park home for some time but I am beginning to wonder!
Those in the trade paint a rosy picture. But there are many pitfalls.
Have a read through
> PHRAA, Park Home Residents Action Alliance
http://www.phraa.co.uk
www.parkhomesphraanews.co.uk
> National Association of Park Home Residents
http://naphr.org.uk
> Gov UK site : Fact sheets for park home residents
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/park-homes

PasturesNew

Neighbours seem like a lovely bunch: http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/reading/articles/2014/04/18/99556-last-member-of-powerful-narcotics-gang-that-flooded-readings-streets-with-heroin-jailed/na

Zulfaqar Khan, 30, of Riverside Park, Tilehurst, ..... were jailed for a combined total of 35 years earlier this month.

turtleneck

Thanks for all the excellent replies, I think I will give it a miss!!!