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First time poster living in mobile home?

Jimbob79
Jimbob79 Posts: 4 Newbie
in House buying, renting & selling
Hi,

So first a bit of background...we're currently living with family to save some money for a deposit. I'm in my early 40s and my wife is in her late 50s. So far we've managed to save 8k.
We have been looking around for what we could afford house wise and the closest we've seen is Yorkshire which is a long way from friends, family and good jobs.
The ones we've been looking at have been help to buy.

The other idea we've had is to buy a mobile home on a park, live there for 6-8 months while both working and then take a few months off and go and live in Spain/France in the off season where the rents are £350-£450 a month.
To pay for it We would save while in this country and when my wife gets her pension she'll get a lump sum and about £600 a month.
We know that mobile homes decrease in value.

Sorry for the rambling post but just looking for people's input...

Jim

Comments

  • ProDave
    ProDave Posts: 3,785 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Not only do mobile homes decrease in value, you have to pay ground rent to the site, they cost a lot more to heat, and when you sell you have to give up to 10% of the sale price to the site owner.

    If you are thinking of leaving it empty over the winter you must drain the water thoroughly or else it WILL freeze with no heating.

    You can't get a mortgage for a mobile home so you are looking at a shorter term bank loan. Are the repayments really any less than a mortgage?
  • moneyistooshorttomention
    moneyistooshorttomention Posts: 17,940 Forumite
    Not to mention any thoughts of taking off abroad for months brings up the question of "What would you do for income during that time - and how would you ensure you could start up home country income again once you got back to Britain?"
  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    Why buy a mobile home? Can you rent them?
  • ProDave
    ProDave Posts: 3,785 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    AnotherJoe wrote: »
    Why buy a mobile home? Can you rent them?

    On a holiday park you usually can. On a residential park it depends on the terms of the lease.

    Another "gotcha" is the site owner can insist when it gets to a certain age or poor condition he can force you to replace it. It is virtually worthless then to sell off site.
  • Jimbob79
    Jimbob79 Posts: 4 Newbie
    The idea is to save while in the UK and use her pension as a top up. As for finding work in the UK, I'm a welder so there's plenty of work about and she's worked in local govt for years or we find seasonal work.
  • Cakeguts
    Cakeguts Posts: 7,627 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    What makes you think that there aren't any good jobs in Yorkshire? There are some really really expensive houses in Yorkshire so people must have the jobs to pay for them.
  • Jimbob79
    Jimbob79 Posts: 4 Newbie
    There are quite a few but it would mean moving far away from friends and family and the mortgage would run for a lot longer than any loan on a mobile home
  • ProDave
    ProDave Posts: 3,785 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Jimbob79 wrote: »
    There are quite a few but it would mean moving far away from friends and family and the mortgage would run for a lot longer than any loan on a mobile home
    But think of the security and not having to keep on paying ground rent in your retirement.
This discussion has been closed.
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