Carl leason

A Few Certainties: Death, Taxes and Retiring in Florida

I believe the mobile home manufacturers are going to have a very hard time in Florida for many years to come.
As a long time Realtor, I find it very hard to sell mobile homes as the rental lots charge way higher monthly costs than condos, also, Insurance costs are not just high for a mobile,...as Insurance is simply not available for many, especially those that are close to the water. and mobile homes, regardless of what the manufacturers say,
are simply not built up to the standards of a site built home. I've seen "glued on" plasterboard, that comes off and you find it laying around in broken pieces on delivery, floors that literally "melt" if they get wet, constant keeping it level, which means getting under it and shimming up the supports underneath. Some are getting smarter and placing them on regular concrete perimeter foundations, etc. but the center supports still continue to slowly sink,...
I speak as a former owner of a mobile home park and I have seeen it all. Yes, some are built better than others, but another point is the electric bills, which are virtually always higher than site built homes, even though the Mobile home builders say their homes are so well insulated,..if one decides to go for a top of the line Manufactured home, with a side by side double garage, a porch or deck, then they are no less expensive than a regular site built home and maybe more expensive, then come the inevitable annual lot rent increases !!! To top it off, most mobile homes depreciate much like a car. The old ones are simply demolished and carried away in a dump truck ! The ground tie straps get rusty and simply fall off, you name it ,...when you have a mobile, you have problems and it ain't easy to just move it to a new location if you don't like the rules !
Cheaper, initially maybe yes, but in the long run, I'll stick to a site built home ! Even in a new Mobile/ manufacturered community, the pre-owned ones are a lot cheaper than the new ones, by a lot !!
If they catch on fire, it only takes minutes for it to simply be a pile of ashes ! As for me, I'll stick to living in a site buillt, concrete block built home on a slab of concrete ! LC

Outlook For Manufactured Housing

I can see why Clayton Homes is making money.
Having owned a mobile home park, I can speak with experience in that the appearance and construction details described in their web site makes it one of the least desirable Manufactured homes on the market from a construction point of view.
Most manufactured homes in this area have 2 x 6 exterior walls, not 2 x 4, flat ceilings in many models, OSB floors and roofs, ( Not good ), and primative designs. In other words , very cheaply made, but probably selling for high prices,..big profit margins !
Most buyers are looking for a style of Manufactured home that has the appearance of a site built home. Better insulation, optional garages, etc. Clayton does not appear to offer that !
Don't count me as an investor ! LC