Owning a manufactured home vs renting
Owning a manufactured home is much the same as owning your own home. It gives you privacy and customization options that usually aren't allowed in rentals. You have free rein to repaint rooms, install shelves and wall mounts, or even get a pet without needing permission and paying extra security deposits and extra fees. When renting, money you give your landlord will keep a roof over your head, but it won't provide you with any equity in the long term. Buying a mobile home on the other hand, provides you with an asset. You'll pay site rent if you put the home in a mobile home park, but you'll own the home itself. When you decide to move on, you can bring it with you, or you can sell it and recoup some of your money, that otherwise would belong to your landlord. You can even sometimes make a profit on your investment. Mobile homes do often lose value over time, but well-cared for units can appreciate especially if recently updated.
Owning a manufactured home vs a traditional house
The main advantage to manufactured homes is that they are often a much lower-cost option that gives you a brand new home for less than a comparable used house. Often times traditional homes will need repairs remodeling and updating during your loan term whereas a manufactured home will often be paid off before needing any further investment. In this regard, manufactured homes can make homeownership easier to achieve. And since manufactured homes usually cost less per square foot than a stick-built home, you can get more space for your money in a customized for you floor plan. An additional advantage manufactured homes offer is that they are usually built in controlled environments. This means they can be consistently built to a high standard. And because they are manufactured in such conditions, construction delays due to weather or difficulty scheduling subcontractors are less likely. One of the other great advantages of manufactured homes is no property taxes. Instead of paying taxes you pay lot rent which tends to be less or comparable to property taxes on a similar sized home.
