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Seems counterintuitive, right? To purchase a manufactured home that can cost more than $100,000, and that actually helping you to purchase a traditional single-family house. Mind blown. Buying a Mobile Home is a great stepping stone to purchase your next.
Case Study
We’re going to do a quick comparison of a manufactured home that we have for sale and a single-family house for rent in the same area. For a fair comparison of pricing, we use the square footage of the examples.
Rent in California
Let's look at the cost of rent in California for 1248 square feet. It is undeniable that California is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, and for good reason. Unfortunately, the awesomeness of California comes at the expense of pricey homeownership. Especially since the pandemic, the prices of single-family houses have soared. Even with historically low-interest rates on mortgages, many first-time buyers are being priced out of the market.
This is because the competition is actually driving mortgages up since people are purchasing the homes significantly above the asking price. Consequently, it also drives up the competition and price for renters. Check Zillow and you will find that you can easily pay close to $3,000 to rent a single-family home. Factor in utilities and your north of $3,000; $3,000 plus a month for something you will never own.
Prices of lot rent, especially in desirable areas in a city, are also going up. However, these prices are less affected by competition from renters and more based on the increasing value of the land. Nevertheless, leasing a lot inside of a mobile home park is still the more affordable option.
When comparing the two options, with the manufactured home you get the same amount of space for less money. In this article I don't go into the details about financing a home (check out this article of you're interested in learning more); however, you can factor in roughly a $400 monthly payment. Even with that taken into account, you’ll likely save about $600 – $700 a month when coupled with other savings.
Other Savings
What is often overlooked is the fact that mobile homes or manufactured homeowners save money in areas other than rent. Two examples are:
Utilities are usually included with the lot rent. Whereas renting a house, condo, townhouse, or apartment will add an additional $200-$300 in costs. Even where the cost of utilities is passed on to the lessee of the space in a park, the costs are reduced.
Parking is not an added expense unlike an apartment, or in some cases a condo.
Benefits
Other than the savings (which is amazing by the way), there are several benefits to purchasing a manufactured home.
One, you have a built-in community.
Two, the park will usually have amenities that make a single-family home much more expensive.
Three, you will own an asset.
Four, you have much more privacy.
Five, you can use the savings to purchase land and move your home there and now you own real property.
Selling the Manufactured Home in the Future
California is a unique state for the mobile home or manufactured home market. Here, the price of a home can easily sell for just as much, if not more, a decade or so later. We are currently in a seller's market because many people are turning towards mobile homes or manufactured homes as an affordable solution to the housing crisis.
As long as the home has been well maintained it will sell for its market value. When it does, the seller now has additional money to add to what was saved over the years. A family that had little to no savings when they purchased the manufactured home can now easily have $100,000 or more cash.
Conclusion
Now you have a blueprint for saving up for a single-family home by purchasing a mobile home or manufactured home if that is your goal.