Unmobile Mobile Homes

No money is better spent than what is laid out for domestic satisfaction.
Samuel Johnson (1709–84), author

The mobile home association must be on a big public relations campaign. This is the second story I have heard in one day. The first was on National Public Radio about the stronger roofs on mobile homes.

Now this story on Yahoo from the Tribune Wire Service about mobile homes in Malibu going for a million dollars. This has to signify that the housing bubble is near.

A former attorney paid $1.05 million for a mobile home that has virtually no land. The space for a trailer is a pad of cement that the home sits on. There is generally a small front and backyard as well as a carport. This former attorney, and current owner of a 1971 mobile home, does not own the land, she merely pays rent for the space. According to the article spaces rent from $800 to $2,500 a month.

I became familiar with mobile homes because my grandfather managed a couple of mobile home parks and owned one. Rather than rent an apartment, I suggested to Daughter’s mother that we buy a mobile home. She thought I was mad (now, I think she is, but that’s another story). We paid $16,000 for a 12 x 56 foot trailer. I think the rent space was less than $100 a month. The first time the washing machine went into the spin cycle, I honestly thought we were having an earthquake the place was shaking. We eventually got used to it.

A few years later, we sold the place for $26,000. We got married and moved up to a doublewide trailer 24 x 60 foot. We purchased it from a mobile home dealer. We had the washer, dryer and refrigerator included. I had a wood burning fireplace custom built into the place. We paid $42,000, sold it three years later for $62,000, and purchased a house. This was all back in the early late ‘70s early ‘80s. The space rents were starting to go up and it did not make sense to live in a mobile home, if you could afford to live elsewhere unless you wanted to retire and be part of a small community.

Now, since a house in Malibu sells for several million, I guess it makes sense to buy a trailer, but only if you want to live near the beach and be on the real estate bubble.

Note: I suspect the bottom picture is of a mobile homes after a tornado.