Thinking of downsizing to a single wide trailer with three 3 kids

[milby]

I'm so tired of being stressed out about money every single day of my life. I'm new to the simple living concept but I think living without all this stuff would be so much less stressful.

Anyway here is my situation. I won't go into all the details but we filed bankruptcy four years ago and have been living in a nice rental house ever since. It is in a great neighborhood with a community pool that the kids love and everything, bla, bla, bla, but the rent and utilities is killing me.

I am seriously thinking about saying to heck with it and moving to a single wide trailer. If I did this I think it would be about $500 a month cheaper. Plus I would be able to pay it off in a few years and actually be debt free. Plus we would have to get rid of a LOT of our stuff that is just being stored in the garage anyway.

The only thing I'm worried about is the kids. We have three that are nearing their teenage years and I don't know how this would effect them.

Has anyone on here been in this situation and could give me some advice.

[sweetana3]

More important is where the trailer is located and the stability of the neighborhood and park (if a trailer park). If your kids are established in school and the neighborhood is good and they have friends and activities, I would wonder about the wisdom of a move. It is usually cheaper for a good reason. Are you jumping from one situation to another as far as stress goes? I have lived in a nice trailer park and they are out there so I wont bash trailer parks. However, there are just as many crummy and even dangerous ones (much like crummy and dangerous neighborhoods).

You can still get rid of stuff. Moving is not the only reason out there for cleaning out excess stuff. Clean out the garage is a good first step.

But even better is sitting down and writing down your plans, goals, and setting up a timeline for accomplishing them both short and long term. What do you want and when is it good to do it?

Are the kids doing enough to reduce stress? Often I see parent(s) trying to do everything and burning out. Do you have a good handle on the budget and a tight fist with each dollar? Have you reduced everything you can reduce and is the family on board?

[milby]

we homeschool so that is not an issue. I'm not necessarily talking about a trailer park. Maybe a trailer on a couple of acres just outside of town.

[ctg492]

Kids are flexible, resilient, and will love you ( after the grumbling) no matter what, as long as you have a heart to heart talk on why/the future and such. Just my opinion on kids and families. Trailer living is not the worst place on earth, home is where you make it. Good Luck

[shadowmoss]

Check zoning before jumping into a trailer. In the Nashville area they were starting to make it pretty much impossible to set up a single or double-wide trailer/mobile home/manufactured home. The last I heard it was only on a 3 ac. minimum lot, and it was getting tougher as time went on. A lot of the places who used to be set up on the old highways into town that sold those homes were closing down (they pretty much all had bad reputations anyway). So, while folks here are always talking about how great these are, check into it first. I say this as someone who still has a double-wide on 3 beautiful acres in Nashville that I can't sell because, among other things, the banks won't loan money to buy used modular/manufactured homes.

[Zoebird]

Here is the way I would roll it out.

First, find a place to rent that costs less. There may be something in the neighborhood. Work as a family to reduce the use of utilities, and any other costs you can. Declutter.

Second, get ahead financially. pay off all debts, start an emergency fund, and then work on getting some savings. This is important, because it gives you options.

Those options include -- the possibility of buying land-and-house outright, or trailer, or what have you. You never know what you can afford. and where. But it's a good idea to get a solid savings going. my husband and I have a goal of $600,000 in savings before buying anything, because we want to pay cash outright for whatever we buy, and even run down junkers here cost that much. Land value is high where we live (so is COL, etc). we currently have about 1/10 of that in savings, btw (and then retirement, and emergency fund, and so on).

we live in a simple, as inexpensive as possible, tiny rental property. people are shocked by the simplicity, but i L-O-V-E it. and if i love it, so also does my kid. In fact, my 3 yr old is quite certain that the way everyone else lives is insane. "Why do kids have their own beds?" and "why would a kid want to be in his/her own bedroom?" and "why does a family need three dining tables?" and "why do you need a shower AND a tub?" he's so used to just living in our little cottage, sharing a bedroom and a bed, with minimal toys, that everything else is bizarre to him. He is so happy and has everything he needs. He looks around at others and goes "they have way too much stuff!"

This might also be parroting me, though.

anyway, we may not buy, even when we get that kind of money. right now, we love this rental thing. it works so nicely for us. if there is a problem, the landlady fixes it. nice. works out. we are getting a new roof, soon, for example, and I got to help pick out the stuff (i helped source and got an eco-friendly, long-lasting, excellent deal. the landlady was pleased!).

End of the day, do what works for your family, but I totally get wanting to cut costs. I'll do just about anything to cut costs. :D

[ctg492]

We have vacant water front land in Northern Mi. Left over land from the home we sold next door to the land. Anyhow, the "dream" of doing it cheaply and putting a single wide on it is not as cheap today as it once was. To improve the land with well/septic/power/fill/drive comes to a minimum of $16,000 with no extras like landscaping. Now plop the single wide cost on to that, garage ect. It is actually cheaper to buy any of the foreclosed homes sitting all over up there. After we would get the single wide on the lot, it would be worth less then what we had put into the project. We ponder it often and spin it anyway we can and still come up with the same results, lovely property but it will be vacant as long as we own it which will be forever as land is not a hot buy up there anymore.

[goldensmom]

I've not been in the situation you describe but has anyone mention weather yet? I don't know where you live, milby, but with the crazy weather we've experienced in the past few years, weather is a factor to consider if given the choice. Tornadoes, hurricanes, simply a strong wind or hail can destroy a trailer. Also, from what I've seen, I've never seen a trailer experience 'minor' fire damage. They usually go up flames in a little time. Just something to think about beyond the finances.

[milby]

I talked to a banker today and he said we qualify for a FHA mortgage since its been over 3 years since the bankruptcy and our credit score is over 620. All we have to do is come up with 3.5% down payment. So we could buy a place for $85000 or less and have a much lower payment than renting. I'm excited and I think we can save the $3000 or so over the next year and do it.

[rodeosweetheart]

That sounds great, Milby. We were just in a similar situation, sold our farm to cash out , and bought a foreclosed house for much less than that. Don't know where you live, of course. We saw trailers for the same price, but am happy we held out and found a stick built house, not sure why I'm happy, but still, you can probably find a regular house for that if you hang tough and really, really look.

[enota]

I talked to a banker today and he said we qualify for a FHA mortgage since its been over 3 years since the bankruptcy and our credit score is over 620. All we have to do is come up with 3.5% down payment. So we could buy a place for $85000 or less and have a much lower payment than renting. I'm excited and I think we can save the $3000 or so over the next year and do it.

Just don't forget that even thought the monthly financial requirement is lower, as a home owner you will have insurance, taxes, and maintenance to deal with. Chances are that your utility bill is going to be higher too. What happens if your air conditioner or heater goes out in the middle of the hot or cold season? Will you have money to fix it? What if your water heater leaks and you have to have repairs?

Keep in mind too that there might be association dues or assessments if you live in a house that has a HOA. These can be expensive and they tend to go UP instead of down. If the road is privately owned, you may get a "special assessment" to do repairs or maintenance. If you cannot pay your dues or your special assessments, then your property may be subject to a lien.

I don't know where you live, but if you are determined to buy, you should look at the least expensive house available that will meet your needs. Keeping as much monthly money in reserve as possible for unforseen issues.

To be perfectly honest, I thought your idea about a mobile home was great. Three years ago we purchased some rough land, a single-wide and never looked back.

20yrsinBranson