First Time Investor- Start with House Hacking a Mobile Home?

Question

I own one property (single-family, currently living-in as my home) and have an untapped VA loan just sitting there worth $400,000.  I tried to buy a Triplex but my debt-to-income was too high.  I have enough for a sizeable down payment ($20,000); since single-family are out of my price range I was thinking about a Mobile Home.

There are a few in my area which I could buy outright for the money I have saved.  My question- being new, is there some sort of guide I could use to navigate this process (yes, I used the search function on this site)?  Will I need to get a formal "home inspection" (which seems prudent), what should I do specifically with relation to my new mobile home?

Rachel H. · Answer

@Markos E. If you're thinking about buying a mobile home, one of the things you need to know is the neighborhood and types of clientele it attracts. Do this before you buy.

Sometimes there is a reason the mobile homes in one particular neighborhood are cheaper than others. Believe me, I found this out the hard way when I was first starting out as a mobile home investor.

You cannot change the neighborhood, only the home. So make sure the types of people the neighborhood attracts (not just the home) are those you feel comfortable with and work with your personality.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Janea Boyles · Answer

Well, dang! I hate that no one has replied to your post because I think your questions are intriguing. I’ve been researching mobile home investing a bit lately and my reasons are similar to yours. I’ve been wanting to house hack- most specifically with a duplex. In my case, the market is hot where I am and there aren’t a lot of duplexes for me to “House Hack” And, I’m priced out of a lot of the single family homes that are available for sale. So, I’ve started poking around with the mobile home idea thinking I might be able to get cash flow going quicker because the initial investment is smaller. Here’s my question for you: Does this mobile home come with land? Or would you just be buying the mobile home and paying lot rent? I would think having land would be a good investment. But,If it’s the mobile home only perhaps you could view it as more of a cash generator that would not require you to move into it. Could you buy it, rent it and generate cash flow while staying in your current residence? That cash flow could perhaps help you generate more of a snowball effect in savings towards paying off your debt and making it easier to qualify for financing. Just some immediate reactions I’m having to your post based on the fact that I’m grappling with the same sort of things right now. :-)