Offering the advantages of homeownership without the hefty commitment and price tag, mobile home parks have become a mecca for more than 20 million Americans.

If you’re looking for a place to live with spa-like amenities, spacious, modernized interiors, and autonomy then check out just how happy living in a mobile home park can be.

1. Lower Cost

Whether you plan to buy, rent, or finance a manufactured home, the out-of-pocket costs are hands down cheaper than a traditional, single-family home. Tenets in mobile home parks also do not pay property taxes, have homeowners association fees, and your land rental cost usually includes water, sewer, and trash.

2. Community

Mobile home parks have a built-in sense of community to them. Some parks cater to the quiet side of 55+ life and retirees while others are oriented to families and children. Either way, mobile home parks have a great neighborhood vibe without being forced to share walls, floors, or ceilings with your neighbors.

3. Manageable Maintenance

Mobile home parks have smaller yards than some traditional homes, but with less to mow, trim, and maintain on your own you’ll still have plenty of outside living to enjoy without all the sweaty, back-breaking upkeep.

4. Meet Your Goals

With their affordable costs and lighter maintenance mobile home parks are an excellent option during transitional times in your life. If you’re moving, searching for the perfect location to buy or build, or saving up a nest egg, mobile home parks can offer a temporary oasis that just might tempt you into a permanent sanctuary.

5. Bang For Your Buck

Some of the most undeniable benefits of living in a mobile home park are what they offer for a fraction of the price compared to the alternatives.

• Traditional home mortgages aren’t an option for everyone.
• Renting single-family homes can cost upwards of twice what mobile home parks charge.
• Apartment rentals may be closer in price point but will have less square footage, fewer amenities, louder neighbors, and may not be in the best end of town.

Mobile home parks give you all the benefits of single-family living without the tedious financial burden.

6. Upgrades

Factory-built homes are constantly at the forefront of manufacturing advances like energy efficiency, better building materials, and more stylish designs. From plumbing to insulation and cooling to appliances, the way mobile homes are built allows manufacturers to test and perfect upgrades that are usually ahead of stick-built competitors.

7. Rent To Own

Many mobile home communities offer a program called rent to own where your monthly payment goes toward paying off your house. This makes mobile home parks a fantastic way for people struggling with credit issues or saving up for a down payment to work toward homeownership.

8. Amenities

Mobile home parks come loaded with perks and amenities not available to most homeowners outside of a fancy country club. Pets, parks, pools, tennis courts, golf courses, fitness centers, and community-organized events are just some of the benefits available at many mobile home parks across the country.

9. Seasonal Use

Families seeking seasonal housing solutions find mobile home parks a cost-effective and easy-to-maintain way to visit relatives temporarily, enjoy hunting seasons, or migrate to warmer climates.

10. Homeowner Control

If you’re looking for autonomous living and the ability to control your property like it’s truly your own, mobile home parks are the way to go. Most mobile home parks allow their occupants the independence to upgrade, paint, and remodel their space at their own discretion.

When it comes to investing in your future, mobile homes and mobile home parks are one of the smartest, savviest choices you can make.

Whether you’re still saving for your goals or ready to bask in the benefits of homeownership without the financial strain, mobile home parks are ready to welcome you home.

Choose your happily ever after and live your luxury at a mobile home park today. Remember to choose smart to live happy!

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While we can’t predict everything life will throw at us, the more we plan for and the more we’re ready for, the better off we will be.

Mobile home insurance helps prepare you to live your best life, no matter what happens.

What Is Mobile Home Insurance?

Whether you’re insuring your life, health, or home, having insurance provides financial protection for the future.

When it comes to insuring your place of residence, mobile home insurance is very similar to standard homeowners insurance. They both give you a defensive financial plan and assistance from an insurance company in case something goes wrong. Both also offer customizable policies with coverage crafted to your specific needs. Mobile home insurance just takes into consideration the special and different circumstances of having a home built on a towable chassis.

Here are a few quick facts about mobile home insurance.

• According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development any factory-built home made before June 1976 is a “mobile home” and those made after are a “manufactured home”.
• For the insurance industry the term “mobile home insurance” covers any factory-built home regardless of the year.
• Mobile home insurance isn’t legally required, but it may be one of the requirements from your financers, landlord, or community.

Let’s dig a little deeper into mobile home insurance policies and what to expect when you’re preparing for the unexpected.

How Does Mobile Home Insurance Work?

A mobile home insurance policy protects you, your loved ones, and your possessions from covered dangers and losses. While every policy varies, typical mobile home insurance coverage includes:

• dwelling (replacing or repairing the structure)
• personal property (replacing or repairing your belongings)
• liability (paying out if a visitor is hurt on your property and sues)

When a crisis strikes, your insurance company is your financial and emotional backing. They have agents trained and ready to assist you when you need help the most.

Each company will have different qualifications, coverages, named vs open perils, and loss replacements. Finding the right one can feel intimidating.

So here’s a breakdown of 3 of the best mobile home insurers on the market in 2023.

Top 3 Companies for Insuring Your Mobile Home

Finding a mobile home insurance policy that best suits you means looking at more than just the costs.

These 3 companies offer some of the best advantages and most compassionate, comprehensive policies for insuring your mobile home:

1. Foremost (part of Farmers Insurance Group)

With their robust range of add-on coverage, willingness to overlook credit issues, and an impressive selection of discounts you can’t do much better than Foremost. They are one of the biggest mobile home insurance providers in the country. You can tailor-pick your policy coverage to include replacing spoiled food, removing debris, paying locksmiths, or helping with transitional living expenses. Foremost has superior ratings in financial strength, J.D. Power Claims Service, and Customer Support. They are endorsed by the AARP and offer a variety of accessible discounts.

2. Progressive

If a mobile home is your first homeowner’s experience, Progressive has discounts galore ready for you. Backed by one of the largest insurance companies in the country, Progressive’s attractive bundling, easy online application, and mobile app make it a convenient and comprehensive way to get excellent coverage for your mobile home and all your belongings.

3. American Modern

If your mobile home is older, seasonal, or sometimes vacant then this is the coverage for you. As one of the first insurers specifically for mobile homes, American Modern Insurance Group has the specialty coverage and flexible payment options mobile homeowners need. With standard coverage for named perils like fire, wind, and lightning and a huge selection of optional coverage to extend your needs and replace your losses, American Modern knows mobile homes.

Are You Ready for Anything?

No matter which company feels like the best fit for your needs, you need to consider the consequences of not having mobile home insurance.

Mobile homes like every home are susceptible to theft, vandalism, and accidents, but mobile homes are much more vulnerable to weather and storm damage. Nobody likes to think about worst-case scenarios, but everybody needs to prepare for them.

Without mobile home insurance when something bad happens you will be:

• Legally obligated to pay out of pocket for all medical and legal expenses originating on your property
• Solely responsible for the cost of replacing all of your furniture, electronics, food, books, clothes, and more
• Required to pay construction costs to get your mobile home back up to code
• Left without a place to live
• Struggling alone when you didn’t have to be

Don’t risk losing your home, your belongings, your savings, and your sanity when disaster strikes.

Prepare yourself now by getting a mobile home insurance policy. Plan for the worst so you can live your best, no matter what!

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Everyone likes to feel safe.

Safety isn’t just about warm fuzzies, it’s a basic human need. Feeling safe is a prerequisite on the way to learning, love, and personal growth. A family home with a strong sense of security will protect you long after you move out of its walls.

Consider your home security like a DIY ice cream sundae bar. There are a lot of options for you to choose from and you’re going to have to make some decisions. There’s also nothing wrong with walking away with a single scoop, whipped cream, and a cherry.

Let this checklist help you increase the security of your mobile home!

Bare Minimum Boundaries

Start by thinking about the level of protection you want. Maybe you’ve always comfortably relied on locks and bolts or can’t feel safe without security cameras outside. The home protection industry has products, companies, and solutions to fit every size budget, home, and family. Knowing your basic goals and boundaries will guide your research and help you compare options more effectively.

Sorting Through Security Systems and Solutions

Shopping for a security system can be overwhelming. It’s a broad and deep market with a lot of variety and innovation. Despite all the options available, pretty much every product on the market can be sorted into three groups:

1. Professionally Monitored

• One-stop shopping
• 24/7 monitoring and protection
• Expert-chosen devices, gapless coverage and customer service

2. Smart Home/Device Monitored

• All devices are connected to each other through your home internet
• Includes basic security devices like door locks, smoke alarms, security cameras
• Ties in other automation and environmental controls like lights, appliances, windows, temperature, audio, and more

3. Self-Monitored/Hybrid

• Simple solutions from tried-and-true hardware or devices
• Install, maintain and monitor yourself (or with an app)
• No-tech options provide privacy and security without electricity or internet access
• Low-tech options like security cameras supply better monitoring and are easily managed with the tech skill of the average homeowner

Basic Safety Habits

Increase your mobile home security by implementing just a few preventative and proactive measures. These are practices that should be put in place every single day and become part of your regular home routine.

Keeping What’s Inside Safe

Keeping your family safe inside your mobile home is all about planning. Review escape routes and drills with your kids. Talk about family rules for answering the door. Check and change the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors regularly. Keep a fire extinguisher in your kitchen and at least one other place like a bathroom or hall closet. Store valuables in a safe or lock box not easily seen.

Keeping What’s Outside Out

If the exterior of your mobile home features lights, locks, and looks like it’s cared for it will be less welcoming to predators. Keep tools, ladders, and bikes locked up and stored out of sight if possible. Close and lock doors and windows at night. Leave an outside light on at night. Use motion sensors. Clearly display your address to help law enforcement locate and identify your home quickly in times of need. These no-frills safety practices are quick, straightforward ways you can provide more reliable protection for your mobile home.

Access Points

Whether you’re trying to keep someone out or they’re trying to get in the focus is access points. These points of entry are also points of weakness. Add extra protection and monitoring in these areas to discourage criminals.

Doors

Use deadbolts and security plates/bars in addition to the knob and keylock. If your mobile home has an outward swinging door install door lock hinge protectors to prevent tampering. Video doorbells or security cameras are a great preventative measure and source of information in case something goes wrong.

Windows

Don’t leave valuables lying around and easily visible to people outside. Using security grills or security film will make it harder for criminals to break into your home. Contact alarms are surprisingly cheap, and their shrill surprise should send intruders running.

Home Safe Home

Keeping your mobile home and family safe is a big responsibility. It should be intimidating to intruders but not to you. Knowing your bare minimums and your personal preferences will help you narrow down products on the market.

Lights, locks, and looks are the most effective countermeasures against burglaries. Practicing safe habits can bring peace of mind and confidence to your mobile home’s sense of security. And no matter how you choose to build your DIY sundae, there will be pleasing results.

Whether you’re an app-loving techie or are only hardcore hardware it’s easy to build a strong sense of security in your mobile home and protect what matters to you most for the future.

Your security system isn’t defined by the products you buy, so much as it is on the steps you take and measures you put in place to feel safe. You can’t really choose wrong; you just choose what you like. So will your sundae have chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ice cream?

While digital nomads may choose to live in a recreational vehicle and tour the country, most people are left with only three options: traditional homes, apartments, and mobile homes.

If a traditional home (whether house or apartment) isn’t the right option for you, you’ll have to choose between renting or buying a mobile home.

So the question is, which is the better option?

Both have their pros and cons. It will boil down to your unique needs, habits and circumstances. To help you make an informed decision, we’ll briefly go over the pros and cons of each option.

Pros of Renting a House/Apartment

Flexibility and Freedom

Job offer in another city? You can easily move whenever you want.

Better still, no house to sell before leaving, so you can move as soon as possible. Plus, there’s less hassle in renting as opposed to buying and moving a mobile home.

Less Maintenance

A lack of maintenance makes renting the more attractive option to most people. When you buy a mobile home, any repairs and upgrades become your responsibility. In an apartment, however, repairs and any maintenance cost you nothing. The landlord bears the cost.

No Property Taxes

The beauty of renting is that you don’t get the property tax bill. In some cases, the landlord may still pass part of this cost on to you, which looks as a con. However if this is the case, anyways it will be a benefit for you because you would pay only a portion of the taxes, which is significantly lower than what you’d pay if you owned the property.

Cons of Renting a House/Apartment

Doesn’t Build Equity

Perhaps the biggest downside to renting is that it doesn’t build equity. Your rental payments end up building up your landlord’s wealth, not yours. If you are a person that believes that renting is throwing away your money, this is not an option for you.

Rent Can Increase

Some landlords are notorious for increasing rent at will, and you won’t know how much you’ll pay in a year or two until that time comes. Sometimes, rent increases can be caused by external factors such as inflation and economic instability.

Can’t Modify the Property Without the Owner’s Consent

Want to replace marble with granite in the kitchen? Or perhaps add a jacuzzi in your bathroom? The owner will have the final say. In a mobile home, however, you own the property and can undertake any renovation or remodeling project that adds value to the property.

Pros of Buying a Mobile Home

Lower Costs

Buying a mobile home is a more affordable alternative to homeownership. Since they’re manufactured in factories, mobile homes usually cost less than conventional rental properties for sale. You can find a brand-new manufactured home for under $80,000.

While the upfront costs of acquiring a mobile home are quite high compared to renting an apartment, mobile homes are cost-effective in the long run.

You Build Equity

Equity is among the top reasons to buy a mobile home as opposed to renting. When you take care of your property and pay your mortgage on time, it builds equity. In contrast, your monthly rent payments go into your landlord’s pocket and don’t build wealth for you.

Flexibility

As the name implies, mobile homes are “mobile,” or in other words, easily movable. Don’t like your neighborhood? You can hire a contractor to move your home somewhere else.

You Can Make It Your Own

When you buy a mobile home, you make it your own. You can make any modifications you want—repaint it, partition the property, add a jacuzzi, etc.—without consent from anyone.

In contrast, if you rent an apartment, you may have to live with whatever carpet, paint, and finishes the landlord chooses.

Greater Sense of Privacy

In an apartment, tenants usually share walls. You may have to contend with all sorts of noises—quarrels, music, babies crying at night—from neighboring apartments. In a mobile home, you get your own space and can enjoy greater privacy.

Cons of Buying a Mobile Home

Need to Buy Land

You might have to incur the cost of buying land on which your mobile home will be placed. The alternative is to look for a space in a park, which can be difficult to find.

Quick Depreciation

Mobile homes usually depreciate faster than traditional homes. While this can be good news from a tax perspective, it negatively impacts your home’s value.

Negative Stigma

Mobile homes are associated with misguided stereotypes that make them a less attractive option. Some people see them as housing options for the poor, while others deem them “dangerous” and unstable.

Should You Rent or Buy a Mobile Home?

Although money plays a critical role in determining whether to rent an apartment or buy a mobile home, it’s not just about money. There are many other factors to consider, including your lifestyle, career goals, privacy needs, and how long you plan to live in a certain location.

If you have enough upfront costs and are looking for an affordable alternative to homeownership, a mobile home is a great choice. But if you move a lot and don’t have enough cash to buy a mobile home, renting is your only option.

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When the scales tilt in your favor it’s a good thing, but if your mobile home is tilting instead it’s time for releveling.

Professional companies charge anywhere from $500-1500 to re-level a mobile home. Yet with just a few tools and these five helpful tips, most homeowners should be able to tackle this project in one, affordable weekend.

1. Know What You Are Looking For

Mobile homes can become unlevel for many reasons. Usually, moisture and mother nature are to blame. The wetter your climate is, the more prone your home is to ground erosion, shifting, sinking, and damage to wood and wedges.

Here are a few telltale signs it’s time to relevel your mobile home:

• Doors and windows won’t shut completely.
• Cabinet doors don’t open/close smoothly.
• Ceilings, floors, or walls have cracks.                    
• Roof shingles and sidings are buckled.

If you’ve noticed any of these, it’s important to get your home leveled out again as soon as possible to avoid costly consequences in the future.

2. Know When to Look

Mobile homes should be checked for level 90 days after installation, annually at the beginning of summer, after renovations, and after any severe weather.

The longer your home remains unlevel the more likely you are to incur water damage, increased heating/cooling costs, and undue, uneven stress on the piers holding up your home.

3. Know What You Are Working With

The main tools you’ll need are a water level and one or two, 20-ton hydraulic bottle jacks. You’ll also want to-code materials for rebuilding your piers such as pressure-treated wood, wooden wedges, and the appropriate concrete blocks.

DIY Affordable Water Level

A homemade water level is the best money-saving tip for this project. Many DIY-ers drill and seal a barbed plumbing fitting into the bottom of a large container, but for an even more affordable route, skip all that!

Essentially all you need is a 50-100 foot length of wide-diameter aquarium tubing and a large, empty container. Anything from a milk jug to a 5-gallon bucket works.

Fill the container with water and add some food coloring or Kool-Aid packets to make it easier to see. Wrap the aquarium tubing around the handle so it stays put and stick one end of the tubing all the way to the bottom of the container. You can weigh it down or tape it to the sides if you choose. Give a couple of long draws on the other end of the tubing and water will siphon into it.

Helpful Extra Ideas When Leveling

Since you’re going to be crawling, lying, and scooting around under your home, here are a few extra ideas to make your life easier while you’re down there. Use a pencil to cap the end of the tubing. You don’t want any air bubbles or any water to spill out. Using a pencil will prevent leaks and will make it extra easy to mark levels on your piers as you go.

Another handy tip is to attach a magnet to the end of your tubing. That way you can stick it on the metal frame as you measure. It will keep the dirt out, the water in, and keep both your hands free while you’re working.

4. What You Are Ready To Do

Now you’ve got your tools, it’s time to do the “dirty” work.

• Start at the highest point under your home.
• Set up your water level container somewhere so that the line of the water is even to the base of your metal at your tallest pier.
• Run the tubing of your water level to each pier, uncap the end, and hold it up (or stick it on your frame with that handy magnet!).
• Let the water line settle and mark where “level” is on each pier.
• Use wood blocks to form a solid base to set up your bottle jack/s and jack up the metal frame under each that needs adjusting.
• Lift the frame enough to allow you room to remove, replace, or replenish materials as needed to rebuild each pier to your level line.

You won’t need to do the two last steps on every pier, but you will need to use your water level to check them all to find the highest starting point and to note which ones will need adjustment.

5. What You Don’t Want To Forget

After crawling under your house with tools and making level adjustments it’s a good idea to check on your sewer pipes. Their placement is crucial for maintaining proper drainage and keeping your home up to code. While it’s unlikely your releveling threw them out of alignment, that’s a messy complication worth avoiding.

Checking will only take a few extra minutes and no extra dollars. Inspect each pipe, connection, and all the straps to make sure everything is still securely in place. It’s also a good idea to verify your drainage is still at the appropriate grade so that everything flows the way it’s supposed to. Typically sewer pipes should be on a 3% downgrade but check with your local community to be sure.

Always prioritize safety. This project is best if it’s done with a buddy around and if any techniques sound too complicated make sure you consult a contractor or licensed professional.

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