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Lifespan of a mobile home is estimated at 30-55 years depending on area and on how much upkeep the owner does. There's also a huge stigma around living in a mobile home, and serious logistics involved in hauling the mobile home to its final destination as it has to be delivered in one or two pieces on a long flatbed trailer.



It's also worth noting that the resale value of a mobile home is next to nothing, due to that stigma. Nobody wants a mobile home if they can avoid it, and even fewer want a used mobile home. One of the main benefits of owning your home is acquiring a valuable asset, but without the hope of resale, it's nothing but a money drain.


I've also seen something years ago where a house is made from components that come from a manufacturing facility -- each one can be hauled in on a flatbed. But when they are all assembled, the result really looks and functions like a regular house.


Those are modular homes. And they can be just as well-built as traditional "stick-built" homes. The base pricing on them is really attractive, but the cost (and value) is in all the options.

Part of what makes them attractive is that the assembly on your lot goes really quickly, so the chance of exposure to damaging weather (and thieves/vandals) goes way down compared to traditional homes.


They are starting to do this with commercial buildings. They pre-fab the apartments off-site and then "place" then in the building shell. Not sure how popular it will be but it is something people are considering.




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