Reading various posts here, I believe some are going to consider all manufactured, modular, mobile to be substandard and inadequate. I believe one should be happy wherever and in whatever one lives. The people make the home not the other way around.

Lizql, I agree with you. I call my place "my house" - it's probably a Double-Wide, but bolted to a permanent foundation, the contractor who did the foundation used four cement-trucks full of concrete for it, that puppy isn't going anywhere.
Not neccesarily correct that they depreciate, either. I pay regular property tax on mine and the 6 acres it sits on. In '84 when we developed the property, it was assessed at $95,000.-, this included improvements and outbuildings in a very rural area - could sell the whole passel now for close to half a million, and the new owner would most likely to keep the house.
Don't plan to sell, where would I go to find what I have?

You guys are VERY right that it doesn't matter what you have, it's still your home!

DH came home in the summer and was telling me about this new kid at work. He was talking about something and called someone "trailer trash". This other guy said he best watch what he says because J lives in a trailer. The kid looked at my DH and said, "But I thought you lived in a house?" And my DH replied with, "I do live in a trailer or mobile home or whatever it is but it's MY home so to me it's a house."

It's funny how everyone thinks trailers are small, too. Some of my rooms are way bigger than family members homes that have more square footage! And believe me, the day my Dad moved into his new house, I came home and actually thought my kid's rooms looked LARGE compared to theirs!

Regardles of what terms we all feel comfortable with we must face the fact that unless we "IMPROVE" our properties over time, they will never increase in value. I have a 5y/o Palm Harbor single-wide on 3+ acres and we are currently looking into what code requirements are in place in our County, to give it "built-home" status, this is usually additonal square footage as well as a permanent foundation done to the county codes in your area.

The reason behind this is "lenders" plain and simple. We cannot get mortage funding in the traditional way, since lenders are not interested in lending money for what they consider to be a financial risk. Being on the Gulf Coast also puts my home at greater risk for hurricaines, tornadoes, and high winds. (No damage of any kind from Ivan either and we were to make settlement the day After that one struck, not 50 miles away! You can only imagine what I pay in homeonwers insurance now!)

Now all the above being said, keep in mind sometime in the future You may want to borrow against equity in your home, for whatever, college for a child, more improvements, enlargements, a new roof, etc. People with site built and and modular homes have various rescourse for this but we, who choose to live in factory built homes, for whatever reason, are limited as to where to go for this type of funding.

As to rude remarks from uneducated people, I give them no merit at all. However I am ALSO a realist and know what is meant by "Trailer-Trash" as we all do. We all have seen those tiny run-down "trailer Parks" and the type of person that lives there does so because they can't afford anything better. You are only trash if you think you are and no one else's opinion should matter.

Sweets98
Mine IS small, lol...but then I knew that when I bought it and am making plans to enlarge soon. Will post pics when I can...