I’d Rather Own 4 Mobile Homes Than 1 House—Here’s Why

If you had $100,000 today, would you buy one single-family home or multiple mobile homes? Now listen, I know majority of people will say, oh, I'll buy traditional real estate because it has equity value, it appreciates. But what if you could buy 4 cash-flowing assets with that same $100,000? Well, stay tuned. I'm going to talk to you about traditional real estate investing, Versus mobile home investing. So now, let's say we have $100,000. And with $100,000, we know on this particular 3-bedroom, 2-bath single-family home, we can rent it for maybe $2,500 a month, and the mortgage is going to be $1,900 a month. You're going to cash flow $600 a month. Now, for me, back in 2020, that's exactly what I was aiming for. $600 a month times 12, that's about $7,200 per year, if I'm not mistaken. Right. That sounded good to me back then, but then I found out about mobile homes. Now let's say you have that same $100,000 and you buy 4 cash-flowing assets. Now with the 4 cash-flowing assets, you're going to rent them for $1,300 apiece, but you do have lot rent. And since you do have lot rent, let's say the lot rent It's $600 a month. So now with those 4 properties, you're making $700 a month per property. I ain't the smartest person in the world, but I believe that's $2,800 a month. So now with your traditional home, we were at $600 a month. Well, now we're at $2,800 a month. Well, $2,800 a month times 12 months. Hold on, let me get the calculator. So with our traditional rental, we was getting $7,200, um, a year. With our mobile home at $2,100, $2,800 a month, that's $33,000 a year. Do you see the difference Between traditional real estate and mobile home investing. Oh, but that's not enough for you? But stay tuned, there's more. But I'm not done yet. So I showed you the numbers, right? Now with those same little 4 properties, let's talk about the cost of what it is to acquire these mobile homes. I said 4 mobile homes at $25,000 apiece because typically right now With purchase price and everything for my mobile homes, I'm spending about $20,000 to $22,000 apiece. I wanted to do odd numbers. That's why I said $25,000. Now, with that $25,000 apiece, that is me purchasing the home, moving the home, rehabbing the home inside and out, building the decks, pulling my permits, doing everything to make it move-in ready. When you think about the cost of traditional real estate, guess what you're doing? You have to have money for the purchase price, money for the down payment. You have to have money for due diligence. Due diligence can include inspections, appraisals, surveys, paying the attorney, paying the title fees. With mobile homes, y'all, The title fees is the transfer at the DMV. They're personal property. So typically title transfer fees in the state of North Carolina is going from anywhere from, let's say, $70 to $150, right? That is the transfer fee. So even if we're looking now at the property tax, well, I just got the taxes on one of my houses. Well, the taxes for that house For 12 months is over $1,300. I just got a tax bill for one of my mobile homes. Matter of fact, let me show it to you. Let's get into it. Let's get into it. Let's talk about these taxes. Keith, can you zoom in on my paper? Do you see this? This is for a double-wide mobile home that I own in Person County. You see that? It is $410.55 due January 5th, 2027. So I know that's my birthday. Okay. February— $410.55 for the year for this double-wide mobile home that I make $1,400 a month on, not including the lot rent that I pay, which is $350. Okay, so taxes, that's not an issue for us when it comes to, uh, mobile home investing. Well, now I can see people now ready to argue with me in the comments. The maintenance, the maintenance costs on a mobile home is terrible. They deteriorate, they fall apart like dust. Y'all, when it comes to maintenance, as long as you are purchasing the right material, meaning making sure that you're putting money into the structural, the structural aspect of the home versus the aesthetics, your mobile home will be fine. The oldest mobile home I've ever purchased was a 1977, and she is still standing strong, and she is still being rented out. Okay, one of the best mobile homes that I have. All right, so make sure when it comes to maintenance you're spending money on structural items, such as don't go cheap on flooring. Don't go cheap on your roof. Don't go cheap on HVAC systems, making sure you get those serviced. That is what I mean when I say the structural, the bigger mechanics, making sure you're paying properly for it. I could care less about a backsplash. I could care less about appliances. You can get them from cheap at scratch and dent. Okay, so make sure when it comes to maintenance, you are adequately spending. Now let's get into tenant turnover. I don't have a lot of tenants. Like I told you all previously, in the 6 years I've been doing this, I've had 2 evictions. Why? Because I'm making sure I'm vetting people properly. And 2, it's affordable housing. Where else in 2026 can you get a 3-bedroom, 2-bath rental? For $1,300 a month. I'm not having a lot of turnover because I provide affordable housing. And then last but not least, people always talk about the risks. Well, you always talk about the positives to the investing. What are the risks? Well, I'll speak on the risk of mobile home investing. I really feel the risk that I see a lot of people run into Is budgeting, park issues, and I would say vacancies. And here's what I mean. When you are flipping these properties, although they cost less than flipping a traditional home, you want to make sure that you don't go over budget spending on your rehab. So, so although I'm spending less than $25,000 for one mobile home, that doesn't mean that I will buy high-end light fixtures or a fancy backsplash. Absolutely not. Do not go over budget. That is a risk that I see people do all the time. They spend all of this money on a mobile home, they overspend, and then they try to rent it out for $2,800, $2,900 a month. That's not how this works. And trust me, I have seen it, right? I have seen it. I've seen it. You want to make sure that your house is clean, safe, and affordable. You want to do some upgrades, it's fine, but the more you spend, the less you earn. The second risk that comes with mobile home investing, guess what that is? The park. So a lot of my rentals are in mobile home parks, and I do own some with land, but at first I was just a mobile home investor that only invested inside of mobile home parks because I couldn't afford the land. So that means if I'm investing in somebody's park, I need to get permission. Just because you're buying the mobile home, it is not your land. So you need to get permission to be there. You need to get permission to find out what are the requirements for the park. They may ask that you have a certain type of vinyl on the outside of the home or a certain type of porch. Don't go buying a property If it's in a park without talking to the park first. Some parks are not investor-friendly, and guess what? That's fine. That's just not the rental for you. Don't try to sneak. Don't try to do anything backdoor-ish. Trust me, I have seen it all. I don't want you all to try to do something that will hinder you getting the home sold or rented out. Because remember, once you get done, Now it's going to be time to get it sold and you want it approved by the park, or it may be time to get it rented and they're going to have to approve your renters. And that's one issue you don't want to have as a park manager or park owner blocking your potential tenant. The last thing I could say is vacancies. Be prepared when you are setting the timeline to fix your mobile home that you've allotted enough time that it includes the lot rent. I have some students on the West Coast. The West Coast lot rent is not the same as the East Coast lot rent. The highest lot rent that I'm paying right now is about $600. I have students on the West Coast, they're paying at least $1,200 lot rent, right? That just means that the rent over there is going to be higher, but they are still doing very well, 6-figure earners in mobile home investing. That being said, you guys, I need you to make sure that if you have planned and met with your handyman to allot 6 weeks to get this work done, mistakes, injuries, life is going to happen. Plan for 3 months of lot rent. Plan for 4 months of lot rent because you never know what's going to happen and you want to make sure that you have a backup plan for the backup plan. I will always prepare to make sure that I have enough funds so that I'm not stuck, and I would want you all to do the same. With that being said, if this information has been helpful to you all, I want you all to know right now I am doing a free trial to my school community. I am live in my school community 3 times a week, and that 3 times a week, not only am I teaching, I'm giving homework. I have courses inside my school community, and I would like for you to sign up to come try it out for free so you can take the next step into closing your first mobile home.