Can This Trailer Be Saved?

[Samurai Jane]

I found a 1973 one-owner mobile home for $2000. It's a bit rag-tag and has a couple of holes in the floor, and a couple of small water stains from roof leaks. It was also vacant for 17 years and smells musty.

Anyone had experience with rehabbing a trailer? I imagine I can patch the floor and the roof by myself. Could there be anything else horrendous waiting to surprise me? I'm only considering it for quick & temporary quarters until I get an underground house built.

[dreadstalker]

Vacant 17 years, you are looking at a complete overhaul of the plumbing as dollars to donuts the lines weren't blown out. Which will also mean a new insulation sheet for the belly.
For that matter the bottom sill plate will need looked at.

[HouseWolf]

I found a 1973 one-owner mobile home for $2000. It's a bit rag-tag and has a couple of holes in the floor, and a couple of small water stains from roof leaks. It was also vacant for 17 years and smells musty.

Anyone had experience with rehabbing a trailer? I imagine I can patch the floor and the roof by myself. Could there be anything else horrendous waiting to surprise me? I'm only considering it for quick & temporary quarters until I get an underground house built.

I assume , when you say Mobile home you mean a trailer.. With wheels.

If so-

Don't do it.

$200? maybe. $2000? NO WAY! 73? Book on the thing is likely $0., So resale is not worth considering....

You'll need a minimum of $2000 to repair it. Possibilities for problems are endless if its been leaking, including the possibility that its a basket case.

Take it from someone who has re-habbed a couple, offer $50. (only if you're sure you're up to the task).

Otherwise, Pass.

[Samurai Jane]

Okay, thanks! I better pass this one by.

[Belle]

I was going to say 'pass', too. With having had leaks in the roof, there's a likelihood of mold in the wall insulation. (guess how I know)

[just me]

$2000 will go a long way towards a much newer RV in much better condition. You might want to look at 5th wheel RVs for your temporary home. Most are pretty comfortable and can be lived in year round. Once you have your house built, you could either sell it or make it the guest house.

Our first 5th wheel was 10 years old and in excellent shape and probably still is. (We sold it - big mistake).

[ovendoctor]

we picked up a 1983 shasta 5er for 2900.00

everything works

needed a little wood working but its ready to roll [the BOV]

keep looking there are good deals out there

[Samurai Jane]

I have been looking at RVs. How expensive is heating them in the winter?

[momof23goats]

well, that depend on the part of the country your in. I was watching a local rv show on TV, and they stated that none of them are up to it here in michigan. probably because of the amount of snow and wind we get.

[Freeholder]

One of my brothers lived for a couple of years in an old 18' travel trailer in Tok, Alaska, one of the three coldest inhabited spots in North America (and the other two are within a couple hundred miles of there). He didn't have it skirted, either, as far as I remember (he moved it a couple of times). It only had the propane heater it came with. Temps there can, and do, and did while he was living in it, get down to minus seventy F. There were times when anything below counter-top level froze, and there would be ice on the top of a glass of water sitting on the counter. But he had a good sleeping bag, and some blankets, and managed all right. In a warmer climate, it wouldn't be too bad.

My mother and step-father lived for probably twenty years or so in travel trailers in Eastern Oregon -- it can get down to thirty below (and did while they were living that way). My step-father has a phobia about using the propane furnaces, and they didn't have electricity on any of the land they were living on. So they spent several winters in OLD travel trailers with NO heat. Finally they got enough income coming in to go down to Arizona for the winters (which still got cold, just not quite as cold). They survived, too. Dress warmly, have good warm bedding, and you'll manage (just try to keep your canned goods from freezing). (Mom is VERY thankful that they are now living in a nice big new manufactured home with electricity, running water, and HEAT!!!)

Kathleen

[Wildflower]

My brothers & I rehabed one for my parents. My Mom came home one day & announced she had bought a trailor for only $50. She liked it because it was on a lake & could stay there for small rent. Well, the termites had already come & gone, It was dark & ugley & the kitchen & bath had "pink" fixtures(that should tell you how old it was). The nice thing about a trailor is that it is just a big tin box. We gutted the walls & replaced part of the floor. With a little walboard & paint & a new kitchen & bath it looked pretty good. If we had to pay to have it done, it would have cost a fortune but we did most of it ourselves & used recycled materials whenever possible. The important thing is my parents are happy & Mom still brags she bought it for only $50.

[Samurai Jane]

My brothers & I rehabed one for my parents. My Mom came home one day & announced she had bought a trailor for only $50. She liked it because it was on a lake & could stay there for small rent. Well, the termites had already come & gone, It was dark & ugley & the kitchen & bath had "pink" fixtures(that should tell you how old it was). The nice thing about a trailor is that it is just a big tin box. We gutted the walls & replaced part of the floor. With a little walboard & paint & a new kitchen & bath it looked pretty good. If we had to pay to have it done, it would have cost a fortune but we did most of it ourselves & used recycled materials whenever possible. The important thing is my parents are happy & Mom still brags she bought it for only $50.
That would work for me IF these were "normal" times and I had a few brothers to help out.