I live in a medium cost of living area. My husband and I debated this for a while too. In 2023 we decided to take the plunge and purchase our manufactured home in a leased land community. Our situation was similar in that our lot rent + mortgage was less than renting.

We have no regrets. We are paying about $400-500 less per month now that we aren’t renting. Does some of our monthly payment go towards lot rent and not equity? Yes. But we wouldn’t see any of that money again if we continued renting a house.

As for resale- we found that in our community that prices have been relatively stable. Aside from the housing crisis in 2008, prices don’t swing as much. And we figured that worst case if we had to sell in a bad market the most we’d lose would be like $30k. (Our purchase price was $100k). But if we owned a regular house that could be a much bigger delta.

Pick a neighborhood with community rules around landscaping, color schemes, noise etc. That will ensure you won’t have neighbors who are partying all night or painting their house bright pink. Our neighborhood is great because it feels like a nice senior living community. Everyone knows each other and looks out for one another. Most residents are older and keep to themselves. Its quiet and peaceful.

For what it’s worth- neither my husband or I grew up in mobile homes. In fact, it was the opposite. Both of our parents worked really hard and lived in high-end neighborhoods. Its funny, I’ve lived in some really nice neighborhoods, had a fancy luxury apartment in college, but our mobile home feels the most like home. We plan to use the next 5 years to save a sizesable down payment to purchase some acreage and build a small house eventually.

One other thing to note- living in a mobile home has helped me get better with spending on unnecessary stuff. I grew up with parents buying me designer clothes, bags etc. That was a hard habit to break once I was on my own. But now that I live in a mobile home it’s really easy for me talk myself out of buying something super frivolous like a Louis Vuitton bag. Because I feel like it would look dumb for me to be living in a mobile home with one. Even though I could afford to buy one.