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Mobile Homes Are So Expensive Now, Hurricane Victims Can't Afford Them (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Hurricane victims emerging from ravaged trailer parks are discovering that the U.S. mobile-home market has left them behind. In Florida and Texas, dealerships are swarmed by buyers looking to rebuild their lives after hurricanes Harvey and Irma, but many leave disappointed. The industry, led by Warren Buffett's Clayton Homes, is peddling such pricey interior-designer touches as breakfast bars and his-and-her bathroom sinks. These extras, plus manufacturers' increased costs for labor and materials, have pushed average prices for new double-wides up more than 20 percent in five years, putting them out of reach for many of the newly homeless.
New mobile homes are for idiots. A house should not depreciate like a car. Rent for a 1000 square foot 'lot' should not run to hundreds/month.
Anybody thinking of going there, should buy bare land and shed to live in until they can afford to build a house. Mobile homes are built like sheds anyhow.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
The signal is still there; there is still motivation for someone, eventually, to undercut those colluders.
On top of this, the market reacts to the signal in other ways; people start marketing healthy meals and exercise programs, so as to reduce the incidence of adult-onset diabetes, etc. The culture begins to change.
This evolution by variation (supplier competition) and selection (consumer choice) is the "Invisible Hand".
We don't need no stinkin' Intelligent Designer.
Good few people have made homes out of shipping containers. Of course, they cut holes for windows, add hinges so the steel can be shuttered, and many add wood or brick panels to the outside to give it a more architectural look.
https://www.containerhomeplans...
There was that guy who built his own nuclear bomb shelter out of old school buses, That's pretty cool idea to build a tornado shelter on the cheap - just excavate a ramp plus hole, lower down a container/old bus, then build on top of it.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
The low-end models are still there, as always. More expensive models are also available, which increases the AVERAGE price.
The manufacturers haven't abandoned their primary market, people who are broke because they have don't think long-term, so they do things like spend a ton of money on something that falls apart in a few years rather than putting 10% down on a house which will go up in value.
OP here. Yes, you got it in one. Fixtures and fittings. The difference is pretty stark between the two. Were I in the market, I would opt for the $45,000 basic double wide.
Mod parent up! All the apologists pointing out that the mobile homes haven't become more expensive when adjusted for inflation are right, but they're wrong about the root of the problem.
Seems like we're ready for the living arrangements from Ready Player One, perhaps earlier than expected...how long until we need Terrafoam?
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Insulin is cheap to make. You can do it with less than $100k of equipment bought new or slightly used. Insulin can be produced using bacteria grown in bioreactors â" and they have a good yield. Iâ(TM)ve seen it being made, and understand the entire process. The problem really is the market entry requirements.
The microprocessors being used in computers today are much more advanced and require far more capital intensive manufacturing equipment than what was used 2 decades ago â" yet the cost has reduced. There is even a DIY Open Insulin project of people making their own insulin. The insulin we have today has changed only slightly over the years (donâ(TM)t buy any BS that itâ(TM)s dramatically better), but the cost has skyrocketed. Obviously some nefarious force other than laissez faire competition is at work.