Trailer, MH or Manufactured?

[Yanita]

Way back when this site first began the first moderator "Tom" asked the question yearly...Tom is gone now, but in his memory I ask, and might I say not nearly as neat as he asked...

What do you call your home? Does it get on your last nerve when someone calls your home a trailer?

Give us your thoughts.

Yanita

[Harry]

Hi

I call mine "the fishing shack".

Trailer does not bother me....it is what it is.

I have this reverse snobbery thing. Others are struggling with mortgage payments while my cheap MH is paid for.

Harry

[TappanTrailer]

I generally call mine a mobile, however....

some phrases just call out for trailer:

"trailer trash" (this makes for a great theme party!) I had a trailer trash party when I lived in the singlewide I had, tons of fun! Maybe I'll be brave enough to post pictures of that someday.

"Queen of my doublewide trailer"

"trailer park" just has a certain nostalgia about it vs. "mobile park"

Tami

[Dean3]

"Trailer Court" is the phrase I heard growing up. I lived in one for a few years as a teen and during the premier year of My life(18yo)a trailer court was home base. All friends would visit Me there or they could go p!ss up a rope for all I cared.

Only with the internet has the term "mobile" become prevelant in My life,I use it out of respect for the folks that don't like "trailer",,but,,I have to wonder,,are they the same folks that if good fortune comes their way would distance themselves from Me and the lowly trailer court? There are plenty of ropes for those folks to p!ss up,,I won't miss them.

Do I sound too serious? Naaaa,just factual and resigned. You can find "royalty" in funny places and "scum" seems to grow well in ritzy places..

Dean

[Claudia]

Sometimes I call it my house that's small and moveable.

Harry I totally agree. My MH is paid for and my lot rent is cheap.

[Yanita]

Well I refer to my home as just that, a home, and friends refer to my home as a house!

I am not real keen on calling my home a trailer, NO, I am not a snob, and do not look down or any other way at someone that calls there home a trailer.

I have lived in a Trailer Park and a Mobile Home Community.

I love my antiquated doublewide. And yes Harry, I agree with you...I like my minimal mortgage payment vs the thousand dollar plus mortgages. I could of had one of those 3 years ago, but we opted for yet another MOBILE home. ROFLMAO!

Hey Tappan, that must of been one heck of a party...

Thankfully I friends from all income levels, and alot of good times have been had out in my back yard, including those that have homes valued well over the 500,000.00 mark.

Home is what you make of it...you can either keep it in good repair or you can have broken down vehicles, junk and trash scattered about...I have seen this with alot of stick built homes as well.

Yanita

[Greg]

Well, our "HOME" is paid off, so for the $240/ mo. lot rent in this economy we arn't going anywhere - willingly.
The term "Trailer" does indeed get on my nerves, but I will admit there are cases that the term does fit. Greg

[Teatime]

Oh, my, I HATE the term "trailer" and it has nothing to do with snobbery. It's simply inaccurate and a misnomer. I would venture that none of our homes could "trail" behind a pickup truck. That's what a trailer is -- either a travel "camper" or a conveyance for livestock or cargo. At least, that's what a trailer is in Texas. The term "trailer home" is rather popular around here and it gets on my nerves.

I mostly call my home a "house" or sometimes a manufactured home. Heh, when I was buying some things at Lowe's and said MH, a worker said, "Oh, they've got you trained for the new terminology!" I set him straight. My home isn't "mobile" unless there's a big crew, at least two semis, and a full set of plans to move it.

My stick-built home was just about 100 sq. ft. bigger. Both are ranch-style homes. If my MH was set on a concrete slab, no one would think of calling it a mobile home and lots of homes here are on piers, anyway.

I absolutely agree about the affordability factor. I paid cash for mine and own the land, too. It was a bank foreclosure and I got the whole property -- home, land, double carport, shed, and landscaping -- for $20/square foot of the home. I have no shortage of folks coming to visit and even staying here for vacation. It's attractive, comfortable, and I love living here. Can't get any better than that!

Our homes are pretty easy to update and decorate. Good taste, style, love and care make a house a home. You can't put a price tag on that! I've been in gorgeous homes that felt "cold" and not the least bit homey. I'd take my sweet home any day over a "showplace." The vibe there -- and the debt -- is enough to make one shiver! No thanks!

Julie

[Vintageliving]

To strangers, I say "my house". To others in the MHP, I say "house", or "trailer". To my SO, I say "house", "little house", "my little tin can", "my tin house". In referring to something at the house, I always say "at home", or that it's "in the house", etc.

If I needed something through a bank, insurance company, or similar, I would say "manufactured home".

A friend kindly reminded me, recently, of being proud of one's home and the saying, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

Thanks for the topic. It's interesting.

[Dean3]

Hmmm,this is beginning to sound like distinguishing between a house and a mansion.Supposedly a mansion is 16 rooms or more,,,that just sounds like a big ole house to Me,unless of course it is made of stone and marble. But I go with the flow to a point and have worked on a few "mansions".

My place still has the tounge for recieving a ball hitch,the wheels are under there and it could be rollin down the road a heckuva lot sooner than any house. It's a trailer house! LOL.

There is an issue for folks tho,that is *perception*..If folks refer to manu homes in any negative way then some value could be lost due to perception.If it is time to sell Your abode do You want folks calling it a "glorified trailer" when it looks and feels like a house? I think not.

How about this,no matter the foundation,if the steel frame-wheels-tounge are not present and the width is 33% or more of the length,,,then it is a house.

Oh yeah,and what about doghouses? Are they really just dog boxes with a roof? Since they "house" the dog,are they a house as long as a dog is inside but revert to a box as soon as the dog steps out?

This issue is confusticating me! I think I'm gonna go outside and contemplate the physics of melting snow,and,attempt to determine a lone water molecule's timeline for returning to this exact spot with it's travels powered only by nature,that would be easier than determining people's preferances for a word! ;D I *do* luv Ya All!

Dean

Oh Great Coffee Goddess,I implore Thee,,INVADE MY VEINS! Make Me whole again!

[texasprairierose]

My house is just short of 2000 square feet with a concrete porch and a covered concrete patio and concrete sidewalks all around it. Yes, it could be moved but not without a lot of headache. So like Teatime said, "My home isn't "mobile" unless there's a big crew, at least two semis, and a full set of plans to move it."

I hate the "T" word because of the stigma it has! I refer to my house as "house" unless we are at Lowe's or Home Depot buying "real" windows, doors, cabinets, etc., and then refer to it as a modular or mobile home because the salesperson usually doesn't understand why we have to special order those items instead of just buying them off the shelf.

What irritates me the most is the discrimination that comes along with living in a mobile home. Many of the heating/cooling and plumbing companies in my town refuse to work on mobile homes, or as they call them "trailers". Several years ago the fan on our air conditioner went out in the middle of the summer and it was four days before we could get a company out to work on it. One company called and said that a tech was on his way and then immediately called back and asked, "Is this a trailer house?" I said, "Well, it is a double wide mobile home." They said, "Oh, we don't work on trailer houses." Another company that we have used for years came out and said that our entire unit had gone out and so they gave us a quote for a complete unit. I said to the tech, "I am surprised that y'all work on mobile homes." He said, "We don't. The only thing that saved y'all was that you have been a customer for so long." I asked him that if we bought from them, would they service the unit. He said, "I don't know. I would have to check with my boss." I looked at my husband and said, "We're not buying from them. If our money is good enough for them now, then it darn well better be good enough for them when we need service." The funny thing is, when the tech walked into our house he said, "Wow! This is a nice house...it is nicer than most HOUSES I go into!" Yet we are considered "trailer trash"?

Unfortunately, it is those people that don't take pride in their houses (trailer, mobile home or modular) that gives us a bad rap. Someone told me just recently, "Trailer trash" comes from an entitlement, victim attitude, not the type of house you live in. I've seen "trailer trash" in million-dollar homes."

Our house and land (seven acres) are paid off! People that are my age (45) have told me that their (stick built) house will never be paid off in their lifetime! And I know others that can't afford to furnish their stick built house because every dime they make goes to pay their $2,000 (or more) a month mortgage. No thank you...I will keep my paid off "trailer house"!!

Diane

[Mary and Griffin]

I call it "my house" and I call my shed in the back "my garage".
It does annoy me when utility guys call it a trailer, but I don't care. After paying $700 a month for rent in an apartment complex with nosy neighbors, I'm thrilled to have my own house (even though I don't own the land). It's an old one and I'm working on it, but it's MINE! Nobody can take that away from me.

[Teatime]

Diane/TexasPrairieRose,
I'm so sorry you're having trouble finding technicians for your MH! I haven't had that problem, and hope I won't in the future! Maybe it's because I bought a foreclosed home and, since I got such a great deal, I decided to buy a home warranty for it. Heh, I used that warranty, too -- every odd noise or itty bitty thing found me calling them and they sent really good technicians promptly. So, for anything I've needed done, like AC checkups, I've continued to use those technicians. Whereabouts are you in Texas?

There's a very good MH contractor here I can always call if I need something done. I upgraded my skirting and had the house re-leveled shortly after I moved in and he did a great job. I have noticed, though, that he drags his feet on small jobs. I guess I can't blame him -- he does a LOT of transporting and set-ups, plus leveling and skirting, so I guess it's difficult to squeeze in something small.

Julie

[texasprairierose]

Julie,

I am in Amarillo...so it's not like there is a lack of service type businesses...they just don't want to work on mobile homes. As soon as they hear the words "mobile home" they act as if we have the plague or something. It amazes me that they will do repair work in ratty, dirty, run down houses yet won't do repair work on nice, clean, mobile homes.



Diane

[Teatime]

Great house, Diane! I'll bet it's lovely on the inside, too! Heh, people can never believe the space and amenities we have in our homes!

Only Home Depot has told me they won't work on MHs. I wanted them to install a new screen door for me but they said they couldn't. The door guy apologised and said he thinks the company policy is stupid because, as you said, our homes are much nicer than many others they WILL work on. But I've had no problem finding someone else to do the work for me.

We're blessed with two MH parts stores here and their prices are quite good, compared with Lowe's and HD. The only thing I don't really like is the MH stores' selection of exterior doors but I can special-order them from a door/window place in town. They charge a flat fee of $75 to install a door!

Julie