Which type of property includes the least waste of money: mobile home, condo, or house?

[John Brewder]

Which type of home has the least waste of money: a $75,000 mobile home, a $250,000 condominium, or a $500,000 house?Less interest is paid on the mobile home and condo, but condos may typically appreciate less than houses and mobile homes even less.I am not considering the amount of the payments that contribute to equity as a cost.Lower appreciation and interest are two costs, but a third is opportunity cost, which is the amount that the down payment would return if invested instead of being used as a down payment.The down payment for a house would be much larger than for a mobile home and therefore would have a much higher opportunity cost.I understand that there are many variables at play with these decisions such as historical appreciation of each type of property, estimates of future appreciation, mortgage rates vs stock returns, geographical area, etc.I just want to know the rank of each type of property in cost when appreciation, opportunity cost, and interest are summed given reasonable estimates of each variable.Thanks for any replies.

[Trevor K.]

You are forgetting the largest waste of money. Taxes. I never factor in appreciation to deals I make. In my opinion that is speculative investing, and I am not much for gambling. I think you are better off with more lower priced units, than one higher priced unit, their total value being equal.