While we are on the subject of mobiles as rentals, what is everyone opinion on using older/repoed homes and fixing them up on the cheap vs buying new homes (single or DW) for much more money?
Pros for Cheap: Excellent Cash flow (2% rule!) and payoff in 10 years or less
Cons for Cheap: Outdated interiors, questionable insulation (I HATE getting calls in the middle of winter re: cold house-and this is on my old stick-builts); plastic sinks, cheap cabinets, and the inevitable nuisance repairs-even after rehabbing them. CHEAP!
Pros for New: I could order to specification and beef up things for rental use-Energy Star insulation, engineered flooring everywhere (no carpet), real windows, beefy cabinets, PEX plumbing (no POLY!), ceramic sinks, etc.. A rental built to last
Cons for New: Expensive ($60-$90k PLUS transport, set-up and probably perm foundation) payoff in 15-20 yrs, ~1.25% rule
In what I am thinking, both new and old would require transport and set-up with rural utilities; existing properties come available from time to time but the market here is pretty tight; nice 10-15 year-old DW's on 2 ac+ routinely go for $125-$150+ around here.
BTW: There are no $20k single-wides on land that need $2000 to be rent-ready around here....
Thoughts?