Is it ever, or under what circumstances is it a good decision to put a house under contract before seeing it?

Greg H. true in a way, yes the county can wait (most likely in your case they will not wait period) but if they delay a foreclosure in your circumstances, then they have to delay all foreclosures in all the same similar circumstances .

They may get cold feet if the economy really starts to slow down.Make a plan, work the plan, adapt the plan when circumstances change.

Of course it depends on your circumstances and it depends on the insurance policy.    

You never know when your circumstances will change. 

It depends on the circumstances.

Also the fact that it is your park could make the circumstance different.

I was wondering if anyone knows of other options, that might be more suitable for our circumstances (very low income, reasonable equity, and ability to put around 50% down)Thank you in advance!

Rents only really go down for a few reasons: 1) Local economic distress when a major employer moves away and/or population is declining, 2) Market oversaturation, i.e. too many new rentals come on line all at once, 3) Idiosyncratic circumstances, which can't be predicted.Hope this helps! 

@Anthony WickWhile I can not speak with authority about other jurisdictions I can tell you that no judge in North Carolina would entertain a motion to enforce a residential lease in these circumstances.