Hello! Welcome to Mobile Home Living, the most popular and trusted resource for mobile and manufactured homeowners.
We’ve published over 900 articles packed with mobile home remodeling ideas, repair help, and decorating inspiration. Mobile homes can and are just as beautiful as any traditional home and we are proving it with every home we share.
We also feature expert advice on buying and selling, and guides to help you improve your home’s energy efficiency,
Mobile Home Living was created by Crystal Adkins in 2011 and is the most trusted, and most visited resource for Mobile Homes in the country with 48 million visits over the last 12 years.
Living small is nothing new. Mobile homes were the original tiny home and started the simple living movement decades ago.
Yes, tiny homes are all the rage but they are just overly-expensive glorified mobile homes without the stigma. Their construction is not environmentally friendly like manufactured homes and they lose value at a higher rate.
A Little About Myself
Hi! I’m Crystal Adkins, the creator of Mobile Home Living.
I hope Mobile Home Living is a welcoming and informative resource for you. I wanted Mobile Home Living to be a place where we can all be proud of our homes, share helpful tips and advice on manufactured housing, and support each other with positivity and love.
I try my best to offer articles that are relevant and helpful to all manufactured homeowners. I take the advocacy of manufactured homes seriously because our homes, and all of us living in them, deserve to be respected.
I was raised in Southern West Virginia by a single father that worked in the same underground coal mine for 39 years. He taught me a lot and had me rebuilding old cars in the garage with him my entire childhood. We lived in a single-wide mobile home until I was 8 and then he bought a brand new 1986 model Redman Homes double-wide and had it set up on top of a mountain up at the end of a dirt road that was over 2 miles long (we call them hollers but the rest of the world calls them hollows).
Yes, I’m a coal miner’s daughter named Crystal Gail (all y’all country music fans should get that reference).
Starting Mobile Home Living
I started Mobile Home Living shortly after buying a 1978 single-wide in 2011. It was our first owned home and I was just as proud as a peacock that we were able to get it. The seller wanted $6,000 for it and we could rent the land it was on for $250 a month. The problem was, we didn’t have $6,000. Heck, we barely had $600 so he agreed to $1000 down and payments. Luckily, work was steady for a while and we were able to pay it off in 18 months. He eventually sold me the land on an owner-financing contract, too.
After we moved in, I searched for examples of mobile home remodels on Google but I didn’t find much. I figured if I was looking for these things and wanted to hear other homeowner’s stories about simple, debt-free living others might be interested too.
I saw a void and figured I would try to fill it.
Over the last 12 years, Mobile Home Living evolved into what you see today. This site is now the most popular manufactured home repair, remodeling, and decorating resource online, besides Pinterest of course. (If you haven’t checked out our Pinterest page, you should! We have over 8 million monthly views.)
I think manufactured homes must be seen in a positive light. Manufactured housing is one of the nation’s most affordable housing options and they’ve given me a place to call home for over 40 years.
Issues We Want To Change
Unfortunately, there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed.
- The biggest issue is that parks are raising their rent too much. One well-known park owner said we should always expect a 3% lot rent increase every year. He then went on to say that they are raising their rents to be equal to the price of apartments. Parks are not apartments. If we wanted to pay apartment prices we’d live in an apartment.
- The second issue regards warranties that aren’t honored. The notorious blame game has to go!
- Lastly, I believe manufactured home installation needs to be better regulated, I’ve read that 80% of all warranty complaints are due to improper installation. It’s vital to have the home set up correctly for a long life span.
- Also, our elders and low-income families must be better protected when parks close.
We are slowly seeing changes in the manufactured housing industry but there is more to be done.
My Current Project
I am currently working on my 1978 single wide (which was my inspiration for starting Mobile Home Living). I am hoping to have all the major work completed in the next few months and will be making a big reveal post in the near future. I have big plans and hope that you will all stay tuned!
I hope to continue to grow Mobile Home Living and that it can continue to be the #1 resource for all things Mobile Home!
