Editorial: The 7 Best Characteristics of Mobile Homeowners

When I started Mobile Home Living I figured it would be a simple blog with beautiful mobile home tours along with remodeling ideas and repair help from experienced mobile homeowners.

But it evolved into far more than that.

Mobile Home Living and our Facebook group are a positive, judgment-free community where regular people can share their beautiful mobile home remodels and makeovers without being judged.

Over the last 8 years, we’ve shared many stories that highlight homeowners with some pretty amazing characteristics. In this article, we’re covering 7 great characteristics of a mobile homeowner.

Mobile homeowners are often stereotyped, stigmatized, and judged. I suppose you can say we’re doing the same in this article, but with a twist.

Mobile Homeowners are Tenacious

Mobile homeowners have amazing tenacity. They can thrive and adapt anywhere you put them and they see potential where others don’t.

Mobile Homeowners are Intelligent

If you followed Mobile Home Living over the years you’ve read story after story of mobile homeowners overcoming hardships (mostly from the Great Recession).

Several of our featured mobile homeowners were deeply affected by the recession. A few new mobile homeowners sold their site-built homes and used the equity to buy a pre-owned mobile or manufactured home.

They did what they had to do to get back on their feet and made the best decision for them and their family regardless of the stigma and stereotyping.

Warren Buffet suggested that manufactured homeowners were typically more financially intelligent because they didn’t buy a home that was too expensive for them.

“If home buyers throughout the country
had behaved like our [manufactured]
buyers, America would not have had
the crisis that it did.”

Warren Buffet

Most Americans are working so much they can’t enjoy their huge house. When they are home they have so much maintenance and cleaning that they can’t really enjoy it anyway.

Most mobile homeowners would rather spend their money on experiences and spend time with their loved ones than have to work 100-hours a week to afford an outrageous mortgage.

That old saying is true, the less you own, the less that owns you. Mobile homeowners, especially those living in older models that didn’t cost much, aren’t owned by anyone.

Mobile Homeowners are Friendly and Fun and REAL

You’ll not find a friendlier bunch of people than those living in a mobile home and especially those living in a mobile home in a well-kept park. There’s a realness about them and a level of content and neighborliness that you can’t find in fancy housing developments.

Community planners have been trying to figure out how to create a site-built housing community that has the neighborly friendliness and overall community satisfaction that comes so naturally in manufactured housing communities.

“For some reason, and the only (factor) I can think of is management, the stick builder has never been able to equal, even if they provide the amenities, the lifestyle of the mobile home park.”

Wheel Estate By Allan D. Walls, 1991

Expert community planners claim the close proximity of mobile homes and management of the parks create this friendliness and feel of community and neighborly respect. I believe it’s just the people.

There is more life lived in a single mobile home park than three gated communities.

Mobile homeowners are different. They are more friendly and down to earth. They aren’t pretentious or worried about what others think about them.

Mobile Homeowners are Trendsetters

A few years ago, a trendy new lifestyle and minimalist movement hit the nation like a tsunami.

It suddenly became cool to be debt-free and live in tiny homes. Living a more earth-friendly lifestyle and having experiences became more important than a huge home and fancy stuff.

Mobile homeowners had been doing all these things for close to a century!

No one seems to realize (or wants to admit) that mobile homeowners have been living this lifestyle for close to a century. Vargos and gypsy wagons have been living the lifestyle for centuries.

I believe one of the biggest difference between the tiny homeowners and older mobile homeowners is strength in character and not caring what other people think.

Mobile homeowners have been living a life of simplicity and affordability for decades but they don’t care about being stereotyped and stigmatized.

Mobile Homeowners are Rebels

Mobile homeowners could easily be a contender as most rebellious should society ever choose superlatives.

Mobile homeowners go against societal conformities the second they buy or rent a factory-built house.

Mobile homeowners have grit and tenacity. Living in a mobile home isn’t easy – you are basically going against an engrained stigma of society. You will likely be called names or labeled as poor or odd at the very least.

Mobile homeowners exist in their own way.

There’s no doubt about it, mobile homeowners have something unique about them. Perhaps it’s their rebellious nature to go against social norms or their ability to see potential where others cannot.

Mobile Homeowners are Awesome

However, mobile homeowners overcome that negativity and stigma.

I suppose the best way to put it is that mobile homeowners are smart and tenacious and awesome because they aren’t afraid to give society a middle finger salute.

As always, thank you for reading Mobile Home Living!