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It's official! We're trailer trash! OT

10K views 40 replies 20 participants last post by  ThinkerT 
#1 ·
Put the downpayment down this afternoon on a 14 x 70 rent to own fixer upper.... Beats the heck out of 'the projects' (except they don't call them that here) No more landlord's secretary's office right outside the door handing us a lease violation every time one of us farts in our sleep! No more human cockroaches for neighbors - now we'll have ********! (You might not think it an improvement, but trust me, it's a BIG one!)

I can have a garden RR again, and a workshop/shed (10x14 max), and Kim can have her bulgy-eyed rat-dogs who climb on people's heads, and.... Oh, happy day!!!!
 
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#4 ·
Out here...rent to own....means YOU do all the maintenance and fix all the broken stuff...and the owner don't pay squat...but, it gives you a way to "own" without dealing with the damn bankers. Given all the hassle you'vbe had with landlords...this sounds like a good move Allen...I think you'll like it if you get along with the "neighbors...and getting to have your GRR...well, how can ya beat that?
 
#9 ·
Allen, Kim, & girls,
Congratulations on the new home. May you "Live Long and Prosper" in your new home.
JimC.
 
#15 ·
Lessee...by unwritten ironclad law, all trailer parks are *required* to have at least one of the following:

1) The Mechanic - this guys trailer can be a tad difficult to approach, and so can his neighbors trailers for that matter, because of all the dying or dead cars parked along the front and sides...most awaiting parts that apparently have to be special ordered from outer mongolia.

2) The drug dealer. Usually has a vicious dog chained up front. Lots of traffic at all hours. Almost never busted by the cops.

3) The alcoholic. This guy hasn't been really sober in years.

4) The hooker. Might try pass herself off as a hairstylist or bartender.

5) The gun nut. This guy might be a table top dealer or a collecter...but either way he probably has enough in the way of firearms to outfit an infantry squad or three. Might also take to paranoid rants about the 'New World Order' and like topics.

6) The criminal(s). Very simply - these guys out of jail, there be lots of burglaries, grand theft auto's and the like. These guys in jail, there be vastly fewer crimes of this sort. Sometimes, the local law seems to have great difficulty grasping this point. Their trailer gets frequent visits from local cops, though.

7) The crazy guy (or gal). This tenant lives in a drug induced haze, and has a tenuous grasp on reality at best. Meds, beds, and halfway houses a key elements here.

In smaller parks, some of these character types might have to do double duty - alcoholic/mechanic for example.

Is Mics court in compliance?
 
#17 ·
Hmmm. Sounds only too familiar. I knew there was a reason I proceeded to close down my Twin Spruce Trailer Park shortly after I bought the property (one space rental left out of 12 original) ! Posted By ThinkerT on 22 Jan 2010 01:04 AM
Lessee...by unwritten ironclad law, all trailer parks are *required* to have at least one of the following:

1) The Mechanic - this guys trailer can be a tad difficult to approach, and so can his neighbors trailers for that matter, because of all the dying or dead cars parked along the front and sides...most awaiting parts that apparently have to be special ordered from outer mongolia.

2) The drug dealer. Usually has a vicious dog chained up front. Lots of traffic at all hours. Almost never busted by the cops.

3) The alcoholic. This guy hasn't been really sober in years.

4) The hooker. Might try pass herself off as a hairstylist or bartender.

5) The gun nut. This guy might be a table top dealer or a collecter...but either way he probably has enough in the way of firearms to outfit an infantry squad or three. Might also take to paranoid rants about the 'New World Order' and like topics.

6) The criminal(s). Very simply - these guys out of jail, there be lots of burglaries, grand theft auto's and the like. These guys in jail, there be vastly fewer crimes of this sort. Sometimes, the local law seems to have great difficulty grasping this point. Their trailer gets frequent visits from local cops, though.

7) The crazy guy (or gal). This tenant lives in a drug induced haze, and has a tenuous grasp on reality at best. Meds, beds, and halfway houses a key elements here.

In smaller parks, some of these character types might have to do double duty - alcoholic/mechanic for example.

Is Mics court in compliance?
 
#18 ·
Winter? Yeah, it gets a bit brisk, but Kim sez I HAVE to put a ceiling loop around the livingroom, and wire it so she can just flip a lightswitch to make it go, too....

I'm just worried about where we're gonna PUT everything until we GET the shed. Those mobile home bedrooms are so spacious that you have to go outside to change your mind.


We have to be out of HERE by the 6th, and can't start painting or moving stuff THERE until this Saturday.... "Busy as a one legged man at a butt kicking contest" about covers the next 2 weeks. And somewhere in there I have to get a few parts (like 2 door hinges) on my van so it will pass inspection and we can use it to move stuff. Found out the hard way if you forget to oil the hinges before winter starts the pins seize and break, and simply driving or drilling the old pins out is wishful thinking....


We met a couple neighbors. The mechanic guy was out with his mastiff (in a TRAILER?) working on his Camaro (with a busted windshield), and an older guy with a nice doublewide and 2 border collies was bringing in a 3 month seige worth of groceries. The owner just bought the park 2 years ago, and decide to lower middle (working) class the place. The worst of the 'white trash' have been sent down the road, leaving the ********. Which is still better than the 'just released from the state mental hospital and already off their meds' creeps, gangsta wannabes and the landlord's attack secretary here.

Your list forgot the nosy old lady who spends all day peering out her curtains and clucking her tongue over the shameless antics of her neighbors so she has someting to gossip about with her sewing circle. We saw her and waved.

We got this place because the guy who was supposed to move in got sent to jail for nonpayment of child support. And the police and fire stations are a whole 4 minutes away...
 
#19 ·
I spent a decade plus living in a trailer park, saving my pennies (sometimes literally) so I could build the house. Also put in a couple years rebuilding mobile homes when I was younger...

but Kim sez I HAVE to put a ceiling loop around the livingroom, and wire it so she can just flip a lightswitch to make it go, too....

Hope you can find decent wall studs here...and as for the ceiling...the one trailer I rebuilt in my younger days had ceiling 'joists' that were basically 1x2 slats kinda tied together. On seeing that, I was astonished I hadn't fallen through the bloody roof. (You might want to look into putting a few inches of verithane (sp?) foam on the roof and painting it over with a good sealant- or simply putting a shed roof over the whole trailer, held up by posts on the sides.

Those mobile home bedrooms are so spacious that you have to go outside to change your mind. About sums it up. Your current layout is almost certainly too big to fit in one of the small 'side' bedrooms. Does your trailer have the larger bedrooms at either end, or one at the end and two to the side?

As to how much you can fit in a trailer...when I went to move out of my former 10x50 palace (with an arctic entry and a 8x10 leanto), I decided I'd start by getting rid of the obvious trash and and the stuff I did not want to lug to the new house only to throw away. So...I started bagging stuff up, tossing it in the truck. Eventually, the truck looked like a giant trashbag on wheels...and I'd barely made a dent in the stuff to be thrown away. (fortunately, the dump was very close by). As to the stuff I kept...that almost completely filled a 11x14 room at the house, with just enough room left for my bed, not counting the likes of the fridge and stove.

I do recommend you look into buying or building a leanto at first opportunity. Quite possibly the landlord or one of your neighbors has one they'll let go.

As to the trailer park archetypes - you only think your park is free of some of them.

Oh...might want to take a peek underneath the trailer, check for leaking pipes, insulation problems with the skirting (you can loose a lot of heat that way and end up with frozen pipes). Also, cats often take up residence under trailers. Cats *love* trailer parks...
 
#20 ·
The layout is: Huge bow window across the 'front', (not so) great room that turns into the kitchenette, narrowish hallway with rooms on the left... two broom closet bedrooms, closet for the furnace followed by a bathroom where you could pretty much 'sh#$ shower and shave - all at the same time', an alcove for the washer and dryer, then the 'master suite', full width and maybe 8-9 feet deep. To access the water heater you've got an outside hatch... which kind of limits where I can put a shed close to the house. (easier to electrify) He SAID it was a 14x70... It sure looks more like a 12.5x60 to me... but it will do.

And yes, there are probably still dregs there. As long as they leave us along, it'll be fine. If not.... me, them, and Mr Ruger .44 might have a little negotiating session. He speaks 'cockroach' pretty well.


As for finding the wall studs... isn't that what boy scout compasses are good for?...unless they glued the inside panelling on.
 
#21 ·
Posted By Mik on 22 Jan 2010 03:31 AM

And yes, there are probably still dregs there. As long as they leave us along, it'll be fine. If not.... me, them, and Mr Ruger .44 might have a little negotiating session. He speaks 'cockroach' pretty well.


As for finding the wall studs... isn't that what boy scout compasses are good for?...unless they glued the inside panelling on.



A lot of that depends on the manager, if you have a good one, you may not have too many problems. Ditto with the neighbors.

I have watched them build house trailers from start to finish, it is a VERY interesting process. They can complete one in 8 hours in assembly line fashon. First the frame, then the floor, then the floor covering, then ALL the pre-assembled plumbing.....you get the idea.

Best wishes and good luck on your move!
 
#25 ·
Studs? Underscale 2 x 3's.... is more like it! Measure the outside, live in the inner...

JJ? 60 MPS? per Second????... I've seen my neighbor's peel back in less than 40 mph But thats after several good summer's baking!

Out here in wildcat country we have no park and when they started selling off ranch land, prime spots were offered with open spaces in between. We are only close enough to share utilities. Manufactured homes were the quickest way to populate the area.

Dollar for dollar it was a better purchase than old cracked foundations in town, water table keeps shrinking.... plus room for a railroad that grows.... and no fences!

John
 
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