Amazon Has Reinvented the Double-Wide

And Other Small Homes

I mean no disrespect. I’ve had friends and family members who lived in double-wide prefab (manufactured) homes. They are a great option, if you can find some land to situate them on, with access to amenities.

Now, trailer parks can be a decent option, sometimes - if your neighbors are stable people, and the owners are ruthless about evicting the troublemakers. My father’s sister lived in one of them, and her neighbors were quite respectable. I believe that her daughter is now living there.

Even those neighbors with motorcycles know better than to drive them full throttle in the morning, when kids might be still sleeping. And, the guys that ride them are generally employed at a regular job.

I believe you can get a good sense of the neighborhood by driving around, noting how well the lawns are taken care of, do the neighbors have some plants (vegetable or ornamental, I don’t judge) in the front, are there flags displayed? Is garbage neatly put into containers?

It’s little things, but a concern with how you appear to neighbors is one indicators that you are not a self-absorbed jerk.

You still might be, but probably not outside of your family.

That’s how we picked our current home, and it’s lived up to its ambience. We mostly mind our own business - in many middle/upper class neighborhoods, you don’t start a fight in the street, no matter how irritated you become.

Younger families might have a party in the backyard, or a barbeque. We ignore the slight increase in noise, and perhaps even some firecrackers going off, provided the party shuts down before bedtime.

Which they generally do.

The trailer parks that many people think of when they hear the name, are the ones used for settings on TV - filled with openly dysfunctional families, cops making regular visits to haul neighbors off to jail, and “THAT” family that everyone knows to stay away from, that has a strong chemical odor emanating from it.

These places are deliberately created by owners who want maximum income, without having to bother about maintaining amenities. The people who live there aren’t all that concerned about how they are perceived, unless it to send out signals not to ‘mess with them’.

Which brings me to Amazon. They have entered the ready-to-go home business.

For less than $20K, (minus cost of land and installation), you can have a home. Check it out. It’s utilitarian, but easy to maintain, and suitable for a single or small family. You might want to move on after a few years, but it gives the owners a starter home, and the advantages of deducting the mortgage.

At the higher end, the tiny home is 2-story, and could easily be used as a work-from-home arrangement. It’s almost $50K, but in many areas, could be considered low-option. Check it out.

There are a whole lot more houses at the first link. If a city was SERIOUS about ending homelessness, these could be put in parts of the city without much housing, and rented by working families/individuals. It would require an onsite manager, and scrupulous attention to signs that the people in them are not violating the lease. Also, of course, willingness to kick out the non-cooperating.

But, it sure could be done a lot cheaper than current assisted housing.