patrick.net

Many years ago, just for fun, I visited a trailer park across the street from the one mentioned in the article. It might be a reasonable alternative to renting an apartment, but there's no potential upside like in owning a home. The problem is that you buy the structure (the thing that continuously depreciates) and you rent the land (the thing that might appreciate).

If you figure financing and depreciation on a nice double-wide trailer could be $1.5k/month and the rent on the dirt is $1.5k/month, you would probably be happier in a trailer than in a $3k/month apartment — at least you would have more space and have some privacy from the neighbors.

If you only expect to have the arrangement for a few years, then it's probably not worth the effort. If you have a 10 year expectation, though, I'd consider it over an apartment.