Not OP but
What about RV is that good idea ?

Don't buy anything any time soon. Rent a small house or a condo and invest your money. Pay the rent from the investments.

What is your budget.

Are you open to other cities?

Other than the mobile home park in Malibu…not many places where anyone proactively seeks out one.

Maybe there are “high end” mobile home parks elsewhere, though as others pointed out they aren’t cheap (just cheap relative to SFHs and condos in that particular area).

Having lived in one briefly as a teenager I will never, ever live in one again.
Very loud, not well insulated, terrible neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I looked into one. The monthly fee for the lot was $3,000 and I think there was also an HOA fee. So the place itself was cheap, the location was great, not much maintenance but that's ridiculous. I think the price is not locked in so you may pay more in the future.

This price is like renting a house.
Why would anyone rent there ?

I got fascinated by tiny homes (similar to mobile homes) and how organized and low maintenance they seemed. Then I heard Dana K. White (A Slob Comes Clean) talk about how cluttery people get interested in this because it seems like a way to force themselves into decluttering.

Maybe not the OP's situation but perhaps relatable to someone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rethink this if not trolling, OP.

Of course not trolling—I'm seriously considering downsizing my living space to avoid high property taxes and rising homeowner’s insurance. I live alone anyway.

Move to a low-cost city and rent. No property taxes, and only reneter's insurance.

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I looked into one. The monthly fee for the lot was $3,000 and I think there was also an HOA fee. So the place itself was cheap, the location was great, not much maintenance but that's ridiculous. I think the price is not locked in so you may pay more in the future.

That's a LOT. No pun intended.

My husband and I looked into one. The monthly fee for the lot was $3,000 and I think there was also an HOA fee. So the place itself was cheap, the location was great, not much maintenance but that's ridiculous. I think the price is not locked in so you may pay more in the future.

You might not like the neighbors.

Rethink this. The lot rent can be high, and in many places it has tripled. There’s no way to control it. You can’t own your lot. You own the trailer but not the land it sits on. If you buy land and put a trailer on it, you are still paying taxes.

Are you sensitive to noise? Trailer parks can be relatively noisy places, and trailers are not well insulated from sound. Keep that in mind.

Anonymous wrote:https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5827-Cove-Landing-Rd-APT-201-Burke-VA-22015/51893926_zpid/

I think I could downsize to something like this—tax plus HOA would be under $6k per year, which is even cheaper than renting land for a mobile home. Am I missing anything?

Just make sure that your budget can handle special assessments for maintenance/upkeep. Also, that the HOA stays on top of the company that manages the property. Spouse is an attorney that sees a LOT of cases where the management company contracted for upkeep of everything from heating/cooling to security to structural integrity of buildings FAILS the HOA and then condo owners are surprised with bills of the multiple tens of thousands. Which most can't pay. Its always a nightmare --everything from orders to vacate the property to putting the condo into receivership.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would just rent a small apartment. Zero maintenance. No taxes.

In the long run, renting usually costs more than owning- otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for landlords. With a mobile home, there’s no monthly rent, only lower costs like property tax and other fees. It’s hard to find a decent apartment for under $2,000 a month, which adds up to about $24,000 a year. In comparison, owning a mobile home should cost way less than $5,000 per year (not including the upfront purchase).

Incorrect. There is monthly rent -- you pay it to the mobile home park for the land your trailer is sitting on. Unless you have land to put your mobile home on, which is not the case for OP.