What The Price For Emerald Park Condo?

My wife wants to move from a condo to a trailer park. Is this a good idea?

• My wife and I live in North County San Diego, California and we purchased a brand new condo in 2003 right before the market spiked. It wasn't a bad deal. We payed $289,000 for it and it's in a great family neighborhood and gated. I love it. For the past eight years we have lived there its been tough to save any money since most of it goes to pay the mortgage payment. (which is typical for most home owners in San Diego.) It is also far from my wife's family. She misses them and wants to move closer. We commute there just about every weekend and it is taking its toll on gas. Her family lives about 60 miles south from us. We have been searching for possible ways to make a move. Renting our condo and moving temporarily into an apartment or buying a mobile home. We discovered that mobile homes are really cheap with a monthly payment of around $600. That's a huge difference compared to our current $2300 monthly mortgage payment on the condo, or even a rental payment of $1600 a month for an apartment. To be honest, I really don't like the idea of moving into a trailer park and I am afraid we might get stuck there permanently if we decide to do this. The only good thing about this idea that I can think of is the savings. If we rent our condo, we can save alot of money and then in two years or so, maybe have enough money to buy a house near her family. What do you think? Is moving into a trailer park a good idea or will it be nothing but trouble down the road? Can we really save alot of money by doing this? Thanks.

• Answer:

  If you can get enough from renting your owned property out and wages etc to pay the mortgage and rent a trailer then maybe yes. If you're talking about selling the condo and moving to a trailer without buying another place then no. If you rent out your condo you can always move back in the future or use it as a permanent income by renting it out.