Trailer trails house as good investment

DEAR DAVE • My little brother is getting married soon. Together, he and his wife will make about $35,000 a year. The other day he told me he's working on a deal to buy a $70,000 trailer and has already put $500 toward the purchase. The deal isn't final yet, so what can I do to convince him this is a bad idea?

Doug

DEAR DOUG • Go knock him in the head and stop him!

Seriously, take this kid on a ride around town and let him have a good look at the trailers people bought in the last few years. You can practically see the money draining out of them.

A trailer is just about the largest purchase you can make that will go down in value. It's like a car you sleep in! If you bought a $70,000 trailer three years ago, it would be worth about $30,000 now. That's not what I call a wise investment.

If it were my little brother and I had the money, I'd pay him $500 just to walk away from the deal. He's looking at the trailer like it's a dinky little house, but here's the difference. If he buys a small $70,000 house, at least the thing is going to go up in value.

I'm not badmouthing people who live in trailers here, Doug. I'm badmouthing trailers. Call them trailers, mobile homes — whatever. They're a bad place to stick your money.

DEAR DAVE • I lost my job a few months ago. My wife works, but she doesn't make much money, and we also have three children. I'm still trying to keep up my credit card payments, but next month I know I'll be late and they'll start adding fees. In all, I have about $60,000 in debt, and that includes payments on a $20,000 car.

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