Originally released by Greensboro on March 21st, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
GREENSBORO — City officials are considering a new way to keep housing affordable: creating a community land trust.
While the concept of community land trusts (CLT) has been around for 50 years, it would be a first for Greensboro.
CLTs are nonprofits that buy or build housing, retail or offices using public or private money. Those structures are then sold to a low-income buyer who qualifies for a mortgage. However, the CLT retains ownership of the land, holding it in trust with a 99-year lease to the buyer.
As part of the agreement to buy the structure, the buyer agrees to sell it at an affordable price.
I’m kind of lost on how this is any different than the city simply co-signing on a traditional mortgage. But the bigger question is “who is going to pay for this?” Most cities, states (and the U.S. government ) are completely broke and can’t possibly actually afford to do any of these initiatives, which cost in the millions of dollars. So who is actually writing the checks on programs like this?
Originally released by Richmond Biz Sense on March 20th, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
To provide its latest home for a family in need, an area housing nonprofit took a different approach that it believes is the first of its kind among its regional peers.
Habitat for Humanity–Powhatan recently provided a mother and son with its first modular home, marking what Executive Director Susan Winiecki described as a new approach for Habitat affiliates in the region to provide lower-income families with housing.
Also known as prefabricated or factory-built homes, modular homes are a type of manufactured home that are mostly built in sections off-site and then delivered and assembled. The home is placed on a foundation using a crane,...
A $200,000 house is NOT affordable housing. Not even close. And a 1,200 sq. ft. house for $200,000 is NOT reason for celebration. Good thing that non-profits like Habitat for Humanity are staffed with people with zero business skills so they can celebrate wasting money at this level. You could have bought a standard 1,200 sq. ft. mobile home for $70,000 installed – and that’s almost 70% less. So you could have installed three homes for the price of one. Crazy.
Originally released by ABC 10 NEWS San Diego on March 16th, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — Rent could be going up again for seniors that live inside the Laguna Vista Mobile Home Park, a senior community, but the seniors say they can't quite keep up, especially on a fixed income.
This mobile home is all Frank Kazerski knows.
"I've lived here since 2009," said Kazerski.
He doesn't know what could be next if his rent is increased again.
"The rent portion is $631. The rest is for trash, sewer, water bill," he said.
Every July, the residents expect an increase of some sort to account for inflation but the owner of the park filed an application to have rent raisedeven more.
Give me a break. The park increased rents just $27 per month and people are saying that they can’t buy food, medicine or the necessities of life because of that increase. This park is in California. A hamburger costs $10 at McDonalds there. When will people acknowledge that some states are incredibly expensive to live in (like California) and are not appropriate for those on limited incomes, who should instead move to states that are more affordable? I can already tell you when we will see this park in the news again: when they tear it down to make room for a better use that does not have pushback like this on a $27 per month price increase. This article is ridiculous.
Originally released by Community Impact on March 17th, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
Rockrose Ranch at Lake Conroe, a 700-home community, will celebrate its grand opening March 25 in Willis, developer Inspire Communities announced in a March 16 news release.
The community spans 170 acres at 11848 Calvary Road, just west of I-45, and features a gated active adult village as well as a section of homes open to all ages, according to the release. Rockrose Ranch has prices starting in the $110,000s to $220,000s and floor plans ranging from two to three bedrooms, two bathrooms, front porches and open-concept living areas.
According to its website, Inspire Communities claims to provide affordable, modern manufactured homes for...
This is NOT a “manufactured home community” – at least when you read this announcement “Rockrose Ranch has prices starting in the $110,000s to $220,000s”. In last week’s articles a developer called his mobile home park a “cottage community” so that it had no negative stigma. This owner needs to come up with a different name, too, because it’s not fair to call this concept basically a “mobile home park” as it has absolutely nothing to do with that concept other than residents paying lot rent as opposed to owning the land.
Originally released by AXIOS Phoenix on March 17th, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
Three Phoenix mobile home parks are expected to close in the next two months to be redeveloped into pricier housing projects, impacting more than 120 families.
State of play: Some Phoenix council members are trying to force park owners to keep them open, but they're likely to hit several political and legal hurdles.
Why it matters: Mobile homes are among few affordable housing options left in metro Phoenix. Despite their name, they are very difficult to relocate, meaning residents are often left without housing when parks close.
What's happening: Earlier this month, at a meeting to discuss how to help residents at risk of eviction, a...
Originally released by ABC 20 News Channel on March 18th, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
MAHOMET, Ill. (WCCU) — Kodiak Property Management bought Candlewood Estates in Mahomet back in September, and according to residents they've had a number of issues since then. Many residents still don't have their new leases despite asking for them continually, and those who do have their leases say they see a number of issues and concerns.
"In the new lease, some people have released the new lease in the community, and it states that the lot rent has been $525 for five years?" Jaelyn Survance asked her husband.
"2018, yes five years, which is not true,” said Tate Survance.
Jaelyn and Tate are former residents of Candlewood Estates, and...
The successful mobile home park of the future has rents that make the park capable of investing in infrastructure and giving sufficient profit not to redevelop into a better use and mitigates liability by banning trampolines and any item that causes significant risk of personal injury. New owners are bringing old parks back to life nationwide and that’s just the way it’s going to be from here on out. Those residents that want to live in an environment with no rules and ridiculously low rents will need to gather together at the old dirt-road park down the street until it gets hit by the wrecking ball.
Originally released by Advance Local Alabama on March 21st, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
Can recreational vehicles and mobile homes mix?
That’s the question at issue in a Baldwin County land use debate that’s gone to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s desk.
Last week, the Baldwin County Commission authorized a request for an opinion from the attorney general’s office on whether the county can legally prohibit RV park sites in a mobile home park, a rule in its subdivision regulations.
The question comes down to whether the rule is a matter of zoning or a matter of health and safety.
According to the request sent to the AG’s office, an unnamed owner of a mobile home park wanted to add RV sites to his park, which is...
That’s the question at issue in a Baldwin County land use debate that’s gone to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s desk.
Last week, the Baldwin County Commission authorized a request for an opinion from the attorney general’s office on whether the county can legally prohibit RV park sites in a mobile home park, a rule in its subdivision regulations.
The question comes down to whether the rule is a matter of zoning or a matter of health and safety.
According to the request sent to the AG’s office, an unnamed owner of a mobile home park wanted to add RV sites to his park, which is forbidden by Baldwin County’s subdivision regulations.
Originally released by Cal Matters on March 20th, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
Bobby Riley moved to Stockton Park Village to live out his days in peace.
In 2018, the 87-year-old retired construction worker tucked his used camper trailer into the farthest lot of the horseshoe-shaped mobile home court off a tree-lined street in the outskirts of Stockton. The community’s handyman, Buzz, helped him build a porch and a patio to ground his trailer and enclosed it with a white wooden fence. He set up a swingset on the grassy common area across the way for when his granddaughter, Brooke, came to visit.
But the little piece of heaven he sought soon became a living hell.
Park owners Howard and Anne Fairbanks appear to have...
Around 40 out of 4,500 mobile home parks in CA fail their inspection by the state. That’s less than 1%. But using just the example of this one property, the journalist demands that they ramp up the park inspection intensity in CA, which will result in more park owners simply throwing in the towel and putting their property up for sale as a land development opportunity. The better story was completely missed by the reporter when he wrote regarding a state review of mobile home park permits:
The report goes on to say that “many mobile home park owners are financially unable to rehabilitate their parks.”
You are not going to be able to maintain the affordable housing supply in California by forcing park owners out of business. Instead, the state should consider coming up with grants to help park owners who are financially strapped to re-build aging, failing infrastructure. What if the owner of this park had received a grant to fix the failing sewer system and make basic upgrades and then all of the folks in the story would not be displaced. It’s a whole lot cheaper to fix old infrastructure than to try to find alternative housing for people living in failing mobile home parks.
Originally released by The Press Democrat on March 17th, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
indsay and Eric Wood bought and flipped a few houses in their day. Still, they didn’t have a home of their own. But in 2017, after years of being subject to the rising whims of the rental market in Marin County, they said, “enough.”
The pair decided their best path to homeownership was to shrink their footprint and go tiny.
They found a contractor to build them a tiny home, a compact and efficiently designed residence on wheels that would have all the comforts they needed but not a square inch of wasted space.
“We had spent a total of $100,000 in rent in seven years. That pretty much could have paid for a tiny home,” Lindsay said.
A 380 square foot house for $125,000 is something that would only work in California. And that does not even include the land. As a Midwesterner, this blows my mind.
VISTA, California — Flooding of unknown origin forced the evacuation of a dozen mobile homes at Green Valley Mobile Home Park in Vista on Thursday morning.
Denise Dougi said she woke up and discovered her home had shifted.
"I woke up this morning and heard running water; there was no reason for me to hear running water. I went outside; I noticed things were not right. I noticed my stairway had moved; there’s no reason my stairway should’ve moved," she said.
"I went down my stairs. My concrete driveway has buckled up; it has trapped my car," said Dougi.
She said she also noticed her front door wouldn't open. She called 911.
Between fires, flooding, landslides, homelessness, crime, taxes – and now even sinkholes – you would think that there is a conspiracy to turn California back into agricultural land as residents flee. Will there one day be avocado orchards again where Bel Air used to stand?
Originally released by Cape Cod Times on March 20th, 2023
Commentary made on March 24th, 2023
Preview:
A Superior Court judge has rejected a move to reverse his decision that determined a Wyoming investment firm was the rightful buyer of the Pocasset Mobile Home Park.
Judge Michael Callan's original Jan. 11 decision seemed to end a years-long legal battle between Crown Communities, LLC, and the Pocasset Park Association, with both sides seeking ownership of the Bourne park, also known as The Park at Pocasset.
The mobile home park has about 170 residents at its prime location off Barlow's Landing Road. The current owner is Philip Austin, trustee of the Charles W. Austin Trust.
The association would have been able to purchase the park,...
The park residents apparently cheated on the required 51% of signatures to start the process of exercising their first option, and they got caught. No amount of woke pandering is going to fix this simple fact, and the judge stood up for the park owner – and the letter of the law – and did not back down. Good for him!
Originally released by azcentral on March 13th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and our colleagues on the Phoenix City Council have an opportunity to join our efforts to keep more than 130 families out of homelessness.
It should be an easy choice, but it will require real leadership.
This past week, we worked to pass protections for residents facing imminent eviction at three mobile home parks in Phoenix: Periwinkle, Weldon Court and Las Casitas, now called Beacon.
These protections hinge on creating a zoning designation that would keep these properties as mobile home parks. This would allow residents – like elementary student Daniel Ochoa and his five siblings, and U.S. Army veteran Gerald...
The author of this story believes that it is the fundamental right of the city council to force property owners to accept whatever zoning (and value) the city cares to designate. This is completely contrary to all property rights – and is one more example that woke journalists are completely insane. If a mobile home park owner wants to sell their land for redevelopment that’s completely their legal right. One of the fundamental underpinnings of socialism is the removal of the right to privately own property and this writer apparently thinks that’s a great idea.
Originally released by Phoenix New Times on March 9th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
The city of Phoenix is considering several ways to halt evictions that are displacing mobile home park residents across the Valley.
At an emotional meeting of the City Council's Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee on Monday, councilmembers heard from residents at three different Phoenix trailer parks that are facing evictions in the coming weeks. In more than an hour and a half of testimony, residents and supporters pleaded with the elected officials to take action to stop the evictions.
Councilmembers Betty Guardado, Carlos Garcia, and Yassamin Ansari voted to bring several policy suggestions to the full city council, including...
Here’s what the writer of this article is promoting:
“The councilmembers also recommended that the city partner with a nonprofit to study the city's mobile home parks. The city would then use the study to create a special zoning overlay, which would prevent property owners from redeveloping mobile home parks and changing the land use without city approval.”
This would effectively qualify as a “public taking” of these parks and there is a methodology to that which would require the city to pay the park owners what they could get for the land for redevelopment. But, of course, the city does not want to pay anything for this ability to “take” these properties so they want to put an overlay on them to reduce their value without paying the difference.
If the city council passes this, I would hope that the park owner sues each and every council member personally for illegally taking away their property rights. That will get their attention and perhaps end their pandering to this nonsense. I saw this same thing happen in the 1980s when a landowner tried to tear down a grocery store to build a movie theater. The neighbors didn’t want to lose the grocery store, so they convinced the Dallas city council to vote to refuse to allow the developer to build the theater, even though it meant all their guidelines. The property owner filed suit personally on each member of the city council the following morning and the council mysteriously voted to undo their ruling within a couple days.
Originally released by Houston Chronicle on March 10th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Houston-based Live Lone Star Communities unveiled the first of several manufactured home communities planned across Texas as it aims to provide affordable homes in a setting that incorporates elements found in upscale master-planned communities.
The developer on Tuesday provided a preview at The Landing at Pearland, a gated 55-acre community at 17730 County Road 127, near Pearland Regional Airport. The $34 million project includes plans for 420 home sites and is expected to open in April.
“The goal is to bring quality manufactured homes with amenities to markets where houses are so expensive that it’s keeping people from owning in those...
“The homes range from two to five bedrooms, contain 850 to 2,200 square feet, and sell from about $80,000 to $170,000, according to Live Lone Star. Residents pay monthly fees of about $675, which cover lot rental, use of the amenities and common-area maintenance.” If you add in the lot rent, that’s the same as a mortgage on a $180,000 to $270,000 stick-built home. You can buy a really nice single-family home in Missouri for that much money.
Originally released by Realtor on March 13th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Mobile homes have come a long way. Despite their reputation as a last resort for desperate homebuyers who can’t afford a “traditional” home, these prefabricated structures are not all depressing metal boxes. They can be stylish, well designed, and extremely affordable options for a buyer looking to either downsize or get a foot in the housing market.
Today, mobile homes have interiors that are sometimes truly extraordinary. If you don’t believe us, check out this mobile home in the Hamptons that was recently sold for a record price of $3.75 million.
Spurred by that big buy, we perused listings nationwide to find seven stylish mobile homes...
When you pay $1,000 to $3,000 per square foot for a mobile home, you have to be basically nuts. A nice stick-built home can be had for less than half that amount – and comes with the land underneath. Overpaying for an asset is nothing to be proud of, but it is fun to see just how stupid people can be.
Originally released by The White House on March 9th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
President Biden believes that everyone deserves to live in a safe and affordable home. Whether you rent or own, having a place to live that you can afford in a neighborhood with opportunities is the foundation for so much else in life.
It’s also the foundation for so much else in our economy. A lack of quality affordable housing hinders the job market and holds back economic growth by making it harder for workers to access good-paying jobs. It drives up costs for families and inflationary pressures. It also increases commutes and inefficient energy consumption, which exacerbates climate change. And a lack of affordable housing...
Since the Democrats no longer have control of Congress, the odds of the Biden budget ever actually going anywhere is probably lower than the Chicago Bears winning the Superbowl in 2023. Actually, the Bears probably have a better shot.
First the resident harass the owner over the water system, and then are horrified when he decides to simply shut the park down and redevelop it into something else. Has anyone ever heard the old adage “biting the hand that feeds you”?
Originally released by The Bourne Enterprise on March 10th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Shock and disbelief.
Those are the words used by The Park at Pocasset residents Albert MacDonald, Jim McSharry, and Bill Lytle to describe their feelings when the Barnstable Superior Court handed down its ruling in a case surrounding the sale of the park three months ago.
All three men are members of the park’s resident association, which has been enveloped in a three-year-long legal battle over the park’s sale. Mr. MacDonald, a resident for more than eight years, could not believe what he read until he saw it in print: the court had ruled against the Pocasset Park Association, the residents group intent on purchasing the community,...
A judge shoots down each and every claim from a group of disgruntled residents and decides that the tenants failed in their quest to buy the park under their first option, having failed to get the necessary resident signatures to start the process by around 30%. The crazy part is that the residents were able to keep this case in court for years when the whole case was so stupid. Shame on this judge who wasted so much time and legal fees on points of law that any sane adult could have ruled on within an hour.
Originally released by The Union Democrat on March 13th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Residents of Woods Creek Mobile Home Park and RV Resort between Sonora and Jamestown were cleaning up Monday from the path of destruction left by a severe weekend storm that produced a rare confirmed tornado which touched down Saturday afternoon in the Jamestown area.
Rhonda and Don Casner, residents of the creekside-hillside community for more than five years, said the storm on Saturday brought extreme, sideways, circular winds, uprooted trees and flying tree limbs, rains pouring through broken windows and damaged roofs, and flood waters from rising Woods Creek that severely damaged or destroyed the two homes closest to theirs, set one...
Only 5 out of 91 mobile homes were severely damaged in a tornado hit directly on the park? Pretty impressive. Mobile homes are a lot tougher than people give them credit for. Of course, the modern tie-down is a big part of the story, as a mobile home that breaks loose from the ground becomes effectively a giant, flying wrecking ball.
Originally released by Wiscasset Newspaper on March 14th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Water that, for weeks, was sometimes off, is back on and, knock on wood, will stay on, a lawyer representing Whippoorwill Mobile Home Park’s management firm, Maine Real Estate Management (MREM), said. According to attorney Michael Harman of Bloomer Russell Beaupain in Bangor, pumps at the fully occupied, 31-unit park on Route 27 in Wiscasset repeatedly kicked off due to a shortage of water and had to be manually restarted.
Whippoorwill retained Maine Rural Water to do sonogram studies, as a leak was suspected, Harman explained in phone interviews and in letters March 2 and 7 to Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation...
The government department for park owners in Maine is the “Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation Manufactured Housing Board”? That’s funnier than the fake spokesperson article above. I’d like to see that letterhead.
Originally released by The Press Democrat on March 10th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
At Thursday’s marathon session to set Santa Rosa City Council's policy priorities for the year, several residents showed up to remind officials the recent rent control law governing mobile home parks remains unfinished.
“We have a real mess,” mobile home owner and longtime advocate Roger McConnell said during public comment. ”This has gone on and on...We need help. We need to get this done. Please.”
On Dec. 6, the council updated a decades-old law restricting how much mobile home park owners can raise rent each year on the land under residents’ homes.
Previously, Santa Rosa’s mobile home rent control, governed by different laws than other...
Originally released by The Sun on March 13th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Harmony Communities, the property management company that purchased a troubled Fresno mobile home park, appears to have used a prank name as it worked on its PR issues.
The Stockton-based company interfaced with Fresno-based media under the pseudonym “Heywood Jablóm,” presented as the director of communication and marketing, but a report from The Business Journal revealed that he does not exist and that the name is merely a play on a play-on-words sex joke.
The backstory: Harmony Communities stepped in as the buyer of the troubled Trails End Mobile Home Park in north Fresno last year for $1.7 million.
The first funny mobile home park story of 2023. Why not make a joke of how unfair the media portrays mobile home park owners by inventing a fake official spokesperson and spoofing reporters who are too stupid to figure it out?
Originally released by The Durango Herald on March 14th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Nearly a month has passed since the water stopped running at Lightner Creek Mobile Home Park on Feb. 13. With each passing week, the situation has continued to devolve as the park’s owner, Darlene Mann, finds herself facing mounting legal trouble.
But as of Friday evening, Mann is no longer in control. She signed an agreement leasing the property on a month-to-month basis to Chris Hamilton, a Durango attorney who has been under contract to buy the park for over a year and a half. Hamilton will take control of the park effective April 1.
Although Mann has been pressured by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for years...
Great quote from the new owner who is trying to bring this old park back to life:
“Darlene claims, and may be right, that she doesn't have the money to save the park, to fix the water,” Hamilton said. “If the water doesn't get fixed, the park will implode and have to close down and that will be the end of it for everybody there. They don't deserve that, they're innocent people. And no one else is going to do it.”
This is one of those rare articles that is actually fair and balanced.
Originally released by New Hampshire Public Radio on March 13th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Julia Neily has lived in Lebanon for the last 25 years. Recently, she tried to find a one-bedroom rental in the Upper Valley for her mom — who lives in Massachusetts — so that they could live closer to each other. But it wasn’t easy.
“Oh, my gosh, horrible,” she said. Listings were going so fast that she barely had time to send in an application. “As soon as you find a place, it was gone in a day.”
Jeongyoon Han
/
NHPR
Julia Neily has lived in Lebanon for the last 25 years. Her sister who also lives there. Neily tried looking for a rental in the Upper Valley for their mother — but after a drawn-out search yielded few options, she...
Only a handful of towns in New Hampshire’s Upper Valley are taking up zoning changes this town meeting season. But farther south, in New London, town officials are also pushing for changes in an effort to address the housing shortage.
“I think we’re feeling the same pressures as the rest of the state in the housing market,” New London Zoning Administrator Adam Ricker said. “We’ve been hearing from our major institutions that they’re having a hard time recruiting because people can’t find housing — not just in New London, but anywhere in a reasonable commuting distance that’s affordable for the positions that they’re recruiting for.”
Recent census data shows that single family units make up the vast majority of New London’s housing. This spring, the town’s planners are hoping voters will be open to incentivizing different types of housing developments. That would include multi-family homes, condos, and workforce units. Another proposal would grant density bonuses — financial incentives to build units in a specified development project — in certain parts of town where planners think more housing would work well.
Paradis, who leads the town’s planning board, said that kind of mixed housing stock is exactly what the town needs: Right now, New London officials say out of the more than 2000 units in town, only 7 are available. Building a variety of housing, Paradis said, would allow many different people to make New London a home.
“I don't think you're going to see a wholesale change,” he said. “We would just have different types of housing beyond just single family housing in certain areas where it makes sense.”
Ricker said it’s hard to tell how the proposals will go over when voters finally weigh in.
“I think that whatever the will of the voters ends up being, it will provide the planning board data,” he said. “Then, they can readjust and decide what their path forward will be.”
Originally released by Bradenton Herald on March 12th, 2023
Commentary made on March 17th, 2023
Preview:
Along with the bright colors, quirky personal touches and flowering plants at the Pines Trailer Park, there is sadness and uncertainty among residents.
Park owner Jackson Partnership LLLP plans to sell the park and offered the home owners association the first chance to buy it, as it is required to do under state statute.
The asking price for the 87-lot, 2.78-acre park at 103 Church Avenue: $16 million.
Residents own their homes but rent the land under their trailers.
Dating back to 1935, the park was first used by members of a traveling circus, some say, and baseball great Babe Ruth once owned a home at 402 Church Ave., that later burned...
“The asking price for the 87-lot, 2.78-acre park at 103 Church Avenue: $16 million”. I know that the fact that Babe Ruth lived in this park in the 1930s is cool, but let’s face some reality here. First of all, that’s a density of 29 units per acre, which is insanely tight (the lots are crazy small, as are the trailers). And that price works out to $183,908 per lot. Wouldn’t the residents be miles ahead if you just gave them that money and they could move into a nice brick house?
