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autoevolution: This Tiny Is Going for the Ideal Family Mobile Home With Big Bedrooms and Plenty of Space

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Tiny houses first rose to prominence in the early 2000s as more environmentally friendly alternatives to regular homes that promised less clutter, more intentional living, and, as such, a happier lifestyle. In recent years, they've become even more popular for their promise of lower monthly costs, higher affordability without the ever-present threat of a 30-year mortgage, and the ability to move around with it in tow.

Park models still deliver all these benefits but in a larger footprint that should – at least in theory – do away with the biggest downside of downsizing: spatial constraints. In most territories, park model tiny homes can...

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The Tellico is for sale now at a discounted price of $162,000, which includes the furniture and appliances shown in the video tour below. For this kind of money, you're promised nearly the same comfort of a proper home but with a smaller footprint, which should convince aspiring downsizers to take the leap and make the transition.
Common Sense Translation: Do you seriously believe that somebody is going to pay $162,000 for that thing? The folks that need to live in a tiny home have one common characteristic: a very small budget. At that price point I think closing on a sale would be more difficult than Biden walking up stairs.

KTVH: Helena mobile park residents struggling with rent increase

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HELENA — It is no secret that Montanans are facing a housing crisis. With high rent and limited availability, finding a place to live can feel impossible. Residents of one mobile park in Helena say things keep getting worse.

Pam Kifer has lived at the Dakota Valley Mobile Home Park for three years.

She said, "I don't want to go to the homeless shelter. I've been there before."

When she moved in, the lot rent cost $395. On March 1st, it will increase to $675 a month.

"The first time he raised it, I had to change my life. I was doing senior companions, and I had to quit that job because it didn't pay enough to accommodate his raise," Kifer...

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Pam has lived at the Dakota Valley Mobile Home Park for three years. She said, "I don't want to go to the homeless shelter. I've been there before." When she moved in, the lot rent cost $395. On March 1st, it will increase to $675 a month. "The first time he raised it, I had to change my life. I was doing senior companions, and I had to quit that job because it didn't pay enough to accommodate his raise," Kifer said. Common Sense Translation: $675 per month is not excessive lot rent at all, in most markets. But if you were in a homeless shelter three years ago it makes sense that you should probably not be in the mainstream housing market and need to get on Section 8 or a similar government program because you really can’t afford to live in the modern world without assistance. It’s also a pretty safe bet that you don’t actually reflect the opinions or financial status of the rest of the mobile home park residents.

The Berkshire Edge: West Stockbridge trailer park rent hike issue heats up as February hearing nears

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West Stockbridge — A proposed monthly rent increase that would more than triple the current rent for residents at The Residences on Mill Pond, a West Stockbridge mobile home community, has riled a former resident as well as an official of a nearby town who weighed in on the potential effects of such a fee hike.

On November 27, Tom Lennon, corporate agent for Lennon Capital Group LLC, as the owner of the 35-lot mobile home community at 40 Albany Road, West Stockbridge, filed a Petition for Rent Adjustment, requesting the West Stockbridge Select Board—that sits as the West Stockbridge Rent Control Board—approve a surge in rent from $241 per...

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“The fact that the owner decided to purchase a park that was in such poor condition is not the problem of the residents of the park,” Kerswell said. “The cost of fixing the utilities is not on the residents, it’s on the owner. Because the park was in failure—the septic and the water and all these systems are in failure—he cannot pass that cost along to the tenants.” Common Sense Translation: Well, if that’s the attitude of the tenants then they better not be shocked when the new owner shuts the park down and turns it into a different use (probably apartments). There are two ways to go through life namely 1) win/win and 2) win/lose. If the residents think there’s a win/lose option (in which they hold all the cards and the property owner holds none) then the tenants are going to probably soon learn an important life lesson when the eviction notices go out. They should instead be sending “thank you” cards to the new owner and happily paying a higher rent that fends off redevelopment.

BNN: Pittsfield and West Stockbridge Face Staggering Manufactured Home Rent Increases

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In the quiet corners of Berkshire County, a storm is brewing over the proposed rent hikes for manufactured home communities in Pittsfield and West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. At the heart of this controversy are the residents of Lake Onota Village in Pittsfield and the Residences on Mill Pond in West Stockbridge, who are facing potential rent increases of up to 64 percent and 230 percent, respectively. These proposals shine a light on the broader issues of affordability, regulation, and the sustainability of living in manufactured homes.

The Case for an Increase

Represented by attorney Jeffrey T. Scrimo, the owners of Lake Onota Village...

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Represented by attorney Jeffrey T. Scrimo, the owners of Lake Onota Village have laid out a plan to hike monthly lot rents by $210 over the next three years. This adjustment would catapult rents from their current range of $330-$380 to $540-$590, marking a significant financial strain on the community's residents. The justification behind this steep increase is attributed to a significant rise in operational expenses since the last rate adjustment in 2012, with the owners aiming to achieve a 'fair rate of return'. The proposed hikes are not just numbers on a page; they represent a looming affordability crisis for the residents of these communities. Manufactured homes, often praised for their affordability and accessibility, are becoming less so as rental costs for the land they occupy skyrockets. Common Sense Translation: The rents have not been increased in twelve years. Going from $330 per month to $590 per month over twelve years equates to around a $22 increase annually. That’s ridiculously low. Stop whining about this more-than-reasonable increase and be thankful that you have found the lowest cost housing in the city.

The Columbian: Residents in Hazel Dell mobile home park dealt losing hand after rent control bill dies in Washington Legislature

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Several residents of a Hazel Dell senior mobile home park gambled that rent stabilization legislation would pass — and lost.

Their landlord at Meadow Verde had asked them to sign a lease agreement that included a discounted rent increase if they signed by Sunday. Some of the residents weren’t due to sign a new lease for almost a year.

The discount tempted many of the residents who live on fixed incomes. But they believed the early rental agreement was an effort to lock them in at rent increases higher than the 7 percent cap in a rent stabilization bill before the Legislature. So they didn’t sign, putting their future in the hands of...

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Several residents of a Hazel Dell senior mobile home park gambled that rent stabilization legislation would pass — and lost. Their landlord at Meadow Verde had asked them to sign a lease agreement that included a discounted rent increase if they signed by Sunday. Some of the residents weren’t due to sign a new lease for almost a year. The discount tempted many of the residents who live on fixed incomes. But they believed the early rental agreement was an effort to lock them in at rent increases higher than the 7 percent cap in a rent stabilization bill before the Legislature. So they didn’t sign, putting their future in the hands of lawmakers.Then, on Monday, that legislation — House Bill 2114 — effectively died when the Senate Ways and Means Committee refused to vote on it. “We really had a lot of faith in our elected officials on both sides to do what’s right. They failed the people that needed them most,” Bart said. Common Sense Translation: Ronald Reagan summed it up when he said that the nine most dangerous words are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. Rent control is such a bad idea – with plenty of economic stats to prove it – that even crazy, woke Washington couldn’t bring itself to pass it and the residents bet on the wrong horse when they believed the hollow promises of today’s bureaucrats.

Virginia Mercury: General Assembly offers new hope for aging mobile home parks

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While many of the costs that have contributed to inflation over the past three years have begun to moderate, there is one that hasn’t: housing. Over the past year, housing and related costs account for two-thirds of the increase in the core Consumer Price Index. Pick up any newspaper or follow news feeds online and you are certain to see reporting on the housing crisis that we are facing in most of our communities.

A report issued last month by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University found that the extended period of rising rents during the pandemic has put unaffordability at all-time highs for renters. For the first...

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Manufactured homes, including those located in parks, represent one of the largest components of unassisted affordable housing in the nation. In Virginia, mobile home parks provide some of the most deeply affordable housing in many of our communities. But these parks are increasingly at risk as many long-time, traditional park owners are aging and looking to sell as they retire. At the same time, large, national real estate investors are increasingly interested in purchasing these previously ignored assets. When parks are purchased, rents rise and frequently tenants also become responsible for water and sewer payments as well as other fees. Since 2020, Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development has received 146 notices of Intent to Sell or Purchase Offer from park owners, indicating how active this market has become. Park residents face challenges that typical apartment renters do not. If they own their mobile home, as many do, they have little choice but to pay higher lot rentals and absorb utility bill transfers since they are unable to move their homes. The term “mobile” is a misnomer; these homes are mobile only to the extent that they are transported to their initial location. After that, the cost and impracticality of moving them means that they stay put. Legislation is pending in the General Assembly that offers some relief. Del. Paul Krizek’s House Bill 1397 offers local governments, tenants and nonprofit organizations the opportunity to purchase parks when sales are pending to preserve affordability and improve living conditions. There is evidence that this approach can work. Common Sense Translation: To bring old mobile home parks back to life, the new owners must increase rents significantly. Residents don’t like to pay higher rents. They don’t need to move their homes if they have a better deal as they could just sell the homes where they sit, just like any other single-family home. The real reason they don’t move is because the cost of every other form of housing is significantly higher than living in a mobile home park. When bureaucrats opine on giving the tenants the first option to buy the park they know full well that the success rate for that concept is something like .0000000001% but it gives them an out to pretend like they really do care and to then shift the blame to non-profits who won’t co-sign the mortgage.

Peninsula Daily News: Sequim extends its mobile home moratorium

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SEQUIM — A Sequim moratorium on redevelopment of mobile/manufactured home parks has been extended through Aug. 14.

The Sequim City Council unanimously approved the six-month extension on Feb. 12 to prevent any redevelopment of mobile/manufactured home parks in the city until a new zone can be created that protects the home types.

Doug Wright, a manufactured home resident, said at the Feb. 12 meeting he sees hope in the city’s actions.

"I see seniors with hope finally because something has been done to alleviate the fear they live with every day,” he said.

Wright said with the city creating provisions to preserve residents’ homes, it “can...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Manufactured home residents have testified for more than a year to city leaders and staff that rent and/or leases continue to go up and that many of them are on fixed incomes and increases are making it difficult to buy necessities. They’ve also feared that, as manufactured home parks are being sold, they could be redeveloped. Judy Hatch, a manufactured home resident, spoke at the city’s Feb. 6 planning commission meeting, saying her park has seen an increase of $125 more a month and that, for some people, that equals their monthly food costs. She’s also been concerned about her park’s owner potentially selling and losing her home to redevelopment without anywhere to go. Common Sense Translation: You can’t have it both ways. You either like living in the mobile home park at the new rent or you need to move out. You can’t say you hate the park but also that you hate having to leave. There’s no way that the rents are NOT going to go up and still have the property remain as a mobile home park. This is no different that the grifter that goes to McDonald’s, orders the burger, eats most of it, places a cigarette butt under the bun, and then demands a refund from the manager for selling a dangerous hamburger. The residents are not going to get something for nothing – only the federal government engages in that misguided behavior. You can use the same argument on any U.S. product or service that inflated costs are taking away from food or other expense line-items. It’s an absolute fact that America is completely out of control with inflation and all Americans face tough choices. But is the park owner going to let the residents live in the park and lose money doing it? Absolutely not, so give up on that argument.

Adirondack Explorer: The promise of modular homes

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Unlike Rome, the Adirondack home of tomorrow will be built  in a day, or at least set up. It will use scant energy, and what it does need will be generated from rooftop panels or a community solar farm. The money normally spent on electricity, gas or oil bills can be redirected to the mortgage instead, increasing the affordability of these homes, which will already be cheaper than than traditional stick-built counterparts. Each house will be custom built and specifically sized, not just for the customer, but to fit efficiently on lot or land.

The houses will be built in the Adirondacks by Adirondackers using locally sourced lumber and...

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Here’s the quick answer: modular has zero promise unless it sells at a bigger discount than just 10% (stick-built $300,000 vs. modular at $270,000 according to the author). Until you get to at least 40% off, forget it. Nobody is going to buy a fake Ferrari for roughly the same price as a real Ferrari.

The U.S. Sun: LUXE LIVING Inside a tiny home community offering a ‘level of luxury’ with scenic views, spa and rent starts at $795

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It is the first-of-its-kind village in the area, offering lots and pre-built tiny homes.

"Carefree low-maintenance tiny luxury homes in the sunshine, plus the privileges of a resort-style living," reads the website.

"Ownership includes access to resort-style amenities including a central swimming pool, clubhouse with gym and activities room, outdoor community BBQ area, lounge, plus more."

There's also a hot tub spa, dog park, putting green, and Pickleball court.

"Our goal is to create a model for tiny home villages across the nation," reads the website.

"We're here to redefine the concept of community living by offering a wealth of...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Could this be more cringe-worthy and insane? This park looks to be located (based on the photo), literally, in the middle of nowhere. Tiny homes are hot with Millennials but not retired folks. Where would a Millennial get a job in this location – on a farm? I hope there’s a Plan B since working remote is getting repealed by employers. If you could put this in the heart of a city, then it would work fine – but zoning would never allow for that. That’s the basic problem with all greenfield development.

Yahoo! Finance: ‘Shark Tank’ Star Barbara Corcoran: Why I Live in a Mobile Home (and Why I Paid $1 Million for It)

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Living in a mobile home or trailer probably doesn’t always have a positive connotation among the wealthiest class. But, that perception apparently didn’t stop “Shark Tank” businesswoman and real estate entrepreneur Barbara Corcoran from buying a double-wide trailer in Los Angeles.

She recently showed off her mobile home to TikTok star Caleb Simpson in a video tour. Corcoran previously walked the TikTok star through her Manhattan apartment about a year ago, which she also owns.

The Pacific Palisades trailer cost Corcoran $800,000 and she said she put another $150,000 into it.

For comparison, the average price of a new double-wide trailer...

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PLEASE GIVE IT UP, BARBARA! Nobody is buying any of this nonsense. Look, obviously there are cash-flow reasons for moving into the Malibu mobile home park vs. the stick-built homes that cost ten times more (Pam Anderson and Hillary Duff have done the same thing when their careers headed south) but it’s not because it was a financially genius investment opportunity. 

Sea Coast Online: North Hampton mobile home owners face soaring tax bills after reval: 'We're struggling'

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A hot real estate market led to soaring property taxes in two towns. Find out why some homeowners saw their property values double after a...

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A couple observations:

  1. So much for the argument that mobile homes don’t appreciate (when they are sitting in a nice mobile home park) as the tax assessor found that the average mobile home sale went up 87% in price over the past few years.
  2. If residents find this tax situation so bad, maybe they should have more empathy for park owners who are seeing the same escalation in property tax on the land only on a massive scale, and that’s why lot rents must continue to go up significantly.

WTVG: Residents still concerned after Ohio EPA reports bacteria free water at Swanton mobile home park

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SWANTON, Ohio (WTVG) - Residents in a mobile home park are still concerned that the water they use in their daily lives is not safe despite promising results from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Just 13 days ago, the Ohio EPA inspected the water at the Arrowhead Lake Mobile Home Park in Swanton. Results of the inspection show that there was no bacteria in the water but a residents tells 13 Action News the water is still questionable.

The inspection came after a recent water main leak where Kyle Nicholson lives, and the results say there is no bacteria in the water, however, Nicholson still says he can’t trust the water.

“Will I...

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Residents in a mobile home park are still concerned that the water they use in their daily lives is not safe despite promising results from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Just 13 days ago, the Ohio EPA inspected the water at the Arrowhead Lake Mobile Home Park in Swanton. Results of the inspection show that there was no bacteria in the water but a residents tells 13 Action News the water is still questionable.

Another case of residents knowing more than the experts. Sure, I’d take the word of a trailer park resident over the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency – wouldn’t you? What kind of idiot news station would run this stuff?

Spectrum News: Tampa mobile home owner says lot rent increased three times in a year

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TAMPA, Fla. — Natasha Velasco juggles raising her family with small children and the tasks involved in maintaining her mobile home.

“This is my husband’s work clothes,” she said. “I wash and dry regularly because I have a big family.”

Velasco says the cost of doing so has gone up since the park’s owner now adds water to their bill.

“It costs a lot to wash clothes and take showers,” she said.

She says they also had three rent hikes for their lot since new management took over.

“At first, it was at $795," Velasco said. "Then they bumped it to $843 within a few months, and then in August, they bumped it up again."

Velasco said her family...

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Information from the NMHA indicates that changing public policy to incentivize park owners to sell their property to mobile homeowners, HUD properties and other nonprofits would create more housing security.

Wow, looks like MHAction has a new non-profit competitor called the “NMHA” (which stands for the “National Manufactured Homeowners Association). They support the same woke “free rent” movement and have pledged to annoy park owners and respectable bureaucrats throughout the country. Can’t wait to see this turf war escalate. I’m picturing the rumble from Will Farrell’s “Anchorman”.

Ark Valley Voice: POLIS ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES MODULAR HOUSING LOANS TO CREATE UP TO 4,755 MORE HOUSING UNITS PER YEAR

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Fading West Among Eight Modular Home Recipients of Funding Support

On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), and the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) announced funding to support the growth of eight modular housing manufacturers across Colorado. Collectively, these manufacturers are projected to create 4,755 housing units per year.

“Colorado needs more housing now, and these manufacturers will help us build over 4,700 more units per year so more people can live closer to the jobs and the communities they love,” said Polis. “This is an important part of our work...

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This article is mostly stupid but hidden inside of it was a 3-D printing company name and I went to their website and I was blown away by the product https://www.azureprintedhomes.com/backyard-studio/. THIS is the future of pre-fab housing. Take a look for yourself. Consumers would buy this product even if it cost MORE than stick-built.

Bartool Sports: The Rock Calls Salt Lake City A Buncha Inbred Trailer Park Trash In His First Heel Promo On SmackDown In Years

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Roman Reigns and The Rock just headlined SmackDown together in a great segment - their first together since aligning at the WrestleMania press conference in Las Vegas last week - where Salt Lake City just got torn to shreds the whole time.

Roman came out first, made everyone acknowledge him (duh), and announced that tonight would be the first night The Rock could be officially considered part of The Bloodline. 

Then came The Rock, dressed in a Versace vest reminiscent of some of the crazy $500 shirts he used to wear back in the day and he just played that crowd like a fiddle. He built up this big attendance record they broke that night,...

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Interesting to see how the old “trailer trash” term is making a resurgence in American culture. Wait, I thought that such hurtful slogans were off-limits in the new woke America. I guess not. Once again, mobile home park residents get no respect because they have no political clout.

The Reminder: Tenants fight rent hike, poor living conditions at Ludlow mobile home park

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LUDLOW — A 150% rent hike has caused residents of a mobile home community in Ludlow to cry foul, not just about the cost, but also the conditions.

On Feb. 5, state Sen. Jake Oliviera (D-Ludlow) and state Rep. Aaron Saunders (D-Belchertown) toured the West Street Village Mobile Home Community, a neighborhood of 44 mobile homes, most dating to the late 1950s and early 1960s. For about an hour and a half, resident after resident told the officials about faulty electrical infrastructure, poorly maintained roads and homes being sold with leaks and inadequate insulation.

The homes were purchased from and financed through Tom Lennon, owner of...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This is one of the dumbest news stories floating around out there. This rent increase was formally approved by the Boad of Rent Control. Now the residents are claiming they know better than the Rent Control Board on what rents should be. That’s not how the law works. There is a legal methodology to life and you can’t later try to relitigate them. It’s like a 49ers fan trying to reopen the Super Bowl days later because the refs made a bad call. The Rent Control Board approved the increase and now you move on. Period.

Bloomberg Law: Mobile Home Park Can Bring Pre-Enforcement Suit Over Rent Law

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A California mobile home park owner can move forward with its challenge to a state rent control statute after the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of its lawsuit.

Peace Ranch LLC alleged in a pre-enforcement challenge that Assembly Bill 978—which applies to mobile home parks subject to jurisdiction under two or more incorporated cities—was specifically designed to target it after it tried to raise rents on its Rancho La Paz mobile park property by more than five percent. Judge M. Margaret McKeown, of the US...

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How do they find people to own businesses in California? I would go nuts if I had to deal with B.S. like this. They can’t charge enough in lot rents to make this compelling.

KBZK Bozeman: HRDC stepping up to purchase Belgrade mobile home park, residents relieved

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BELGRADE — In 2023, the Belgrade Trailer Court was put up for sale, leaving many residents wary of the future. But now, the HRDC has stepped in to prevent the displacement some of these residents could’ve faced.

“This whole park is one community, and you can tell the worry is spreading,” said Crystal Wendt.

Wendt has lived here in the Belgrade Trailer Court for six years. She says when she first heard the news of the property going up for sale, she was devastated.

“Because you can just see it coming, new development coming to wipe you out,” said Wendt. “Many of us would face homelessness if anything like that were to happen.”

But now that...

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I’m not sure why the residents thought this park was a future development site – just look at the map for evidence – but if they want to conspire with non-profits to buy something then why not? I hope they have a plan on that 2-year debt, however, as it will be coming due right at the peak of the “commercial real estate apocalypse” when $2 trillion of worthless office building and shopping mall loans comes due (they probably should have used an advisor from the real world when structuring the deal and not an academic). If they ultimately default on the loan two years from now, then they would have been much better off with a professional investor that would never have agreed to those loan terms.

WTVG: I-TEAM Neighborhood Nuisance: Sewer issues at Toledo mobile home park fixed after I-TEAM gets involved

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TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - A Toledo woman can finally go to the bathroom inside her own home now that a sewage problem inside the Deep Lake mobile home park is resolved.

“Ah, it feels wonderful! It does,” Bonnie Russell, who rents a trailer at the park, said.

Russell reached out to the I-TEAM in January about the problem. She claimed her trailer’s sewer line wasn’t connected when she moved in.

“There’s feces under my trailer because the sewer was never connected,” Russell said in January. “We don’t have any plumbing, and we’ve been told to pee and pour it in the yard. We’ve been told to go potty in sacks.

Despite notifying park management...

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Our thoughts on this story:

There are two sides to every story, but the modern media only provides one. Personally, this story sounds pretty fishy (“the owner told them to go to the bathroom and pour it in the yard”) but it would not be the first time a television crew failed to fact-check in their rush to fill dead time on the news.

South Florida Business Journal: Fort Lauderdale mobile home park could be rezoned for development

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The new zoning would permit more than 1,200 residential units.

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Yes, that’s what happens when lot rents don’t make the property more valuable as a mobile home park than as a different use. As I have said in every week’s news review: low rents = redevelopment.

Portland Press Herald: The Maine Millennial: On mobile homes, let’s move with the times

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There’s no logical reason to ban mobile or manufactured homes from the same plots of land that allow stick-built single-family housing; I fully support Rep. Cheryl Golek’s bill, L.D. 337, to amend local zoning laws to allow mobile or manufactured homes on single-family lots.

When asked about their opposition to the idea, most people will hem and haw and maybe say something about safety – even though modern manufactured housing is built to strict safety standards. Or they’ll say something about “neighborhood character.” As if mobiles aren’t, what, pretty enough?

I think what it boils down to is property values – the idea is that living in...

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I know that a lot of people will be worried about taking “home rule” away from towns, but that’s one of the issues that brought us into a housing crisis in the first place. If everyone focuses on a very narrow view of what is in their immediate best interest, municipalities tend to end up with, well, with the current housing crisis.

What a frightening woke narrative. Communities definitely need zoning in which the $1 million mansion is protected from having a mobile home move in to the vacant lot next door. Sure, the woke writer of this article could care less because they have nothing to lose – they’d be the one in the mobile home. But you have to protect property values with strict zoning and Houston proved once-and-for-all that a lack of zoning was a bad idea.

BoiseDev: Mobile home park sale notification bill heads to House floor

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A bill giving Idahoans living in mobile home parks a better chance to buy their park is heading to the House floor.

On Monday, the Idaho House Business Committee held a public hearing on HB 424 from Rep. Elaine Price, R-Coeur d’Alene, a bill that would require owners to give 15 days of notice to a mobile home park association before a park is sold. Currently, if residents organize into mobile home park community associations in the hopes of owning the community themselves they must notify their owner once a year about their intent to buy the property. This bill would require the owner to also give notice in return if they plan to sell to...

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Price said this bill doesn’t require landowners to sell their property to mobile home park associations or stop any sales, it only gives residents a chance to make their own offer to preserve low-cost housing options in Idaho. She said this is helpful because often mobile home park owners sell these properties privately, so there is no notification to residents when it is posted on the MLS. “The whole idea behind this is to prompt the land owner to take into consideration the association and their wishes,” Price said. “It’s just adding language to try to get the land owner to participate in the association’s wish to purchase the land.”

We have sold several parks to the residents over the years. However, let’s get serious on how that works. The residents have to organize into an association with formal officers, then vote to buy the park, then conduct due diligence, then find a non-profit group to work on the project, then find another non-profit that will personally guaranty the loan, then have a final vote by all residents to more forward and, if successful, then put the whole thing together with attorneys and get it closed. The total elapsed time for all of the above is six to twelve months. Those type of deals only get done with the endless tolerance and patience of the seller. There’s no way that any resident group will ever be able to match the speed of a normal buyer, who typically closes in around 90 days.

FOX Business: Trailer park 'stigma' for manufactured homes is one of industry's biggest obstacles: Mitch Roschelle

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Video at: https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6346421625112


Madison Ventures+ managing director Mitch Roschelle breaks down the surplus in housing, its impact on rent prices and the appeal of mobile housing.

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Our thoughts on this story:

I would think the first order of business to stop the negative stigma is to quit calling them “manufactured homes”. NOBODY wants to live in a “manufactured” home. Everyone wants to live in a “custom” home that does not come out of a factory like a widget. Ferrari became famous by building each car by hand, one at a time. Why brand your product as something that is mass produced by using the name “manufactured”? That has always seemed idiotic to me.

Bangor Daily News: Old mobile home stigmas are leading to higher housing costs

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A real estate agent recently asked a client whether they would consider a manufactured home.

The person said no, so the agent then asked the same question in a different way: Did they want a custom-built house that would be ready in four months?

“They’re like, ‘That would be great!’” state Sen. Matt Pouliot, R-Augusta, who runs his own realty firm in his home city, said.

The story illustrates the stigma around manufactured homes, which are often known as modular or mobile homes, depending on how or when they were constructed. Policymakers are trying to dispel the negative perception of homes built off-site to drive down housing costs,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

20% is simply not enough discount for a consumer to choose a modular home over a stick-built home. It would have to be more like 50% off to get any traction. Every time I go to the annual mobile home show and walk these $150,000 modular homes I think how crazy it is for manufacturers to think that those are going to sell when you can buy a stick-built – without the stigma – for nearly the same price. I must be correct because all of this misplaced “CrossMod” excitement has amounted to nearly nothing in actual sales.

NewsNation Now: Manufactured homes are more affordable. Why aren’t we producing more?

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Manufactured homes have historically been considered a solution to affordable housing shortages, but ballooning rent and financing costs are creating new barriers.

Sometimes referred to as mobile homes, they are built entirely in manufacturing plants and transported to the property where they’ll stay. It’s an option that’s 35% to 47% cheaper per square foot than traditional housing, which is built on-site on a permanent foundation, according to data from the Urban Institute.

“The puzzle is why there’s so little (manufactured housing) being shipped when it’s a much better product than it used to be,” said Laurie Goodman, an Urban Institute...

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Our thoughts on this story:

“The puzzle is why there’s so little (manufactured housing) being shipped when it’s a much better product than it used to be,” said Laurie Goodman, an Urban Institute fellow.

Here’s the reason they’re not selling more new mobile homes:

  1. The prices are too high.
  2. Nobody has put together financing programs that consumers can qualify for without park owners having to participate in the default process.
  3. The outside of the homes are not appealing to the eye.
  4. The HUD installation guidelines add $10,000 to $20,000 to the already too high pricing.

Solve those issues and you might sell more homes. Until then, forget it.