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AZ Central: Central Phoenix trailer park to be replaced with housing to serve the 'missing middle'

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Housing, offices and a small-scale restaurant or cafe are part of a proposed redevelopment in central Phoenix on a site that used to include a mobile home park.

Phoenix-based Venue Projects bought the 2.5-acre site at 14th Place and Highland Avenue in 2017, Lorenzo Perez, co-founder of Venue Projects, said.

“My business partner, Jon Kitchell, and his wife live in that neighborhood,” Perez said. “For years, Jon had been trying to acquire the park. He was drawn to the old 1950s trailers on the site.”

Modern mobile home park was the hope

When they bought the park, Venue Projects had intended to rehabilitate the site as a trailer park, with...

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Our thoughts on this story:

It’s interesting how people can be manipulated by a “spin”. In this case you have a group that bought a mobile home park, found the land was worth more in a different use, and was able to demolish the park without any pushback because they claimed it was all about focusing on this corny “missing middle” spin. The guy with the boatyard project in the earlier article should have told the city he was working on the “missing middle” and they would have said “yes, that’s extremely important to our city so go ahead and tear those last two trailers down” – without even knowing what he was talking about.

Reminds me of when they re-labeled “garbagemen” into “environmental engineers”. My hat is off to the “missing middle” label – pure genius.

2 Urban Girls: Senior citizens set to be displaced from Carson mobile home park Nov. 1

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Court Hearing Scheduled on October 31, 2023 to Decide Their Future

Low-income seniors are threatened with imminent eviction from their homes by a multi-billion dollar development corporation at Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates (located at 21207 Avalon Boulevard in Carson, California).

The developer ordinally sought approval to close the Mobile home park, displacing a total of 373 Carson citizens from their homes, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The approval process was supposed to include public participation, but lockdown orders in place at the time prevented many residents from meaningfully participating the City Planning...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Only in California …

The approval was ultimately granted in 2020, in part based on promises from the developer to ensure no resident would become homeless through the closure process. As the closure process comes to an end, the developer has failed to ensure the residents are relocated to safe and affordable, local housing as promised.

How can you task a mobile home park owner with what the U.S. Government itself can’t even accomplish (the waiting list for Section 8 is years long, right?). Where in the world would you find cheap housing in California and what keeps any resident from simply saying “I don’t feel this proposed housing is safe and affordable, in my opinion”?

What a stupid, stupid provision.

AXIOS Richmond: Richmond's new affordable housing idea: Reimagining mobile home parks

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Just over three years ago, Bermuda Estates mobile home park in Chesterfield desperately needed repairs. It was filled with aging trailers and neglected infrastructure.

  • Today it's a community in bloom, with a newly paved main road and dotted with cheerful front porches on some of the new homes, backyard vegetable gardens and proud residents eager to show off their flower beds.

What's happening: Project:HOMES, a Richmond-based affordable housing nonprofit, purchased the park in 2020 through a unique partnership with Chesterfield County with the goal of keeping residents in their homes and keeping those homes affordable.

Why it...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This article is incredibly misleading. This is a 46-space park that was purchased by a group of non-profits at a cost of around $2.5 million. On top of that they are putting in what looks like new $100,000 front-entry singlewides and then selling them at a “subsidized” loss of an additional $75,000 per home. So each lot, with home, is costing the non-profits around $130,000 in cash out of their pocket, plus another $25,000 by the tenant, for a total of $155,000. Now I’ve never been to Richmond, VA but I can’t believe that spending $155,000 for a trailer in a trailer park is the best use for that money. These residents could buy regular stick-built homes with nice yards for that amount.

If the title of this article had been “Richmond Spends $155,000 per Household on a Trailer Park” it would probably not have the same positive perception. I wonder if the folks who give to these non-profits have any idea of how their money is spent and if they are OK with all of this?

Times Union: State steps in again to ask mobile home park owner to refrain from harassing tenants

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SARATOGA — For the second time, the state has asked the owner of a mobile home park on Saratoga Lake to stop harassing and threatening tenants with eviction, allowing rattled residents a temporary reprieve from the owner's wish to accelerate redevelopment plans.

The state Division of Homes and Community Renewal sent a letter Sept. 26 to owner Michael Giovanone, reiterating that he must preserve the 3.2-acre Saratoga Lakeview Mobile Home Park as a park until 2026. 

“This letter is also meant to remind you of your legal obligation to fulfill your duties under the Park’s contract to purchase and the Certification you signed on March 31, 2021,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Same pathetic story as last week. A guy wants to redevelop a dilapidated trailer park into a nice boat storage business. But the bureaucrats will go to any lengths to block him because there are two trailers left in the park and the powers that be have some rationale that the single most important thing on earth is that this guy be denied his right to finish clearing the property until 2026. I know none of the facts but simply reading this article leads you to the conclusion that 1) either somebody at the city or state has it in for this guy or 2) the city and county leaders are basically worthless. But then you realize the property is in New York and you think “oh, ok now it makes sense”.

M Live: Developers plan to resubmit Ann Arbor-area mobile home park plans after judge’s ruling

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WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI - Property owners and developers who have proposed a roughly 500-unit mobile home park north of Ann Arbor will move forward with their plans after a favorable court ruling in a yearslong legal battle with Ann Arbor Township.

Trial Court Judge Carol Kuhnke ruled on Wednesday, Oct. 25, that a 1975 court order permitting mobile home development on nearly 140 acres on both sides of U.S. 23 north of Warren Road was valid, something township officials have contested in court.

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Our thoughts on this story:

It’s rare that the court sides with the mobile home park developer, but this is one of those occasions. Of course, it will probably be appealed over and over and we may not know the ultimate verdict for years. By then the city will probably come up with a plan to take the property through eminent domain to build a green space (it’s happened before).

Hoodline: Sonoma County Proposes Change in Mobile Home Park Rent Policy for Enhanced Housing Affordability

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Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has proposed a change in policy to limit annual rent increases at mobile home parks to no more than 4 percent or 70 percent of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less.

According to the County of Sonoma, Board of Supervisors Chair, Supervisor Chris Coursey, has highlighted the precarious housing state for many mobile home residents. He noted that these individuals often have fewer alternatives and struggle to manage rent increases on their park spaces.

The amendments discuss not only a cap on rent increases but also permit park owners to increase rent by up to 5 percent with each change in home...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Sure, you saw this article came out of California and you thought “oh boy, I bet this is going to be stupid”. Well, this article met your expectations. Now Sonoma, California wants to reduce the amount of rent mobile home park owners can raise each year to only 70% of CPI. Yes, that’s right – not even CPI. How does that make sense? It doesn’t. Just another reason to avoid California as a real estate market.

Central Maine: Waterville Planning Board delays vote on additional lots for mobile home park

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WATERVILLE — Planning Board Chairwoman Samantha Burdick on Tuesday chastised the new owner of a mobile home park off West River Road for what she said are ongoing problems with flooding, poor roads, issues with rats and cracking slabs beneath homes.

 

The discussion about Countryside Mobile Home Park at 457 West River Road arose when the board was asked to approve a sewer main modification at the park and approve two additional lots there that were supposed to have been approved beforehand by the Planning Board, but were not. Two double-wide homes were placed on the lots.

The board voted 6-0 to approve the sewer main modification, but...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Looks like planning board member Samantha Burdick has been hanging out with the guy pictured in the above article:

Planning Board Chairwoman Samantha Burdick on Tuesday chastised the new owner of a mobile home park off West River Road for what she said are ongoing problems with flooding, poor roads, issues with rats and cracking slabs beneath homes.

So let me get this straight – the park owner is responsible for flooding (Act of God), ‘poor” roads (can she please define because they look fine in the photo), rats (Act of Mother Nature) and ‘cracking slabs beneath homes” (which have zero impact on safety or home condition -- and how can she see them anyway?).

It would be refreshing if Burdick could just be honest and probably say “I hate trailer park residents and I don’t want two more houses full of them in my city”, right? Never going to happen.

Kelowna Now: Fate of West Kelowna trailer park to be discussed this week

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The fate of an existing trailer park in West Kelowna will be up for debate this week.

On Wednesday, West Kelowna’s advisory planning commission (APC) will be reviewing a rezoning request for the property at 2355 Marshall Road.

Kerr Properties is seeking council’s approval to rezone the property from the Manufactured Home Park Zone (RMP) to the Light Industrial (I1) Zone to make way for a storage unit business.

A staff report says the property falls within an area that has been identified for “industrial objectives” under the city’s Official Community Plan.

The property is adjacent to Highway 97 and in between Westlake Road and Horizon...

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Our thoughts on this story:

A group buys an old mobile home park and is going to tear it down to make way for a new self-storage facility. When asked why the park has to be torn down, the owner responds with:

“many of the homes are “well beyond” their economic life and the park itself has experienced ongoing domestic water, sanitary sewer and road infrastructure issues”

Yes, that’s right. The park needs a ton of capital-intensive work and the owner doesn’t want to do it. But when a private equity group or other new buyer tackles this type of project -- to bring an old park back to life -- they are assaulted with criticism. There probably was a rent level in which this park was worth more as a mobile home community than as a self-storage building, but it was clearly not hitting that mark. Once again, LOW RENTS = REDEVELOPMENT.

Times Union: State steps in again to ask mobile home park owner to refrain from harassing tenants

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SARATOGA — For the second time, the state has asked the owner of a mobile home park on Saratoga Lake to stop harassing and threatening tenants with eviction, allowing rattled residents a temporary reprieve from the owner's wish to accelerate redevelopment plans.

The state Division of Homes and Community Renewal sent a letter Sept. 26 to owner Michael Giovanone, reiterating that he must preserve the 3.2-acre Saratoga Lakeview Mobile Home Park as a park until 2026. 

“This letter is also meant to remind you of your legal obligation to fulfill your duties under the Park’s contract to purchase and the Certification you signed on March 31, 2021,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This guy wants to redevelop his mobile home park into boat storage, which the zoning is correct for and already adjoins the tract. But the city is making him wait for five years to start the project despite the fact that there are only two mobile homes remaining on this piece of land. This whole situation sounds beyond idiotic to me.

The Deming Headlight: Snatching up the ground under mobile homes

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Over time, words with beautiful meanings occasionally get degraded into ugliness. “Gentle,” for example.

Originally meaning good natured and kindly, it was twisted into “gentry” in the Middle Ages by very un-gentle land barons seeking a patina of refinement. Then it became a pretentious verb — to “gentrify” — meaning to make something common appear upscale.

And now the word has devolved to “gentrification,” describing the greed of developers and speculators who oust middle-and-low-income families from their communities to create trendy enclaves for the rich.

The latest move by these profiteers is their meanest yet, targeting families with...

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Our thoughts on this story:

What a crazy world we live in today.

Over time, words with beautiful meanings occasionally get degraded into ugliness. “Gentle,” for example. Originally meaning good natured and kindly, it was twisted into “gentry” in the Middle Ages by very un-gentle land barons seeking a patina of refinement. Then it became a pretentious verb — to “gentrify” — meaning to make something common appear upscale. And now the word has devolved to “gentrification,” describing the greed of developers and speculators who oust middle-and-low-income families from their communities to create trendy enclaves for the rich.

The truth is that progress is terrific and the desire to live a better life is what has fueled all the great things that society has created from nice homes to quality healthcare. As part of the continual quest for better living there is continual displacement. Obviously, nobody likes to see the 80-year-old forced to find a new home, but you have to weigh the benefit to hundreds of people versus the detriment of a few. That’s how society makes decisions: by majority rule. It’s the basis of our political and economic system.

Bangor Daily News: New law hopes to keep investors out of Maine’s mobile home parks

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A new law goes into effect Wednesday that proponents say will curb investor activity in Maine’s manufactured housing market, which is on the rise.

LD 1931 will require the owners of manufactured housing communities — sometimes known as mobile home parks — to give residents notice if the land under their homes is going to be put up for sale. Though many people own their manufactured homes, they don’t own the lots under them and pay a monthly fee to rent those from a landowner.

About 10 percent of Maine’s population lives in a manufactured home, according to U.S. census data.

Landowners now have to give residents 60 days from the...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The title of this article has nothing to do with reality. The new law would require park owners to give residents a couple months of advance notice if they want to sell, so the residents can somehow band together and buy the park under a “resident-owned communities” fantasy. But here’s the problem. The residents will never be able to pull that off 99% of the time (that’s the actual statistic). Only a bureaucrat with zero real-life experience would think this is even important enough to waste the time to debate and try to pass into law. The politicians must have needed something new to pander to their base over and this was low-hanging – but meaningless – fruit.

Patch: Fort Lauderdale Mobile Home Park Residents Ordered To Leave, Prompting Anger And Concern

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FORT LAUDERDALE -- Dozens of homeowners gathered Monday night pleading for help to stave off eviction at Pan American Estates Mobile Home Park in Fort Lauderdale after receiving notices to vacate the property.

Several residents who live in the 239 homes received letters informing them that they had to move heir single- or double-wide units out the park by April 22.

The eviction letter said residents who are current with their rent for space to park their home in the park qualify for incentive payments. And those with a valid title who vacate the park by Dec. 15 could receive between $9,875 and $14,500, according to the letter.

 

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Our thoughts on this story:

The property owner has the right under Florida law to develop this site into any purpose they desire – including having it revert back to raw farmland. Residents have absolutely no legal right to block that owner’s right. It’s called basic American property law. Sure, the residents don’t want to leave because their rent was dirt cheap. But that’s why the park is shutting down, right? You can’t have it both ways. As I’ve said for a decade now LOW RENTS = REDEVELOPMENT.

The Land: Op-ed: Nonprofit owner always intended to force Euclid Beach Mobile Home residents to move. It’s not too late to save their affordable housing.

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In December 2021, the nonprofit Western Reserve Land Conservancy bought the 28.5 acre Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community in Cleveland’s North Collinwood neighborhood from a Texas developer for $5.8 million. After buying it, they completed a year-long planning process with other stakeholders to determine the future of the property and surrounding area. In February of this year, Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC) announced their decision to turn the entire lakefront property over to the Cleveland Metroparks, creating a signature new lakefront park on Cleveland’s east side and forcing residents to move by August 31, 2024. 

The decision...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Back in the 1980s the town of Watauga, Texas took an eminent domain action to rid themselves of some ramshackle old businesses that ruined the drive-up approach to their city. The business owners complained that they could not find alternative, cheap retail space and many shut down. But the look of the town improved overnight, new housing developments popped up, and around 10,000 people benefitted greatly from the loss of about 10 businesses. That’s called “progress” and it happens every time something is torn down to make way for a better use.

In this case a dilapidated mobile home park is being razed to make way for a new lakefront development. The entire town is thrilled but around 50 residents hate it. They will have to just accept it and move on.  

KUNC: Organizing mobile-home owners as investors gobble up parks

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Like a lot of his neighbors, John Sullivan looks down his Apple Tree Park street and across the Colorado River toward the small Western Slope town of New Castle and wonders about the future.

The 290-space mobile home park where he has lived for 25 years has one of the more picturesque settings among the 50 or so such parks, large and small, that dot the region from Aspen to Parachute.

The streets and yards are lined with mature trees to provide ample shade in the summer, and there’s a good-sized community park where children can play and families gather for picnics. Many of the spaces even overlook the river — albeit with Interstate 70...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Yet another article in which the writer claims that it’s “evil” for big companies buy up poor condition mobile home parks, inject capital into them, bring them back to life, and then raise rents. In fact, the writer sums up the problem with four words in a sub-heading “rules and raising rents”.

OK, if you want to live in a dirt-road dump then that should be your right. But that is NOT what 99% of mobile home park residents want – and it’s insulting to insinuate they do. They want to live in a nice, clean, safe place with working utilities, professional management and strong rules enforcement and they are willing to pay up for that.

This article reminds me of the 2020 push to “defund the police” in which woke journalists made their case that Americans hate law enforcement and prefer complete anarchy. Does anyone still believe that?

What’s “evil” is when you force 99% of the park residents to live in squalor to accommodate the 1% that like to live that way.

Times Standard: Humboldt County supervisors OK mobile home park rent control guidelines

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Editor’s note: this story has been corrected to state that Andrew Ditlevsen from Hopkins & Carley’s was referring to automatic inclusion of all residents in rent reduction claims when he said it would be brand new to him at last week’s board of supervisors meeting.

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors approved a full set of guidelines Tuesday for rent stabilization in mobile home parks, the result of a 2016 voter initiative that aimed to protect tenants living in parks in unincorporated areas of Humboldt County.

Planning Director John Ford said the guidelines came out of Zoom workshops with tenants and park owners, from a 2019...

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Our thoughts on this story:

When a Midwesterner reads articles like this it makes them think “why would anyone want to own property in California?” What a nutty place to own a business!

Pensacola News Journal: Oakstead Mobile Home Park resident has ongoing problems

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Resident Paul Buckney goes through paperwork documenting ongoing problems at the Oakstead Mobile Home Park at 901 Massachusetts Avenue in Pensacola on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.

Resident Paul Buckney points out trash and one of several dilapidated structures at the Oakstead Mobile Home Park at 901 Massachusetts Avenue in Pensacola on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.

Resident Paul Buckney talks about ongoing problems at the Oakstead Mobile Home Park at 901 Massachusetts Avenue in Pensacola on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.

Resident Paul Buckney points out trash at the Oakstead Mobile Home Park at 901 Massachusetts Avenue in Pensacola on Thursday, Oct. 19,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This is more of a photo expose than an article but it might be leaving out some important facts:

  1. If those are abandoned homes then the landlord has no ability to secure them or make any repairs until they receive title to the homes via an abandonment process, which can take months (or even years in some states). So if that’s the case then you can’t blame the park owner as their hands are completely tied.
  2.  If that trash is on occupied lots then the park owner has no ability to get rid of it without the involvement/permission of the person renting the lot. And, on top of that, it’s the tenant’s responsibility.

But another key part of this article is “why can’t the complaining resident just pick up the trash themselves?” I mean in the time they spent complaining they could pick up every piece of litter in the photos. I am always picking up litter in mall parking lots and everywhere else I go and I’m sure you do, too.

Every photo of this park – including the park office – shows it is well maintained. There are two sides to every story and this writer is sadly presenting only one of them.

NBC 10 NEWS: Sen. Elizabeth Warren to visit mobile home park in Attleboro to discuss housing challenges

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(WJAR) — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warran will visit a mobile home park in Attleboro on Wednesday to discuss the harmful effects of private equity on housing in Massachusetts.

She and other state leaders will tour Sandcastle Mobile Home Park on Wednesday morning.

In 2020, the I-Team's Tamara Sacharczyk spoke to residents of this mobile home park about rising rent costs and the push to bring back rent control.

Sandcastle Mobile Home Park is mainly populated by seniors on fixed incomes.

Currently, there's an effort to add a ballot question in Massachusetts to repeal the nearly 30-year ban on rent control.

Attleboro Mayor Cathleen DeSimone and...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The truth is that private equity groups have saved literally thousands of mobile home parks from the wrecking ball by buying old parks, pouring millions of dollars of capital into repairing and replacing aging infrastructure, and raising rents to levels that fend off redevelopment. The late Sam Zell was part of a “private equity group” when he ushered in the whole concept of bringing old parks back to life in the 1990s when nobody else would lift a finger to save them. Over a million residents of these “private equity group” parks have a nice place to live because of these visionaries, and 99.9% of these residents would say that they are thrilled by their new living standards.

BDN: The big ideas from Maine lawmakers to ease the housing crisis

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Maine lawmakers will try to push zoning and tax changes, increased affordable housing production and more rent assistance through the State House in 2024.

Housing was among the major topics addressed on the list of nearly 300 bill titles proposed for next year’s legislative session. It was released Friday on the heels of a landmark state report that found Maine needs to construct at least 76,000 homes by 2030 to house its existing and future residents.

The contours of the debate will be familiar. A housing reform bill last year had to be watered down to get around concerns from municipalities. Similar changes proposed by Democrats could...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Didn’t really see any “big ideas” in this article. I’ve been to Maine and some of these ideas are not even as good as having L.L. Bean start knitting affordable homes in a number of attractive yarn colors – and with a lifetime guarantee.

The Hamilton Spectator: ‘We just want to stay in our home’: Facing eviction, residents of Simcoe trailer park fear ending up homeless

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Darrell Goodlet has known homelessness.

He dreads knowing it again.

In theory, the Simcoe resident should not have to worry about being back on the street. He owns his own house — a roughly 700-square-foot trailer inside a trailer park he has called home for the past decade.

He had gotten back on his feet after living on the streets, and jumped at the chance to buy what he and his late wife thought would be their forever home.

“I want to die here,” Goodlet said.

But Goodlet and the park’s other residents rent the land on which their trailers sit — and their landlord wants them gone.

The property on Queensway West — a busy...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Here’s a novel idea that could work:

  • Create a Board that works directly with park owners interested in redevelopment, on a voluntary basis.
  • The Board figures out the rent level required to keep the park from being changed into another use.
  • The Board blesses the rent increase, no matter how large, as the final attempt to save the park from the wrecking ball.
  • The park owner then raises the rent to that approved level, regardless of the size of the increase, and is insulated from the media accordingly.
  • The tenants are happy because the park is saved from demolition and they pay the higher amount of rent.

That’s a whole lot more effective than all this “resident-owned community” nonsense that isn’t doing anything to save 99% of parks that are redeveloped.

Investor Times: How Much Do Trailer Parks Cost

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Trailer parks, also known as mobile home parks or manufactured housing communities, have become an increasingly popular choice for affordable housing. Offering a range of amenities and a sense of community, these parks provide an alternative to traditional housing options. In this article, we will delve into the cost of trailer parks and explore some interesting facts about this housing phenomenon.

Interesting Facts about Trailer Parks:

1. Affordability at its Core:
Trailer parks are known for their affordability, making them an attractive option for those seeking low-cost housing. The cost of living in a trailer park can vary...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This article was obviously written by AI and people are going to freak out when they see that the computer sees $800 per month lot rent as “budget-friendly”:

In general, the average monthly rent for a space in a trailer park ranges from $200 to $800, making it a budget-friendly choice.

I read in the last few days that Amazon Alexa, when asked “was the 2020 election rigged?” would answer “yes, it was rigged in many different ways”. Amazon then scrambled to reprogram it. I guarantee you that somebody is going to see the $800 rent comment – which is 100% accurate – and then rush to limit the computer to a lower number. It’s a real drag for many groups that AI doesn’t know how to lie yet and the truth can be painful.

The Business Journals: Nonprofit’s investments create more affordable housing for Oregonians

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Today in Oregon, innovative efforts by the Oregon Community Foundation and donors to alleviate the state’s affordable housing shortage and homelessness crisis are creating new hope and enduring assets for rural, urban and tribal communities. As some initiatives wind down, like the legislature-funded Project Turnkey, others are poised for growth, including OCF's Oregon Impact Fund, through which donors are helping to create much-needed affordable housing throughout the state.

Here are a few of the growing initiatives.

  • In 18 counties and tribes from the South Coast to the Idaho border, adults and families have greater access to a safe...
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Our thoughts on this story:

I always get concerned when you throw public funds at bureaucrats with no actual business experience. Take, for example, this quote from the article:

“Their investment gave us the accreditation to leverage $19 million more to develop 40 net-zero affordable homes”

Wait a minute, $19 million for 40 housing units works out to $500,000 per house. That’s not exactly what I would call “affordable housing” would you? Time to call in the auditors.

MSN: A Look Inside America's Most Expensive Trailer Park, Where a Mobile Home Costs $5.85 Million

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When one thinks of Malibu, visions of luxurious beachfront properties and sprawling mansions likely come to mind. However, nestled within this upscale coastal city lies a hidden gem — the Paradise Cove Mobile Home Park, which has gained notoriety for being the priciest trailer park in America.

With homes priced in the millions, this once humble residential area for fishermen and blue-collar workers has undergone a dramatic transformation, attracting wealthy buyers and celebrity residents alike. At the forefront of this trailer park's real estate market is a three-bedroom mobile home located at 247 Paradise Cove Road, currently listed at a...

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Our thoughts on this story:

If you spend $5.85 million for a 3/2 mobile home in a mobile home park the only word that really comes to mind is “stupid”. I have driven by these Malibu parks many times and trust me; they aren’t that great. The only argument you can make for paying millions of dollars to live in a 1980s mobile home in a “trailer park” is that the stick-built homes are $10 million. I think the better option is that, if you can’t afford a $10 million real home, you might be better off not living in Malibu at all. It reminds me of the old bumper sticker in the 1970s that people used to put on Ford Pintos that said “My Other Car Is A Rolls Royce”.

LancsLive: Who is 'Gypsy billionaire' Alfie Best? The business mogul running mobile home parks across Lancashire

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He's been making headlines at the moment after a four-year planning dispute with South Ribble Borough Council. But who is the 'Gypsy billionaire' Alfie Best?

Dubbed the 'UK's richest Gypsy', Alfie Best is the chairman of Wyldecrest Parks, a mobile home company that he calls an "affordable housing crisis solution." In Lancashire alone, there are five of these parks in Heywood, Freckleton, Lancaster, Penwortham and Haslingden.

The entrepreneur has also invested in the hospitality and leisure sector, including Best Park Home Finance, Kyoto Clearance and Wylde Events. He's also set up the Wyldecrest Charitable Trust which supports residents...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Interesting the contrast between British and U.S. media. If this guy was in the U.S. he’d be attacked as “evil” for driving through a mobile home park in a $1 million Bugatti – but the British cherish the concept of eccentricity and see no problem with a successful person engaging in materialistic behavior. “Cheerio” park owners from across the ocean!

8 KPAX: Missoula housing co-ops aim to prove an anti-gentrification tool can work

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MISSOULA — Tucked away off River Road, a cluster of modest homes is part of a bold experiment that supporters and participants hope could prove one approach to tackling Montana’s housing affordability woes: cooperative ownership.

A year ago, the residents of these 14 homes, a mixture of mobile homes, single-family houses and duplexes, weren’t sure whether they had a future here. A visit from a real estate agent — a sign their Seattle-based landlord was considering a sale — had thrown many of the tenants into a panic over the potential that subsequent rent spikes or redevelopment could force them from their homes.

Amanda Malek, a lifelong...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Look, park owners have no problem selling properties to the residents. But this story kind of shows the problem. The only reason this particular deal got done was that the city had to chip in $330,000 for just 14 residents. Not many cities are willing to throw money like that at virtue-signaling initiatives. Let’s face it, pretending that this story is a blueprint for thousands of other parks is as ludicrous as me finding a $5 bill in a parking lot and then writing an article that says that if you can find $5 a day in a parking lot you can make an extra $1,800 per year to subsidize your income. These residents got lucky that the city fathers were in a crazy money-tossing mood – nothing more.

Insider: I downsized from my city apartment to a tiny house in the countryside to save money – but my cost of living increased instead

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This as-told-to essay is from an interview with Stacie DaPonte, 31, about living in a tiny house outside Toronto. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've always lived small, even when I was renting a 400-square-foot apartment in downtown Toronto for $1,000 a month. I love city life, but when the pandemic hit, I was stuck at home more.

COVID-19 shuttered a lot of live music venues and bookstores, so much so that Toronto didn't feel like home anymore. That set me researching what it would take to downsize to a tiny house in the countryside.

Why going tiny doesn't always save money

When I first started researching tiny homes, I...

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Our thoughts on this story:

People read articles like this and group “tiny homes” together with “mobile homes” and then use the condemnation of “living small” across both housing types. For clarification, most tiny homes are 400 sq. ft. or less while the average mobile home is around 1,200 sq. ft. That means that you can fit around three tiny homes into every mobile home. This author’s complaints are all about the insanely small size of the tiny home. I agree. I have no idea how anyone could be happy living in a space that small. That being said it’s a shame that most Americans don’t know the size difference and will think that mobile homes are “tiny” too and that both are being condemned by the author.