Mobile Home Park News Briefing

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Insider: Tiny homes are more than backyard gimmicks. They could help mitigate the housing crisis.

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Katie Sandoval-Clark, a nonprofit leader and mother of two, built a bungalow in her parents' backyard so she could afford to raise her children in the Bay Area.  

Blue Wells, a former corporate executive battling cancer, moved to a 600-square-foot house in a South Carolina tiny home village and felt more free than he ever had living in his 3,500-square-foot home.

The Randolphs own a business in New Hampshire, and are building a tiny home village to provide affordable housing to their employees and entice young people to set down roots.  

If you've ever had a conversation about what can be done to make housing more affordable, you have...

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Our thoughts on this story:

It’s like electric cars: they’re not for everyone. I have no desire to live in a 300 sq. ft. house, nor do I know anyone who does. I think those who want to “live small” are already working on that dream. But I also think that houses under 1,000 sq. ft. don’t fall into the average American’s list of goals, and that’s why you’re not going to see a ton more interest. Mobile homes hit that 1,000 sq. ft.  threshold and that’s why they’re in endless demand. I’ve personally sold hundreds of homes and I can tell you that under 1,000 sq. ft. is a deal killer.

El Pais: Neither hippies nor nomads: Unaffordable rent in the US forces thousands into a mobile lifestyle

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Ayden, 13, has always lived on wheels. Born in a San Diego hospital, he spent time in an incubator before his parents took him to live in a small, converted ice cream truck. Now the family lives in an old 1984 Southwind mobile home. He’s a happy and healthy child who enjoys enjoying playing on the street, watching YouTube videos, and creating his own animations. His parents shower him with love, and like many families with children, he is the center of attention.

Ayden has never attended school. His mother, Julienna, is a 53-year-old woman from New York. She teaches him in a makeshift classroom for three hours a day, five days a week....

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Our thoughts on this story:

No, I don’t buy into this viewpoint. Although there’s no question that rents have gone up, $400,000 homes and $2,000 per month apartments are only in giant cities. Nobody ever talks about the alternative. Here’s the actual stat from Wikipedia on life outside of the city:

Rural areas in the United States, often referred to as rural America, consists of approximately 97% of the United States' land area. An estimated 60 million people, or one in five residents (17.9% of the total U.S. population), live in rural America.

So if you move out to the 97% of America that is outside major cities, you can get a nice house for $100,000 and a nice apartment for $500 per month. I know, because I live in a town of 4,500 an hour outside of the big city. These “transient” people described in the article need to give up on their “big city” obsession, move to rural areas, get stable jobs, and provide a nice home for their families. This entire “I can’t afford the real world” nonsense is the opposite of personal accountability and the truth is that there’s absolutely no reason for anyone to live in a Winnebago in a WalMart parking lot. If that’s your lifestyle then the problem is you and not the U.S. housing market.

Forbes: Trailblazer 3D-Printed Homes Take Shape In California’s Coachella Valley

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In true pioneer tech fashion, 20 modernist 3D-printed homes are rising in Desert Hot Springs, California, about 10 miles north of Palm Springs. Three of the four-bedroom residences, which include accessory dwelling units, have recently been listed at $995,000 each. The homes, sited in a 22-acre gated community of hilltop dwellings, are expected to be completed by year-end.

“The homes are the first 3D-printed zero-net-energy homes in the world,” says Basil Starr, founder and chief executive of Beverly Hills-based Palari Group, the technology-driven developer of sustainable communities that is spearheading the build.

Although some...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This was an interesting article until I got to the actual pricing: $1 million for 1,866 sq. ft. The whole point of alternative construction methods is to save money – not spend $500 per sq. ft. on something that is, at best, experimental with no stats on resale value. Makes no sense to me.

The U.S. Sun: Home Depot is selling an $8,325 tiny home with an L-shape wall and natural light

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AS tiny homes gain popularity across the country, The Home Depot is showing you don’t have to splurge to attain home ownership with a small house available for just north of $8,000.

As Americans look to lower their monthly spending, tiny homes have become more common, no matter if you’re living by yourself or with a family.

With traditional homes’ price tags typically set above $200,000 and monthly mortgage payments remaining high across the board, some people turn to an unorthodox and minimalist lifestyle: tiny homes.

Many people have converted vans and sheds into full-scale tiny homes for less than $10,000.

At The Home Depot, several...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Sure, these are cool. And 144 sq. ft. for $8,325 means a 1,000 sq. ft. model (which is much more livable) would only cost around $50,000. And, yes, this is the solution to the affordable housing crisis. And, no, you can’t build them virtually anywhere in the U.S. due to the Uniform Building Code. And the construction industry will never let that code be changed. So when people tell you that it’s impossible to build affordable housing they’re not telling you the truth. The truth is that the government ensures that you can’t with codes that most people don’t even know exist. Change the codes and between this type of option and 3-D printed homes you could provide $150,000 stick-built dwellings in cities across America (the average lot in the U.S. is $80,000 so you have to add that in, too, thus the $150,000 price point).

Boise Dev: 100+ apartments planned in place of McCall mobile home park

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Boise developer Michael Hormaechea submitted preliminary plans for an apartment project that would replace the McCall Manor Mobile Home Park in Valley County. 

BoiseDev told you about this 4.4-acre apartment project on Idaho Street and Ward Street earlier this spring. There are now more details about the style of units, square footage, and the total number of apartments.

The plan calls for 125 units across four buildings with a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom layouts, and a max building height of 46 feet.

“The vision for the project is to provide the community of McCall with vital, highly needed, rental apartments to support a broad...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The developer is going to put 100 apartments at $1,500 a month on a parcel that held 50 mobile homes. That’s because you can make apartments two and three stories high. Mobile home parks can only exist on on level. No way the park can compete with this income differential and clearly it has to come down.

However, the moral is that residents, governmental agencies and the media need to appreciate that mobile home parks are coming down everywhere and they better do more to make owners not want to redevelop their land.

Herald Banner: Commisioners deny developer's request to build narrower roads

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Expressing concerns and fear over safety and access to homes by emergency responders, the Hunt County Commission Court said no to a request from the developers of a proposed rural mobile home park to build narrower-than-normal streets in the development.

Engineer Levi Love and Kevin Mims, owner of the property at FM 3211 and County Road 2148 west of Greenville, asked the county for permission to build 28-foot, asphalt roads with mountable curbs instead of 34-foot wide concrete roads with curb and guttering as required in Hunt County standards.

The developers also planned to ask to be allowed to put mobile homes closer together than county...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Here’s probably what a “hot mic” would have heard minutes before the meeting:

Alderman #1: “so how can we kill off this stupid trailer park concept?”

Alderman #2: “I know, let’s say we think that the people will block the roads with their cars and the ambulance can’t get in”.

Alderman #3: “Yeah, I like that one, but let’s also throw in about how we don’t have enough water pressure”.

Alderman #4: “I don’t care what you guys tell them, just hurry up with the vote because I don’t want to miss Pizza Night at the Eagles Club.”

Alaska's News Source: Future of Forest Park trailer court at stake in Chugiak

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The future of more than 100 residents of the Forest Park trailer court in Chugiak is at stake as a Municipality of Anchorage eviction notice is past an extension. The municipality has the ability to vacate the trailer park, said Anchorage Assembly member Kevin Cross.

The owners of the trailer park have been accused of acquiring new residents, months after the municipality issued eviction notices. Those notices, issued during the fall of 2022, were extended to April because of the impending winter. The eviction notices stem from the water system not being up to code.

“[Forest Park] had a series of water and sewer...

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Our thoughts on this story:

I know nothing about the details of this park or the allegations, but it sure looks suspicious that these bureaucrats won’t simply fix the water now, but will only invest the money if the owner sells to the residents. The optics to me makes me wonder if this is really just a case of trying to coerce this owner into this ridiculous resident-owned community dream. Wait until the residents see what the new lot rent will be once they pile debt on this property. Good luck.

autoevolution: KJE's Park-Ready Titan Tiny Home Is So Big, You Need Special Treatment for Transport

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Folks, for $105K (€95,200 at current exchange rates), you can get California's KJE Tiny Homes to craft you the massive habitat we see in the image gallery. Oh, and just for the sake of argument and the next five to ten minutes, if you haven't seen that gallery yet, now's the time to do so; it'll make everything you're about to read all that much easier to understand.

Now, if you often follow autoevolution, then you may have heard of KJE before. After all, we've covered their work on several occasions, and once you get to know the Titan, you'll understand why. Heck, ever since this crew built their first home back in 2016, they haven't...

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Our thoughts on this story:

$105,000 for a 10’ x 30’? Seriously? That’s $300 per square foot. Maybe somebody considering this should consult Realtor.com because you can get a real house – including the land underneath – in the nicest areas of the U.S. for an average of $250 per square foot. 

KRGV: Residents of mobile home park in McAllen told to move as city moves forward with expansion of convention center

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A McAllen man has until October to leave his home of 30 years.

Pete Martinez is among the 17 homeowners who were ordered by the city of McAllen to leave the Catalina Mobile Home Park, located near the city’s convention center.

“Frankly, I don't think I am going to do it,” Martinez said. “It's all about business. They want to make money and they don't care what they do to the people… and I am tired of being pushed around"

On April 3, Martinez and other residents of the mobile home park received a letter from the city that said residents must be off the premises by October 1.

McAllen City Manager Roy Rodriguez said the city bought the...

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Our thoughts on this story:

I have to admit that I find it ironic when cities shut down parks and think they can rationalize it with flowery prose:

McAllen City Manager Roy Rodriguez said the city bought the property three years ago for expansion purposes. “We are expanding the campus for the McAllen Convention Center and outside festivities like MXLAN, this weekend is a perfect example of how we are expanding the facility,” Rodriguez said. “We are ready to start attempting to develop it”

I guess all park owners can learn from this and use the old Teddy Roosevelt phrase when the media calls “we shall endeavor to persevere” with property redevelopment.

Vermont Public: Manufactured homes condemned at flood-battered Berlin park. What now?

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This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.

For the last two weeks, residents of the Berlin Mobile Home Park have scattered across Vermont, crashing with friends and family after finding their homes devastated by record flooding. On Friday, many learned that their houses have been officially condemned.

The condemnation notices, issued by the state’s Division of Fire Safety after inspections earlier this week, could serve as an important tool in helping park residents recoup their losses from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After Tropical...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This article pretty much exemplifies that the worst thing you can probably hear is “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.

My Edmonds News: The new law giving mobile home residents a chance to buy their parks

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A mobile home park in Moses Lake is up for sale and a new state law assures residents a shot at buying the property.

In the past they might’ve never known it was on the market until after it was sold.

Owners of North Pointe notified residents on July 17 that they are looking to sell the 25-space  mobile home park.

This started the clock on a process providing those living there and eligible organizations approved by the state Department of Commerce an opportunity to compete with other potential buyers.

That chance is etched into a law that took effect Sunday and is intended to help preserve this stock of affordable housing.

Until now,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The residents rarely have the ability to come up with the money on these ridiculous first-option rules. The odds are about as large as a meteorite hitting the title company. Just read the article itself. Here’s the proof:

“There are now 24 resident-owned communities in Washington and roughly 300 across the country, she said”

Here’s a reality check. There are around 44,000 mobile home parks in the U.S. There are around 300 resident-owned communities. That’s .0.0068% probability that they pull it off. Or conversely a 99.32% chance they can’t. Is that really worth the delay these first-option rules require? Clearly not. Then why pass such nonsense? Because it panders to the voting base and most voters are too stupid to know the actual math.

The Press Democrat: 2 Petaluma mobile home parks are threatening to close, but there’s a lot that comes first

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In the wake of Petaluma moving to tighten rent control and other protections in its mobile home parks, two park owners have now signaled they may shut down, potentially upending the lives of hundreds.

At the 78-unit Little Woods Mobile Villa and the 102-unit Youngstown Mobile Home Park, residents received letters this month announcing a “potential closure.” A consultant, hired to assess the impact of such a move, began appearing on doorsteps.

It was the second shock for mobile homeowners at Youngstown where less than two weeks prior, they received another notice saying the park would no longer be restricted to older residents.

Concern,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Here’s the key quote from this article:

“In the wake of Petaluma moving to tighten rent control and other protections in its mobile home parks, two park owners have now signalled they may shut down”.

The writer then goes on to point out how this will destroy hundreds of residents’ lives who can find no place even remotely as cheap to live.

OK, now who is then responsible for those folks being homeless? The group that passes the rent control. Their vote effectively signalled the death warrant for these properties. And they won’t be alone. I’m sure that other parks in Petaluma will follow their lead and redevelop into different uses.

I’ve written for nearly 20 years about the fact that rent control equals park redevelopment. It’s never going to change. Want to eliminate mobile home parks in your city/county/state? Simple solution: just pass rent control.

NBC Palm Springs: Displaced Mobile Home Park Residents Heartbroken, Angry Following Property Manager Meeting

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“I got the call when I was at work, and when they said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not going to be able to save your home,’ that broke me,” Julieta Perez, a resident who lost her home in the fire, shared tearfully.

Julieta Perez moved to the Country Squire RV and Mobile Home Park two months ago.

As a single mother of two young children, losing her new home was more than devastating.

“I was just feeling like I was getting back on my feet,” Perez continued. “I was feeling like, ‘Okay, things are getting better, things are finally going to be okay’…I have worked so hard for everything that I have and my kids were so happy to finally have their...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This quote reflects everything that’s wrong with the perception of mobile home park landlords:

[when a home burns down] residents are still required to pay rent for their mobile home spot, regardless if their house is still standing….But that’s not all.“They’re now telling us that we’re responsible for cleanup,” Castillo continued. “These families, many of whom didn’t have insurance, are now left to scramble and find apartments, find other places where they already don’t meet the income requirements. Aside from doing that, they also have to now find a way to save money, to pay the over $5,000 in cleanup fees plus the monthly rent until they are able to put in their 30 day notice to vacate.” Leaving many not knowing what’s next.“I feel like they’re just seeing us as dollar signs,” Perez said.

According to this rationale, mobile home park owners are not landlords, they are apparently government agencies – non-profits – that are responsible for much more than just providing parking spaces for mobile homes. Can you imagine applying this same logic to a parking lot at the airport in which your car burned down while you were on your trip. Do you think that would make you not responsible for your parking fee? For removal of your car? To any damage to the parking lot that the fire caused?

This is just plain stupid.

Superior Telegram: Committee rejects offers for Parkland trailer park sites

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SUPERIOR — Douglas County officials are considering a different approach to selling two former mobile home parks in Parkland after one proposal and one bid fell short of the county’s requirements to get the land for free.

The Land and Development Committee rejected the offers Tuesday, July 25 to take the former Country Acres properties off the county’s hands.

The county put the property out to bid with no minimum price, but the transfer of property was contingent on an agreement and bond to ensure the trailer homes that remain on the sites are removed.

A bid by Dubesa LLC proposed paying the county $2,000 for the property with a...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Another article about a county government shutting down a park. Between owners wanting to redevelop for more profitable uses – and city/county/state governments wanting to shut them down to remove affordable housing units from their neighborhoods – mobile home parks may soon be listed as an endangered species.

KESQ: Cathedral City mobile home park residents raise power outage safety concerns amid extreme heat

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Residents at Caliente Sands Mobile Home Park in Cathedral City are expressing frustration and concern after experiencing multiple power outages this week with little or no prior notice. The sudden blackouts occurred during a period of extreme heat, creating a dangerous situation for the mobile home community.

"It was like 115 outside," said Barbara Cleary. "It was out of nowhere, the power went off."

Cleary said the power outages were a result of a private electric company hired by the management to work on a transformer within the park. She said paper notices were distributed to residents' mailboxes, but the warning given was far...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This is getting absolutely ridiculous. The power in a mobile home park was cut-off for a brief while for necessary repairs to a transformer and the residents are going beserk because they didn’t get enough notice. I have lost my power for days at a time in a stick-built house in the middle of the summer – due to a major storm – and the entire town survived just fine. Here’s what both sides say:

“{the manager] said the power outages were a result of a private electric company hired by the management to work on a transformer within the park. She said paper notices were distributed to residents' mailboxes, but the warning given was far from sufficient. "We're supposed to have 72 hours notice, they didn't even come close to doing that," she said. One of the notices had the wrong date listed on it, leading to additional confusion”.

Not that many decades ago there was no air-conditioning. And 100 years before that, there was no electricity. And people survived just fine. Is America so pathetic now that it can’t get along even for a couple hours without power? 

Independent Tribune: WeBuild: Why we can't wait on affordable housing

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The old guard in any society resents new methods, for old guards wear the decorations and medals won by waging battle in the accepted manner.” — Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can’t Wait

Over the last 18 months, the evolution of WeBuild Concord as a nonprofit housing developer has created greater urgency for affordable housing, systems change, and a framework for Concord and Cabarrus County. WeBuild and its partners currently have 14 single-family, multi-family, NOAH (naturally occurring affordable housing), and mixed-use housing projects under construction or in the permit process comprising over 60 homes. As a relatively new entity...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Am I the only one or doesn’t this program sound like the old “company store” from the 19th century where miners and manufacturing workers were not paid in U.S. currency but in credits they could only use at the “company store” and had no actual monetary value? In this case, you buy a stick-built home with real cash and yet all you get is a 99-year land lease under which you can only sell your home back to this “land trust” and after 99-years – if you don’t sell – they can just take it back for free. Since the whole point of home ownership is to gain equity as home prices increase, they are effectively neutering the ability to profit from home ownership. Bad deal for the buyers, in my opinion.

Sky-Hi News: Letter to the editor: Kremmling mobile home park sees rent, water and sewage cost increases

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Over the weekend at least two Denver TV stations ran stories about a woman who has filed a complaint against the owners of the mobile home park where she lives, citing rate increases and changes to policies that have made life there a challenge. 

Not everyone is aware, but what used to be Rayner’s Trailer Park and is now called Estates at the Bluff, has been purchased in recent months by investors from Texas. The first change came when water meters were installed on all the homes, so we would start paying for our own water and sewer services.
Now our rent is going up $150 a month the first of August a prohibitive amount for most of...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Great letter to the media from this owner when they were accused of raising rent and ruining the park:
When contacted, Brett Garner, the park manager until recently, responded in writing, citing some of the options.

“1. We can leave the community as it is, not pursue improvements, and leave lots rents close to where they were.”  “2. Increase the quality of the community by adding the lots on the east end, connect the existing community to the newly installed water and sewer pipe (planned for next summer), repave the roads (planned for July 2023), add a recreation area on the north side of the park, and clean up the look of the community so that it’s more desirable for you and all residents to live in. We chose to go with option two because, in our eyes, it’s what’s best for our immediate community (Estates at The Bluff) and the community at large (Kremmling).“

There’s no question that in any 100-space park there are probably 2 people who can’t afford to pay more rent and want to live in squalor if that’s the cheapest option. But the majority don’t agree and the key to running a business is to please the majority of your customers, not some tiny fringe faction.

The Islander: Pines park residents await sale announcement

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The Pines Trailer Park is a quiet place these days.

Residents in the mobile home park, 103 Church Ave., Bradenton Beach, have heard little about the pending sale of the land they lease for their homes.

Few people are talking about the matter but one resident, who requested anonymity, said residents were told a closing is expected on or around Sept. 21.

The park owner is Jackson Partnership, with Richard and William Jackson as officers.

They listed the park for sale for $16 million in January, prompting an effort by homeowners in the park to raise the money to purchase the land.

Homeowners Feb. 24 voted to form a cooperative to make a...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The buyer is spending $16,250,000 for 87 mobile home lots. That’s around $200,000 per lot. Look at the photos of the property. Look at the location. Who in the world would not realize this is going to be torn down and redeveloped in the extremely near future?

TB News Watch: Sale of mobile home park remains on table

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THUNDER BAY — A controversial proposal to sell a city-owned mobile home park remains on the table after city council voted to receive more information on the issue.

Residents at Hillcourt Estates will now wait until March of next year to learn whether the city will move forward with a sale.

Council made the decision on a narrow 7-5 vote after a debate charged with concerns over the availability of affordable housing in the city.

Hillcourt residents have vocally opposed a sale, submitting a petition bearing over 400 signatures.

Presenting to council on Monday alongside other residents, Mandy Bruyere called municipal ownership a win-win,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Here’s one of the classic quotes of all time regarding this city-owned park:

“We’re making over $170,000 a year, so if any private developer would come in, I imagine they would maintain their asset the same way we would,” he said.

For those who have little math skills – which this bureaucrat hopes applies to residents of the park -- $170,000 per year in net income at a 6% cap rate works out to only $2,800,000. Do you think that a big piece of land near the waterfront in Ontario, Canada might be worth a little more than $2,800,000?

Here’s how this is really going to work out. The city is going to sell the property to a developer and they will swiftly tear it down to build apartments. The city removes all of the cost the park inflicts on the city (school tuition, uninsured hospital visits, etc.), improves the drive-up appeal of the neighborhood, and gets out from under the tough job of managing a mobile home park. And everyone knows it, regardless of what they may say at city council meetings.

The Sacramento Bee: She refused to pay a $500 fee to her landlord. Her Sacramento property manager called the cops

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Carol Eckstrom dragged out a chair and staged a sit-in, just a few months after her stroke. In a way, she got what she asked for: The manager of her Sacramento mobile home park had finally hired contractors to fix the bulge in her walkway. But it would cost her $500. Eckstrom flatly disagreed that she should automatically have to pay $500 to her landlord to have the walkway fixed. She wanted time to find her own contractor. If sitting right on top of that trip hazard all day would stop the work from happening, that’s what she would do. Eckstrom is 73, a retired accountant with a tidy white bob. A complaint form she copied and saved shows...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The moral to this story is simple: stay far, far away from California if you want to be a landlord. Who in the world wants to mess with nonsense like this?

The Banner: McKenzie to Rezone Forrest Avenue Mobile Home Park

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Soon, the mobile home park located on Forrest Avenue in McKenzie could cease to exist. During the monthly meeting of the McKenzie City Council, the board approved (on the first reading) Ordinance 554 to amend the mobile home park property from R-4 (residential mobile home) to R-3 (high-density residential). This allows the owners to develop the property for the construction of “townhouses.”

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Our thoughts on this story:

Same recurring theme:

Soon, the mobile home park located on Forrest Avenue in McKenzie could cease to exist. During the monthly meeting of the McKenzie City Council, the board approved (on the first reading) Ordinance 554 to amend the mobile home park property from R-4 (residential mobile home) to R-3 (high-density residential). This allows the owners to develop the property for the construction of “townhouses.”

Redevelopment of mobile home parks is accelerating for more profitable housing options. Residents and bureaucrats better take note because they will soon find out that the only way to stem this tide is to drop the strategy of public shaming park owners who engage in reasonable rent increases and instead say to owners “how much would the rent have to be to keep this park in operation and away from the wrecking ball?” and then happily pay it.

NH Business Review: Manufactured-home park in North Conway purchased by residents

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Homeowners in the Mt. Washington Valley Mobile Home Village recently purchased their 32-unit park, making it New Hampshire’s 147th resident-owned manufactured-home community (ROC), according to a press release from the NH Community Loan Fund.

With training and technical assistance from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s ROC-NH program, residents organized and formed Mt. Washington Valley Cooperative this past January after being notified that park owners Sally Brassill and Odd-Aage Bersvendsen had received an offer to sell.

The cooperative matched the offer and bought their community for $1,800,000 with financing from the Community...

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Our thoughts on this story:

I have no problem with the concept of residents buying parks – we’ve sold several to the residents – but let’s all agree that 32 lots is not exactly changing the direction of the earth as many of these “resident-owned” articles like to suggest.

WTVG: Residents at a Wauseon mobile home park gear up for class-action lawsuit

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WAUSEON, Ohio (WTVG) - Skyrocketing water and rent prices have residents at a senior-living mobile home park in Wauseon gearing up for a class-action lawsuit.

“We’ll make it, ‘cause we always have, but it’s far,” Sue Boysel, who lives at Buckeye Estates said. “It’s not fair to so many other people in the park.”

Over the past year and a half, the Boysels say rent at Buckeye Estates Mobile Home Park has more than doubled.

“$242, right now, we’re paying $370,” Harold Boysel said. “And they want to take it up to 650.”

Rent isn’t the only thing that’s increasing and Sue and Harold’s daughter, Teresa Hartsock, say’s it’s taking a toll on the...

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Our thoughts on this story:

It’s not hard to find an attorney to file almost anything if you’ll pay their hourly rate, but I sense the residents will have some challenges with their class-action dream namely because 1) Ohio has no rent control 2) Ohio has no rent control and 3) did I mention that Ohio has no rent control? Kind of hard to overcome that one issue when your lawsuit is about the owner raising rent.

But I can bet you that the owners of this park are probably meeting this weekend with some land developers to get the current value per square foot – wouldn’t you? If the residents are the catalyst for that redevelopment then they have nobody to blame but themselves.

WBKO: Kentucky Gardens Mobile Home Park residents react to displacement post rezone approval

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Our thoughts on this story:

This time it’s a city itself that is tearing down the mobile home park to make way for a better use of the land. And the residents are mad because the city is going to displace 30 tenants to make way for 300 more housing units.

"Residents of the park have described the morale as “depressing” since the approval.“There is a community based here. They showed that they are going to make places so that people can have more places to live, but what about here? There are over 70 residents here. We are all getting kicked out on the street and that is not right,” said Amanda Mitchell, a resident who has lived at the park for 20 years."

It looks like the 800-pound gorilla in the room nationwide is that park owners simply tear down and redevelop when the mobile home park is no longer the highest and best use of the land. That means residents need to embrace rent increases and follow the rules because the alternative is homelessness. It’s that simple. Even cities – in this case -- are following this mantra.

Realtor: Luxury Manufactured Home in Calabasas for $749K Will Knock Your Socks Off

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When you think of a mobile home, an image probably comes to mind.

However, this delightful manufactured home in Calabasas, CA, doesn’t fit the typical idea of a prefab property, not by a long shot.

“When I walked in, it wasn’t just turnkey. It was, ‘Give me the key,’” says Jordan Reid, marketing director for Mobile Homes Malibu, which lists manufactured homes for sale in the area. “It’s one of those properties that you can see the owner paid such close attention to detail in virtually every single room.”

Ren Smith and Olivia Riley with Coldwell Banker Realty are co-listing the property for $749,000.

That is a fraction of the price you’d...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Let’s see … $750,000 for a 1,700 doublewide works out to $441 per square foot. For a mobile home. In a world in which you can buy a really nice stick-built in many markets for half that amount. The only thing that knocks my socks off in this article is how stupid anyone would be to pay that much for an old doublewide. Come out to Missouri and we can get you an identical dwelling for about $50,000 on a lakeside lot, and you can put the rest in the bank at 5% and live off the interest.