Mobile Home Park Weekly News Briefing - Mobile Home University

3TV/CBS 5: Yavapai College combatting housing crisis with RV park, tiny homes

Originally released by 3TV/CBS 5 on May 30th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

If you build it, they will come. That’s the thinking behind the Yavapai College district’s creative idea to attract more employees and students. “Something like this can make a huge difference,” said Dr. Clint Ewell, the VP of Finance and Administration.

The college will be offering tiny homes and an RV park at some of its campuses where an affordable housing shortage is felt. “We’ve noticed that our recruiting pools have been getting smaller, and we believe it’s because of the high cost of living here in Yavapai County. We’re currently at about 20% above the national average,” said Dr. Ewell.

The college is hopeful a 200 sq. ft. houses...

Our thoughts on this story:

This is actually not a bad idea. The U.S. government built mobile home parks (then RV parks by definition) at colleges across America to house the G.I. Bill folks. But then the article says the college plan is to build only three tiny homes a year. That’s a pretty small number – hardly worth the article to begin with.

Explorer: Town seeks opinions on housing needs

Originally released by Explorer on May 24th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

Town officials are urging Oro Valley residents, nonresidents who work in Oro Valley, and owners of businesses within the community to take one of two 10-minute online surveys about the town’s current and future housing needs.

The surveys, conducted by consultant WestGroup Research, are part of the town’s first comprehensive housing study. Surveys opened May 9, and remain available online through Wednesday, May 31. Oro Valley wants to “ensure everyone has an opportunity” to share their views, it said in a release.

“We need all folks to participate in the survey,” said Bayer Vella, the town’s planning manager. “There are so many folks in...

Our thoughts on this story:

I love it when bureaucrats waste time and money on studies like this. Here’s the answer for free: the people of Tucson want 7,000 sq. ft. mansions on a budget of $30 a month. What a bunch of idiots. That’s like asking 4th graders what they want for lunch at school.

Caller Times: Debate likely in zoning request that would put low-cost housing in air traffic safety zone

Originally released by Caller Times on May 30th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

Potential developers of a proposed manufactured housing subdivision are billing the project as an opportunity to deliver as many as 500 affordable homes to Corpus Christi – but, according to city officials, a portion of the property could raise significant safety questions.

The project, as planned, would make available new three-bedroom, two-bath manufactured homes for roughly $85,000 under current pricing, said developer Robert Murray.

“It’s basically your new affordable housing,” Murray said.

If a rezoning request is approved, as many as 500 lots could be developed under a phased approach on the 95-acre property off Old Brownsville...

Our thoughts on this story:

Ok, give me a break. Corpus Christi is NOT trying to scuttle the proposed mobile home park zoning because of concerns over a plane crashing into it. That’s just the best excuse they could come up right now.

Delaware Public Media: Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation Authority extends benefits to residents of immobile RVs

Originally released by Delaware Public Media on May 25th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

A legal battle over evictions at the Pine Haven manufactured home park in Lincoln prompts Delaware’s Manufactured Home Relocation Authority to refine some of its policies regarding residents of recreational vehicles — a less-common form of housing in Delaware's manufactured home communities.

The Authority is responsible for managing a trust fund, paid into by both the owners of manufactured home parks and manufactured homeowners, which is used to provide financial assistance to cover the cost of moving or demolishing a manufactured home.

For residents of Pine Haven, some of whom received eviction notices from the park's new owners last...

Our thoughts on this story:

This wins the prize for dumbest article of the week: What in the heck is an “immobile” RV? Even the bureaucrats can’t actually define it as it doesn’t actually exist. They might just as well offer housing assistance if you provide a photo of Big Foot.

Denver Post: The battle to keep Colorado’s mobile home parks in local hands

Originally released by Denver Post on May 28th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Peter Frombgen tries not to take this for granted.

Every morning for 20 years, the former ski bum and bike mechanic peers out the window of his mobile home tucked alongside Lincoln Avenue, basking in a full view of the town’s famed ski area and lush Emerald Mountain before him.

The ramshackle trailer might represent the most unique living arraignment in Routt County: A 1953 silver airstream cut in half, with a standard mobile home haphazardly welded in the middle. The kitchen floor slopes at odd angles and water sometimes leaks through ceiling cracks during heavy rainstorms.

But the home allows Frombgen, 70, to...

Our thoughts on this story:

Reality check: in the entire United States there are maybe 300 resident-owned communities. There are around 44,000 mobile home parks in the U.S. That’s around .006%. Pretending that the simple fix for all mobile home parks is to have the residents buy them is as absurd (and statistically untruthful) as claiming that the solution to all Americans hating commercial air travel is for them all to go buy a private plane.

The only thing that’s not stupid about this article is found in the blog beneath it in which somebody wrote: “Um, no. That just feeds into the leftist narrative. What they can do (and should do if they’re smart) is hike rents to what the market supports. That’s what market price is. Seller’s objective is to get the most they can, buyer’s objective is to pay the least they can. Market price is the point in-between where both sides agree.”

The Roanoke Times: With rents rising, Virginia mobile home residents have 'nowhere to go'

Originally released by The Roanoke Times on May 26th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

MINERAL — Last December, Lucille Waddy went to the tiny office at the entrance to Six-O-Five Mobile Home Park with a money order for her rent, as she has done for nearly 20 years. Only then did she find out that the monthly cost of renting a lot for her mobile home had jumped from $445 to $625, an increase of more than 40%.

Waddy, 77, is living on Social Security retirement benefits, but she’s paying the increased rent, although other residents are refusing and taking the issue to court.

“I didn’t want to get put out,” she said. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”

Waddy doesn’t understand why the rent shot up. “I still don’t know who...

Our thoughts on this story:

Now connect another set of dots. This is the second article in which the tenants claim the rents went up and the quality of life went down. “They want the profit, but they don’t want to take care of the property,” said Yvonne Maldonado, a former mobile home resident in New York who serves now as co-director of Manufactured Home Action, an advocacy group for residents of manufactured homes”. That’s a lie and they know that. The rents did go up but so did the quality of the park, as capital was poured back in. I have never, ever, seen an institutional buyer that provided a lower park quality after purchase. Never. I don’t believe it for one second.

So let’s stop the lying in these stories and stick with the basic truth: tenants don’t like higher rents. But they will have to accept that reality or they will be homeless. The MHAction person summed that up when they unwittingly said “there is literally no other place to go.” Bingo. Even at the higher rents the mobile home park is still the cheapest option in town.

For those who cannot pay the higher amounts, they need to come up with a Plan B. There are federal programs offering housing assistance, or maybe they should move in with a family member. But there’s no way that park owners – particularly new ones – are going to keep the rents ridiculously cheap going forward. That era has ended. And if rents don’t go up significantly, there will be a huge number of parks re-developed for more profitable uses.

My Record Journal: Housing advocates say Connecticut is lagging in small home development

Originally released by My Record Journal on May 30th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

MERIDEN — As Carabetta Companies wind down conversion of an obsolete trailer park into a small home development on Broad Street, housing advocates say the state lags behind others in this type of development.

Realtor Alexa Kebalo Hughes of the Connecticut Realtors Association lives in a small cabin in Colebrook. The property has several small cabins on 350 acres. Kebalo Hughes said she doesn’t expect the attraction to tiny homes to slow down anytime soon.

“There’s a massive trend towards smaller homes and storage unit conversions for both residential and commercial throughout the nation,” Kebalo Hughes said.

“The best approach to solve...

Our thoughts on this story:

Connect the dots from the articles so far – this is the second one in which a mobile home park is being demolished and replaced with an equal number of tiny stick-built homes. If that concept heats up, then you will see a lot more parks be bulldozed as this is a win/win for all involved. I looked at doing this myself to my park in Grapevine, Texas 25 years ago, but sold the park instead. As the demand for smaller, affordable stick-built homes heats up, this is a quick development fix as all the utilities are already there and all you have to do is start pouring foundations and getting the mobile homes out. The big problem is that you can only rent – rather than sell – these stick-built homes, so the “parking lot” business model is out the door. However, some cities have allowed the park to be re-platted into individual lots and they then can be sold off.

I thought it was interesting how the developer has coined a new name for this type of development, calling it “innovate housing” and eliminating any reference to tiny homes. Nobody wants to be reminded that they live in a tiny home – it’s kind of insulting.

Star Tribune: Residents at Lake Elmo mobile home park say owner has forgotten them

Originally released by Star Tribune on May 24th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

Faced with what they describe as steep rent increases, a drop in services and poor management, the residents of a Lake Elmo mobile home park say it's too much: They want help.

The renters and homeowners in the 450-site Cimarron Park and Golf Course have formed a Resident's Association and teamed up with an attorney from the nonprofit Housing Justice Center to explore legal options in the face of worsening conditions, said resident Brey Mafi.

"When I moved in, I quickly realized I got sold a bill of goods," Mafi said, echoing other residents who say the owner, Chicago-based Equity Lifestyle Properties, has squeezed the park's operations...

Our thoughts on this story:

Look, I understand that the residents don’t like the rent going from around $700 per month to $900 per month over a five-year period (which is actually only about the rate of inflation) but NOBODY IS GOING TO BELIEVE THAT EQUITY LIFESTYLE IS NOT PROPERLY MAINTAINING THE PROPERTY. ELS is one of the best operators in the industry – and the largest owner – and they are known for exemplary property condition. I’m willing to bet $100 that if I flew out to that property right now it would be immaculate and everything the residents claim is completely false. This would be like a Kansas City Chiefs fan claiming that ticket prices have doubled (which is true) and the Chiefs are a lousy team that don’t deserve those higher ticket prices (clearly not true). Why can’t these people just be honest and say “I’m mad because my rent went up $40 a year for the past five years”? And then, if they are that mad, just move someplace cheaper and stop whining about it? As soon as the people named in this article get both sides of the story (and visit the property) they will know who’s telling the truth (ELS) and who is not (the residents).

Health Affairs: The Environmental Justice Challenge No One Is Talking About

Originally released by Health Affairs on May 30th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

The past few years have witnessed a societal reckoning with income, class, and racial disparities, particularly as they relate to health and well-being. A number of multisector collaborations with a focus on environmental justice and social determinants of health have sprouted up and are leveraging advocacy, philanthropy, and governmental policy to address these intersectional issues. While these efforts are far-reaching in their pursuit of addressing historical inequity, one particularly vulnerable group has been overlooked—residents of manufactured home communities (MHCs).

Colloquially known as mobile home parks or trailer parks, MHCs...

Our thoughts on this story:

I’m hoping that this was written by AI as it contains more inaccuracies than a mere mortal could assemble. Here are just a sampling of the facts that are incorrect:

Berkshire Hathaway does not own any mobile home parks – they only own manufacturing and financing.
There are not 22 million Americans living in mobile home parks. With only 44,000 mobile home parks in the U.S. that would be an average of 500 lots per park. The actual stat is around 22 million people living in mobile homes which includes those living in parks and (as an even larger group) those who live in mobile homes on their own land.
The majority of mobile home parks are not built on floodplain – those that are represent a minority.
And on, and on, and on

Then, after all this incorrect nonsense that is portrayed as fact, the purpose of the article is apparently to complain that mobile home parks are environmentally goofy … and you just lose interest and go to the next article. It’s kind of like a movie that is advertised as an action flick but turns out to be a documentary on AOC.

Kitsap Sun: Assistance pledged to Poulsbo Mobile Home Park repairs now dedicated to rent relief

Originally released by Kitsap Sun on May 30th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

North Kitsap Fishline plans to refocus $30,000 initially intended for property improvements at Poulsbo Mobile Home Park toward rent relief for individual households.

Just more than a week after a community meeting that was set up to discuss the distribution of funds for home repairs and ease fears of eviction for residents at the park, North Kitsap Fishline announced the assistance will be used to reduce July rent payments.

The May 18 meeting, which followed a Poulsbo City Council vote to allocate $15,000 in city funds to help residents with physical repairs, revealed not all park residents had received inspection reports from park...

Our thoughts on this story:

Spending $500 per household is hardly worthy of this much fanfare – most mobile home park buyers spend far more than this on home renovations and clean-up. Only most park owners never get credit for it.

Visual Capitalist: Modular Housing vs. Traditional Housing: How Do They Compare?

Originally released by Visual Capitalist on May 26th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

Modular Housing vs. Traditional Housing: How Do They Compare?

The U.S. needs new houses. Lots of them.

With housing prices nearing six times annual incomes, increasing supply is a must if there is any hope of bringing down house prices, and modular housing could be the solution.

This visualization is the third and final piece of the Reimagining Home Series from our sponsor Boxabl, where we compare the benefits of modular housing against traditional construction methods. Let’s start with the basics.

What Is Modular Housing?

Modular homes are built offsite, in standardized sections, usually in a factory setting. They are then transported...

Our thoughts on this story:

The big problem with modular homes is found right in the article: they only cost 25% less than traditional stick-built homes.That’s just not a big enough discount to outweigh the stigma. I think you’d have to be at around 50% off to make the average American consider it.

Newswires: Despite DOE Delay Manufactured Housing Energy Standards Remain Unacceptable as Costs Continue to Increase, per MHARR

Originally released by Newswires on May 25th, 2023
Commentary made on June 2nd, 2023

Preview:

Manufactured Housing Association Updates MHI-TMHA v DOE Case # 1:23-cv-00174 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

By mandating IECC as the base energy code for manufactured housing, section 413 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) would fundamentally undermine the manufactured housing market”

— Mark Weiss, J.D., President and CEO of MHARR.

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES, May 25, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- In a statement to manufactured home industry professionals, affordable housing advocates, public officials, and others following the affordable housing crisis, the Manufactured...

Our thoughts on this story:

If you haven’t been following this story, the U.S. Government is trying to cram down crazy environmentalist rules on mobile home manufacturing that will make the cost of mobile homes go up and the energy savings to customers go down an incredibly tiny percent that in no way justifies that extra home cost. We all know that the mobile home manufacturers will lose this battle (as all industries have in the Biden era) and then the rules will be reversed by the next administration before they even come into effect. So it’s just hard to get too worked up over it.

Effingham Herald: Guyton to amend code regarding manufactured and modular homes

Originally released by Effingham Herald on May 19th, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

The City of Guyton issued a press release May 18.

To quell the rumors and misinformation surrounding the potential changes to the City Zoning code regarding manufactured housing and modular homes, The following information is important:

1. The City is not making manufactured or modular homes illegal.

2. The City is not taking away existing manufactured or modular homes.

3. The City will not prevent homeowners from replacing an existing manufactured or modular home.

4. The City will not prevent homeowners from repairing their property or require approval to do so.

The current proposed changes to the code will do the following:

1. Property...

Our thoughts on this story:

Guyon, Georgia has a new idea. They will require a Special Use Permit for each and every new mobile home to enter any mobile home park in the city. But this should not be considered a way for them to keep mobile home tenants from moving in but instead because “It allows the community the opportunity to participate in the future of their neighborhoods”.

Yeah, right.

Let’s see how that holds up in court.

Ideastream Public Media: Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park supporters stage another protest to save homes

Originally released by Ideastream Public Media on May 19th, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

Holding protest signs including “Fund our community, not our displacement,” about 10 supporters of the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park demonstrated outside of a Western Reserve Land Conservancy fundraiser at the conservancy’s Moreland Hills headquarters Friday morning.

The conservancy, which owns the land where the mobile home park sits in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood, announced in February that more than 100 mobile home residents would have to move to make way for a new public park. Since then, United Residents of Euclid Beach (UREB) — a resident’s union with about 40 members — and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless...

Our thoughts on this story:

Do you seriously think that Cleveland needed this piece of land so bad to make way for a city park that they just had to evict those 100 park residents? Obviously, the truth is probably that Cleveland wanted to get this park torn down because it’s unsightly and costing the city a fortune in school tuition, hospital stays, and public programs. That’s like when the hotel says that it’s not going to wash your towels or sheets to save the environment from toxic chemicals.

The Durango Herald: How Lightner Creek tested Colorado’s Mobile Home Park Act

Originally released by The Durango Herald on May 21st, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

When about 85 residents lost water for two months in the Lightner Creek Mobile Home Park earlier this year west of Durango, there was little anyone could do.

Two days after the Feb. 13 outage, the park’s owner, Darlene Mann, received a cease-and-desist order from Christina Postolowski, manager of the Mobile Home Park Oversight Program. The order compelled Mann to comply with the various sections of the Mobile Home Park Act by repairing the water system, providing water to residents until service was restored, repairing a blocked sewer line and fully cleaning up a spill of raw sewage on park property.

When Mann did not comply with the...

Our thoughts on this story:

The average park owner does not have access to the $30 trillion credit line of the U.S. government. Asking an elderly park owner to chip in $5,000 per day, for water alone, for 60 days totals $300,000. And that does not even cover the cost to replace the water lines. So what’s the solution? Do you think there’s a higher use for this land in Durango, Colorado? Are you serious? In this case, a park buyer took the property over and saved it from the wrecking ball. But in 9 out of 10 cases, this park would be torn down and made into a more profitable use. What should have happened differently? The state should have supplied the water and fixed the water lines and prayed that the stress of the situation alone would not have coerced the seller into calling a land broker. The article confirms that if the park was resident-owned the state would have provided grants or low-cost loans immediately to do just that. Since tenants own nearly zero parks in Colorado, the state might want to think about changing that program requirement.

Democrat Gazette: Trailer park razing a concern in U.S.

Originally released by Democrat Gazette on May 22nd, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

PHOENIX -- The razing of older mobile home parks across the United States worries advocates who say bulldozing them permanently eliminates some of the already limited housing for the poorest of the poor.

A recent survey by the National Low Income Housing Coalition showed a U.S.-wide shortage of 7.3 million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters, defined in Arizona as a three-member household making $28,850 or less.

"Mobile homes are a much bigger part of our affordable housing stock than people know," said Mark Stapp, who directs Arizona State University's master's degree program in real estate development. "Once it's...

Our thoughts on this story:

Bingo.

At least six such communities have been torn down in Arizona in the last 18 months, he said, adding that Grand Canyon University "bent over backwards" to help residents more than other park owners."A lot of these parks are 70 years old," said Anderson, noting an uptick in demolitions of older communities for redevelopment. "It's going to be a big problem down the line."

So people are starting to have second thoughts about the importance of making sure that more parks don’t get town down. Easy solution. HIGHER LOT RENTS. You don’t need an academic study.

Kitsap Sun: Meeting with residents changes timeline of aid distribution, reveals rent increases

Originally released by Kitsap Sun on May 20th, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

North Kitsap Fishline will postpone the distribution of $30,000 in funds pledged last week to help residents Poulsbo Mobile Home Park conduct repairs, after dialogue between residents and property managers revealed a delay in distributing inspection reports to tenants.

Intending to provide relief to residents who recently received violation notices requiring them to complete a series of external repairs within an initial 20 days, the City of Poulsbo organized a community meeting, held Thursday at Poulsbo Mobile Home Park on Lincoln Road, to start the process of distributing funds. Poulsbo's city council committed $15,000 from an...

Our thoughts on this story:

At the May 3 Poulsbo City Council meeting, Councilmember Gary McVey told Josh Brooks and Shah, “We will take you at your word that you are not sprucing the place up to raise rents exorbitantly or to evict people who don't deserve to be so. We will hold you to that…”

And with those words the IQ of the entire room fell 10 points. Obviously, making the property nice should result in higher rents. Mobile home park lot rents are ridiculously low and until you break the $1,000 per month barrier in most markets (but not LA, Denver and others) you are not exorbitant. And park owners never evict people who do not need to be removed, as it costs a park owner about $5,000 in costs to evict a tenant when you factor in vacancy and home renovations.

Anna Maria Island Sun: Pines Trailer Park purchase offer accepted

Originally released by Anna Maria Island Sun on May 19th, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

BRADENTON BEACH – A May 8 letter Largo-based attorney David Luczak sent to the Pines Trailer Park Homeowners Association board members addresses the sale of the waterfront mobile home park. The accepted purchase offer appears to give the Pines Trailer Park’s permanent and seasonal residents at least five years to remain in their mobile homes and make their future plans.

The pending sale follows the Pines Trailer Park residents’ unsuccessful efforts to form a co-op and raise enough money to purchase the mobile home park owned by Richard and William Jackson’s Jackson Partnership LLLP.

Luczak’s letter begins by saying, “As you know, this...

Our thoughts on this story:

As I recall, this was the park in which the residents tried to buy it under their first option and only raised $4,000 of the $16 million purchase price over a period of months. Was anyone surprised? To match the offer the tenants would have had to put up $1 million in earnest money on day one. Give me a break.

KSAT: Mobile home co-op plan poised to get city bond funding

Originally released by KSAT on May 17th, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

San Antonio – The City of San Antonio plans to use part of its first housing bond to help create the city’s first mobile home park cooperative.

As part of the second round of proposals to use bond and federal dollars, city staff on Wednesday recommended helping fund a plan to purchase a South Side mobile home park and convert it into a co-op. That means the tenants of the 56-site Riverside Terrace on Mission Road would then own the park themselves and have the authority to set rents and make any improvements.

City staff recommended approving a little less than $2.9 million of the $150 million housing bond as well as $250,000 in fee...

Our thoughts on this story:

The tenants are buying this park for around $100,000 per lot. Clearly the seller has no problem with that. But I don’t think these residents realize what they’re getting into. To service that much debt, the rents are going to go up – way up. “Maybe not today or tomorrow but soon and for the rest of their lives” as Humphrey Bogart would say. To think that this transaction is going to keep rents low is a fallacy. It’s called math.

Daily Montanan: Gianforte vetoes mobile homes park bill, CPS reform, among other legislation

Originally released by Daily Montanan on May 17th, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed a bill that would have given protections for mobile home park residents, like requiring park owners give 60 days notice before taking action like increasing rent.

House Bill 889 is among more than a dozen other proposals to get rejected by the governor, including a bill for reforms to Child Protective Services and another bill requiring the state health department to issue reports of abuse from the state hospital.

Gianforte said in his veto letter Tuesday that House Bill 889 “increases regulation of mobile home parks, disincentivizes landlords from maintaining or increasing the inventory of mobile home rental...

Our thoughts on this story:

The Governor of Montana is this week’s Smartest Guy in the Room:

Gianforte said in his veto letter Tuesday that House Bill 889 “increases regulation of mobile home parks, disincentivizes landlords from maintaining or increasing the inventory of mobile home rental lots, and, in general, compromises the property rights of mobile home park owners.”

He must be an avid reader of this weekly publication as he fully understands that making mobile home parks a pain to own results in them being redeveloped into other uses. As tenants try to put burdens on park owners that are not in-line with American property laws, they set in motion the park owner selling the land for a different – and more porofitable – use.

Go Skagit: Low-income tenants lack options as old mobile home parks are razed

Originally released by Go Skagit on May 21st, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

PHOENIX (AP) — Alondra Ruiz Vazquez and her husband were comfortable in Periwinkle Mobile Home Park for a decade, feeling lucky to own their mobile home and pay about $450 a month for their lot in a city with spiraling rents.

But now they and dozens of other families have until May 28 to leave the Phoenix park, which nearby Grand Canyon University purchased seven years ago to build student housing. Two other mobile home communities are also being cleared this spring for new developments in a city where no new parks have been built in more than 30 years.

“I'm here, well, because I have nowhere to go,” said Isabel Ramos, who lives at...

Our thoughts on this story:

OK, let’s cut the B.S. Periwinkle Mobile Home Park is being torn down because student housing for Grand Canyon University is more profitable than a trailer park with $450 rents. The seller of the park weighed the offer from Grand Canyon University to what he was making with the park and the student housing offer was higher. How high would the lot rent have needed to be to make the Grand Canyon offer lower than the park was worth? I don’t know, but maybe $700 per month would have done the trick. That’s the issue that needs to be discussed in order to save parks from the wrecking ball. The question should not be “how can the park owner keep the rents ridiculously low” but instead “how high do the rents need to be to keep the park a park?” I’ve been preaching for a decade that the only thing that’s going to keep mobile home parks alive is much, much higher rents. If you don’t accept this, you’re an idiot.

Sea Coast Online: Portsmouth board allows new mobile home without city director's process

Originally released by Sea Coast Online on May 18th, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

PORTSMOUTH — The city Zoning Board of Adjustment voted to allow the owner of a 1960s-era mobile home in the Oriental Gardens park to replace it with a new home without getting a variance.

The board’s vote came late Tuesday night, after city Planning Director Peter Britz recently declined to grant a building permit for the new mobile home.

Britz had also ruled the owner of the mobile home at 210 Oriental Gardens would need to get a variance from the board first, before replacing the existing home.

John Kuzinevich, the attorney representing Salem Manufactured Homes LLC, the company seeking to sell the new home to the park resident, said the...

Our thoughts on this story:

Classic tale of a city bureaucrat not understanding zoning law and, when a lawyer goes above their head, is immediately overruled and the mobile home is approved.

Florida Today: How Brevard can tackle its affordable housing problem | Opinion

Originally released by Florida Today on May 20th, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

Are there solutions to a Space Coast housing situation where many believe a shot at decent, affordable housing slips further away?

That was the main issue this week at Brevard County’s inaugural “Affordable House Summit: Foundations for the Future of Housing on Florida’s Space Coast.”

Community leaders opened a countywide public discussion on what to do about a housing condition ― and one not unique to the Space Coast ― that price low-income, and even moderate-income, individuals and families out of a stable and decent place to live.

More than 200 people attended the all-day summit in Cocoa Village, where a roster of speakers,...

Our thoughts on this story:

Amber Caroll, director of the Brevard Homeless Coalition: “There is hope. There is hope. And the hope is here in this room.”

Maybe these folks should read the military officer handbook titled “Hope Is Not a Method”. The army found that one of the worst leadership traits is spouting out “hope” as opposed to reality-based action plans.

You cannot build an affordable home in the U.S. today, because construction costs plus lot costs equals $300,000 and up. “Hoping” you can accomplish that is just a waste of time. The only way to provide a detached dwelling at under $300,000 is a mobile home park. Period.

KTVB7: Mobile home owner seeks compensation after getting eviction notice

Originally released by KTVB7 on May 22nd, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

BOISE, Idaho — For more than a decade, Gary Gallipeau has called Dee Mar Mobile Home Park home.

The Garden City park was established in the 70s. Fifty years later, developers are reimagining and revamping the land into multi-family housing apartments.

Gallipeau said everyone living at the park got eviction notices in January.

“[The developers] even offered us a deal,” he said. “For every month early that we moved out, they would refund us two months of rent, but we had to take our trailers.”

But Gallipeau said moving those mobile homes is more difficult than it seems. Only about three or four of Dee Mar’s mobile homes were built...

Our thoughts on this story:

Here’s a new take on the “victim” mentality that all American appear to share. In 1976 HUD kidnapped the mobile home manufacturing industry and declared that any home that did not have a HUD seal could not be brought into a mobile home park. Now they’re closing down Dee Mar and the pre-HUD homes can’t be relocated and the tenants are blaming the park owner for this.

At the end of the day, Gallipeau is less concerned about moving out and more concerned about not getting compensated. He said some of the trailers are valued at upwards of $80,000. “There’s no fair or just compensation for property that we own,” he said. “The developers own the land, we own the trailers.”

The fact that owners of pre-HUD homes do not know (or even research) the ability to relocate a pre-HUD home is not the responsibility of the park owner. If this tenant wants to sue anyone, the appropriate party would be HUD. Good luck on that.

Because of this reality, that’s one more reason that mobile home park rents need to go up in-line with market forces as the problems at Dee Mar on relocating homes will be shared with any park that is redeveloped.

One final note: don’t try to tell me a pre-HUD home is worth $80,000. Nobody is buying that.

Standard-Examiner: Riverdale mobile home park emptying; 152-unit apartment complex planned

Originally released by Standard-Examiner on May 23rd, 2023
Commentary made on May 26th, 2023

Preview:

RIVERDALE — As the deadline to vacate the Lesley’s Mobile Home Park site looms, only a handful of stragglers remain.

“I’m waiting to the last minute,” said one of the remaining residents, Flora Espinoza, who’s lived at the park for 23 years. Lesley’s, which sits in the shadow of Riverdale Road where it crosses the Weber River, has space for 55 units, but only five or six units are still occupied.

Espinoza still hasn’t found a buyer for her unit, at least at a price that’s acceptable to her, and she’s holding out. “I’ve cried a lot over this,” she said from her porch, one of her grandsons eating inside the unit while her two dogs, Chiquita...

Our thoughts on this story:

The writer of this article just doesn’t get it.

“The plight of the residents, he maintains, underscores the need for legislative change to counter the power owners of mobile home parks have over tenants.“The man did win. Maybe that’s the way Utah legislative laws are set up. The one gets richer, the poor get poorer,” he said.”

No, Lesley’s mobile home park did not get torn down because mobile home park residents don’t have power over the owner of the park. It got torn down because 152 apartment units is way more profitable than 55 mobile home park lots. In this case, there’s no way you could have raised the lot rent high enough to stop the apartment development. Instead, you have to accept the reality that mobile home parks have really good locations and cities will provide the developer any zoning necessary to get rid of them.

The moral is that the tenants and media need to stop harassing and publicly shaming mobile home park owners because there is always some type of development that any mobile home park can be turned into – and pretty easily.

Mobile Home Park News Briefing

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Denver Post: The battle to keep Colorado’s mobile home parks in local hands

The Roanoke Times: With rents rising, Virginia mobile home residents have 'nowhere to go'

My Record Journal: Housing advocates say Connecticut is lagging in small home development

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Visual Capitalist: Modular Housing vs. Traditional Housing: How Do They Compare?

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Effingham Herald: Guyton to amend code regarding manufactured and modular homes

Ideastream Public Media: Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park supporters stage another protest to save homes

The Durango Herald: How Lightner Creek tested Colorado’s Mobile Home Park Act

Democrat Gazette: Trailer park razing a concern in U.S.

Kitsap Sun: Meeting with residents changes timeline of aid distribution, reveals rent increases

Anna Maria Island Sun: Pines Trailer Park purchase offer accepted

KSAT: Mobile home co-op plan poised to get city bond funding

Daily Montanan: Gianforte vetoes mobile homes park bill, CPS reform, among other legislation

Go Skagit: Low-income tenants lack options as old mobile home parks are razed

Sea Coast Online: Portsmouth board allows new mobile home without city director's process

Florida Today: How Brevard can tackle its affordable housing problem | Opinion

KTVB7: Mobile home owner seeks compensation after getting eviction notice

Standard-Examiner: Riverdale mobile home park emptying; 152-unit apartment complex planned

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