Mobile Home Park News Briefing

Well, if you thought she had any investing acumen, now you know better. Anyone who would spend $1 million on a mobile home that you don’t own the land underneath – whether it’s in Malibu or Timbuktu – is a certified idiot. My bet is that she released this video because somebody found out she lived in a “trailer park” and was about to sell the story to the National Enquirer so she decided to get a jump on that article. I watched this video and thought “wow, that’s embarrassing”. Not sure who would think otherwise.

This is a tough situation for the City of Blaine. They thought they had all mobile home parks effectively banned from being built in the city and suddenly it turns out the zoning department screwed up. A developer found the loophole and now the city is freaking out and trying to stop the developer with a moratorium. “City council approved the moratorium May 22 to allow time for city staff to clean up code inconsistencies. The underlying zoning code allows for manufactured home parks but the planned unit development (PUD) code does not. Manufactured home parks that are five acres or larger are required to be developed as PUDs.”

How will this turn out? The developer has pledged to sue the city if it denies his permit. The city is basically doomed as you can’t legally do what they’re doing. It’s like a plane with a broken landing gear and no matter how long you delay it, it’s still going to crash.

No offense but given the current values of mobile home parks in Colorado – typically around $100,000 per lot – means the $28 million the state has allocated to this program will only cover about 280 lots (there are single parks bigger than that). 

This is a really good idea offered by the State of New York to mobile home owners:

If an elderly resident has to move to a nursing home, it can cost the state $400 per day. By making the mobile home handicap accessible, it saves them a ton of money. This is a sensible win/win scenario. I’m a big fan of government making smart decisions – it’s just that they do it so rarely.

If an elderly resident has to move to a nursing home, it can cost the state $400 per day. By making the mobile home handicap accessible, it saves them a ton of money. This is a sensible win/win scenario. I’m a big fan of government making smart decisions – it’s just that they do it so rarely.

This writer thinks they have it all figured out when it comes to why mobile homes in Vermont got flooded the other day – in the same storm that flooded their own capitol. “A large share sit on floodplains. Many parks have aging water and electrical systems that are more at risk of failing when hit by severe weather, and older homes built to outdated housing codes lack the physical integrity to withstand damage.”

Wow, that was really stupid on so many fronts. Yes, many mobile home parks have floodplain on some part of the property, but so does every other type of real estate (including the Capitol of Vermont apparently). Water and electrical systems do not fail in storms any more than any subdivision. And mobile homes have been built to the standards imposed and inspected by HUD (the Federal Government) since 1976.

The real reason that the mobile homes of Vermont flooded recently was simply that the entire state of Vermont flooded and those mobile homes just happened to be located in Vermont.

I admit that these homes look really cool but they violate the ordinances of almost every city in the U.S. Why? Because they don’t have HUD seals. And that’s why they look really cool. When you make them HUD compliant, they look like a shoe box. One day, maybe the law will be changed. But don’t hold your breath. Until then, they won’t work in parks.

And here’s the winner of “Most Misguided Attempt at Social Engineering of 2023”. Despite there being no rent control in Ohio a resident named Wykle has “organized a series of protests in front of his Lancaster mobile home park since June after he said park owners continue to increase lot rent”.

I hope he has a lot of sunscreen.

And we have another winner: “The Worst Strategy Decision of 2023”. After acknowledging the complete absence of available rental properties, these few renters are harassing the park owner with nonsense suits on everything from mold to energy efficiency. What do you imagine that’s going to accomplish? Let me guess – the park owner gets out of the rental business and sells these units off, rendering these folks homeless. Smart move.

And another winner: “The Best Quotes of 2023”. Here’s what a resident and park owner said after the city voted to put into effect even more rent control in this California town:

Calling the council's direction misguided, resident Salo Landano claimed rent control efforts always fail. "It never works and it always leads to lower housing stock and poorer living conditions."

Park owner Nick Ubaldi says he's considering drastic measures. "We are currently managing properties with aging infrastructure while dealing with escalating expenses, however, it seems that the decision to impose additional restrictions on rent increases, keeping them below C.P.I. will have unintended consequences. As I'm sure you're aware of, we have hired a consultant to assess the feasibility of closing our mobile home park. We believe this to be our only viable course of action. We are concerned that if not addressed, these changes will suffocate our business and render our property virtually worthless."

Bravo!

“The Royal Oaks Mobile Manor manufactured home park burned down in the 2020 Almeda Fire. But a series of new modular homes being installed there were recently found to be uninhabitable after construction defects were discovered.”

After you read that quote, it’s hard to be impressed with the two apartment complexes the City of Phoenix is building – you can’t stop wondering how much money they squandered trying to fill the mobile home park with modular homes that turned out to be uninhabitable. Think they’ll ever discuss how much money was lost and which city official was held accountable for this mess? Yeah, right.

And we have another winner: “The WORST TIMING of 2023”. The park is being sold for $16 million to be redeveloped. That means the homes have to move out. In light of all of this, six residents of the park – with ancient homes that look to be pre-HUD – are wanting to sell them for up to $189,000 each. Here’s the problem I guess the residents don’t understand. The homes were only worth that much because they offered cheap living in a beach town in Florida. The location is what people were buying, and not the homes. Now these homes will only bring maybe $10,000 since they have to leave the property. They should have sold them before the park closure was announced.

Yes, we have a winner. “The Wokest Article OF 2023”. It not only takes the regular nonsense and expands on it, but it actually has a new woke angle not seen before: the reason mobile homes look bad is that evil manufacturers classify mobile homes as cars and therefore banks won’t fund home improvements that the residents are desperate to do which is clearly ridiculous. There is no battle between 99% of mobile home residents and out-of-state investors. There IS a battle between the 1% that want the parks to remain dumps at low rents and with the infrastructure failing. If these type of woke journalists want to really help those few mobile home park residents that don’t like living in a civilized society, then they should let them move in and sleep on their sofas.

Here’s what one neighbor of the mobile home park had to say: "let me tell you something. I see another fire happening. It's going to cost somebody their life. Whose head's that gonna be on? You guys. Take a look. Think about that." Based on that argument I could say to that neighbor “let me tell you something. I see you drive your car out of the driveway and it might cost someone their life if you crash into them. Whose head’s that gonna be on?”

The park owner is trying to tear down 10 old trailers and install 10 new ones. He’s not promising that he can end the risk of fire, famine, or locusts nor bring about world peace. He’s just following the law. That’s why the city agreed with the park owner.

First of all, NOBODY evicts for minor reasons. When you get rid of a paying tenant, you lose probably $10,000+ by the time you get that lot re-filled. I don’t know the facts, but I know from experience that eviction is the last straw available when the resident refuses to pay rent or follow the rules. And it sounds like the owner is at that point with these few tenants. Note that the attorney for the residents admits that the owner has done nothing legally wrong – so then what’s the issue here? If you’re a woke journalist who lives in a tiny apartment in Manhattan and doesn’t own anything, then you have zero idea of how business works. In the real world, you have to do unpleasant things when you’re a landlord, which includes firing employees and, in this case, evicting tenants.

When an article starts off with “activists claim the alleged issues there are an example of a problematic trend happening to mobile home parks across the country. They say large private equity companies are buying up mobile home parks, raising rent prices, and implementing costly policies, which they say take advantage of the people who live there” you know it’s yet another woke article by a biased journalist and based on commentary from one or two residents that are usually behind on their rent or in trouble for rules violations.

The truth is that private equity groups are the good guys that are bringing old parks back to life. Without them a number would be closing. As part of resuscitating old parks, they are, of course, raising rents and being more rigid on rules (such as parking in this case) and that makes 10% of the residents mad – the very residents that ruin the quality of life for every else in the community. 90% of the residents share none of these complaints but are too good natured to say that those complaining neighbors are nuts.

It reminds me of when Steve Jobs moved Apple out of his parents’ garage and into real office space. Some of the workers said “I want to go back to the garage – it was way better”. But 99% of the workers at Apple did not agree, including Steve Jobs. Those that could not handle reality land were free to quit and go sit in their own garages.

OK, I called this a few years ago. Yes, tiny homes will one day be allowed in all parks nationwide because, just like Uber, it’s what people want even if it’s not technically legal. If they could repeal prohibition, they can certainly open the doors to tiny homes over time.

Here’s where I get confused on articles like this. She says she has a full-time job with the same company for the past 17 years. Her only obligation is a $280 per month lot rent. Yet she says “I live paycheck to paycheck”. So even if it took you 17 years to work up to minimum wage, you’d earn at least $20,000 per year. $280 per month represents 17% of your income. I’m sorry but I just don’t buy it.

What kind of goofball pays $200,000 for a mobile home? Move to Missouri and you can get a brick house in a good school district for less money. And what’s with the use of the name “Reserve” on just about every housing project in Florida? Reserve is defined as “a supply of a commodity not needed for immediate use” – which basically means it’s something that nobody currently needs. How is that a positive in a development name?

How can you justify spending $2 million just for the sidewalks on a 14-lot expansion? That’s over $100,000 per lot just for the sidewalk cost the city is demanding. I’m afraid on lost on this concept. 

This is a strange concept. People buy a house at a reduced price on a 99-year lease and you can’t sell the home except back to the Land Trust at a reduced price. And if you keep it for 99 years then they take it away from you. And this is accomplishing what exactly? Here’s a better idea. If you can’t afford a home and you are gainfully employed then you need to move to a part of America where homes are cheaper. Wages are pretty much the same throughout the U.S. in low-paying jobs, so artificially keeping people in areas they can’t afford without this subsidy creates generational poverty, right? I can never figure out why people live in New York City and San Francisco and all these other areas that they can’t afford without ever thinking “wow, if I picked up and moved to Topeka and made $30,000 per year I’d be set”.

16 trailers and the well has gone bad? That’s why you never buy a park this small with private utilities. The owners should be discussing a listing price for the raw land as soon as possible. The tenants have no idea that they are basically signing their own real estate death warrant, and the journalist is the idiot that’s lighting the match on the funeral pyre.

If Delaware passes a bill that bans evicting residents for criminal behavior and provides every resident a free attorney when an eviction is filed against them then they may go to the top of my list of dumbest states. Pathetic.

Don’t you love it when politicians hold public forums? It’s absolutely meaningless but makes people feel like they’re being heard. Instead, decision makers are making tiny notes of grocery items and daydreaming about golf adventures while nodding sporadically to pretend like they’re really concerned. “Walla Walla Rep. Mark Klicker, the ranking Republican on the House Housing Committee, will host the sessions along with assistant ranking member Republican Rep. April Connors and a housing policy staffer. "Basically, it’s a listening session to get some ideas to find solutions to both the rental market and mobile home parks to curtail the rapid rate increases," Klicker said in a statement.” The odds that these forums will change anyone’s vote is somewhere around .00000001%.

The most important revelation of this article is that Harvard University is now researching the “trailer” industry. Sadly, this article is not up to Ivy-League standards. I’m sorry, but if CrossMod (the new mobile home/modular concept) is only 27% cheaper than stick built, it’s never going to sell. Most people have a stigma against mobile homes that is far bigger than just 27%. If CrossMod was maybe 50% less, it might have a chance, but I’m still not even convinced then. 

The rapper 50-Cent said it all earlier this week when he said that California is going down for the count. If I owned this park I would sell the land and bulldoze it rather than to comply with these idiotic rent control ordinances and tenants that have a “victim” mentality and can’t do anything for themselves with a pandering state government that eggs them on. You watch, this park will be an apartment complex in three years.