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Yahoo! Finance: Is The Most Expensive Mobile Home Park Ever Sold A Brilliant Moneymaking Investment?

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Malibu, CA is known for its 21 miles of coastline studded with luxury homes. Carbon Beach, also known as Billionaire’s Beach, features homes belonging to industry titans like Larry Ellison and David Geffen. However, the city also has another type of housing in high demand: mobile homes.

There are two mobile home communities in Malibu. Paradise Cove has attracted celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Paulson to its private community. The other mobile home club is the Point Dume Club of Malibu. It has 297 residences within its gates and just sold for the first time since the land beneath it was bought in 1892.

The Rindge family...

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Our thoughts on this story:

ALL FACT AND NO IDIOCY:

While Point Dume Club is a bit of an outlier, mobile home communities are finding new favor among retirees and losing some of the negativity previously associated with these types of communities. Because getting a new community approved can often be challenging, existing properties are highly desirable. Communities can be solid moneymakers for investors because tenants rarely pick up and move their homes so vacancies are low.

"Some of the most profitable investments are in industries where demand is outpacing supply," Kristin Millington, director of manufactured housing and self-storage at Dallas-based Crow Holdings Capital, told Bisnow earlier this year. "That's the exact dynamic we see present in the manufactured housing space and we don't really see that changing."

Yes, that’s all correct.

Petaluma Argus-Courier: Some residents of Petaluma’s Capri Villa mobile home park avoid rent hikes, this time

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Owners of Petaluma’s Capri Villa mobile home park were not allowed to raise rents by $328 on 12 residents after park representatives cut the hearing short, according to an interim arbitration award issued last week.

“Because Capri has failed to meet its burden of proof, it is not entitled to an increase in monthly rent under the ordinance,” stated the interim arbitration award issued Sept. 11.

However, on the same day as that ruling, owners issued three-day notices for some of the park’s residents, demanding that they pay rent – to an amount disputed by the residents – or leave within 60 days.

The hearing was triggered after Capri Mobile...

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Our thoughts on this story:

ALL IDIOCY:

If you’ve ever even considered buying a mobile home park in California, read this article and that should put an end to the discussion. What a bunch of lunatics.

WNEM: Mobile home park residents want answers about ownership, maintenance

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MIDLAND CO., Mich. (WNEM) - Residents at a Midland County mobile home park said the property owner isn’t doing anything to address the park’s problems.

Residents of Evergreen Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park (MHP) in Lee Township voiced their frustrations, and the property owners spoke with TV5 to give their side of the story.

“They want to take in the money. They want to keep raising the rent, keep on adding additional bills, fees. But they don’t want to provide anything to improve things,” said Kim Schumacher.

Schumacher said she was fired as office manager at Evergreen Whispering Pines MHP on Aug. 7. She said the owners of the mobile...

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Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: A FIRED MANAGER IS PROBABLY NOT YOUR BEST SOURCE OF NEWS.

I knew this article would be interesting when I saw that the main protagonist was the manager that the new owners had just fired. Here’s her side of the story:

Schumacher said during her time as manager, she noticed glaring issues from ownership, stating they don’t even have an operating license.

“Our license for our address is still under the former owner. It expires at the end of this month,” she said.

And then you have the response from the owner that fired her:

“We have worked cooperatively with EGLE, and Water District 1 in Lee Township to get the residents a better-quality water coming from the municipal water system. And that’s gone into place. And now our efforts will focus with the new manager on further cleanup of the park. And we’re also working on taking some of the abandoned trailers and getting them into shape so that new tenants can come in to make it a more robust community,” Cherin said.Cherin also said that the company was having issues with Schumacher’s performance, and they gave her ample time to improve. When that didn’t happen, she was let go.

And then you have her rebuttal in which she proclaims that she’s only speaking out for the good of the nation and not because she’s mad that she got canned, of course:

For her part, Schumacher said she’s not a disgruntled former employee, she just wants what’s best for the residents.

You would have to be a complete idiot not to see through this story.

It’s also important to note that when you turn-around a mobile home park there’s a delay between closing on the property and getting things done. You have to line up contactors, get permits, get the correct weather and many other items. Once again, common sense would make this readily apparent to anyone who is not a complete idiot (which the author of the article is sadly guilty of being)

MASS LIVE: Tenants of Mass. mobile home park hope judge will side with them against rent increase

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SPRINGFIELD — A housing court judge promises to make a decision about a mobile home park’s rent increase appeal by the month’s end. But first, the tenants’ lawyer will file new documents hoping to sway the judge’s decision.

Effective Feb. 1, the West Village Mobile Home Community received a nearly $300 rent increase — going from $207 to $503.06 a month — for the land on which their mobile homes sit. Most of the residents live on fixed incomes, are older or are disabled and say they can’t afford the 150% increase.

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Here’s the actual housing stats for Springfield, Massachusetts:

  • Single family home price average is $240,800
  • 3-bedrroom apartment rent is $1,540 per month.

Against that backdrop, the tenants of a mobile home park have filed suit stating that a rent of $503 per month is abhorrent, unjust, and every other adjective they can think of:

A housing court judge promises to make a decision about a mobile home park’s rent increase appeal by the month’s end. But first, the tenants’ lawyer will file new documents hoping to sway the judge’s decision. Effective Feb. 1, the West Village Mobile Home Community received a nearly $300 rent increase — going from $207 to $503.06 a month — for the land on which their mobile homes sit.

The foundation of their argument is that the rent is going up 150% to get to $503 per month. Apparently what the tenants are hoping is that by focusing on the 150% the judge will somehow be blinded to the fact that – at the new rent – the mobile home park is 66% less than an apartment, and around 90% less than a house.

They better hope that the judge is a total idiot.

I believe that the McDonald’s Value Menu Cheeseburger has gone from $1 to $3.15, which is a 215% increase. But that’s 50% of the cost of the cheeseburger at other restaurants. Get the picture?

29 NEWS: Charlottesville City Council authorizes loan for Carlton Mobile Home Park

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Monday night, September 16, Charlottesville City Council authorized what will be its financial contribution to buy the Carlton Mobile Home Park.

This comes after it voted in early August to join efforts along with Habitat for Humanity and the Piedmont Housing Alliance to save the park.

The City will help financially by committing more than $8 million over a five year time span.

The money will be considered a loan.

There will be a minimum of 180 units. At least 70% of those rentals will be for households with low to moderate incomes.

“This is just one component of what would be an overall project involving...

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Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: WHEN YOU BUY THE PARK TO TEAR IT DOWN YOU ARE NOT “SAVING THE PARK”.

This story is so stupid that it’s hard to believe I’m the only one calling them out on it. For several weeks now, the media has been raving about how Charlottesville is “saving the mobile home park” by helping Habitat for Humanity buy the property to then tear it down. They’re not even trying to mask the fact that the wrecking ball is already being lined up.

This comes after it voted in early August to join efforts along with Habitat for Humanity and the Piedmont Housing Alliance to save the park. The City will help financially by committing more than $8 million over a five year time span. The money will be considered a loan. There will be a minimum of 180 units. At least 70% of those rentals will be for households with low to moderate incomes. This is just one component of what would be an overall project involving lots of different eventual requirements from different funding sources,” Councilor Michael Payne said. Construction is set to begin by December 2029 and to be completed by December 2033.

So apparently when Habitat for Humanity tears a mobile home park down they are “saving it” and when anyone else does they are “forcing residents into homelessness”. Pathetic.

Kelowna Now: West Kelowna mobile home park rezoned, last 4 tenants have 1 year to vacate

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After about nine months of back and forth, a West Kelowna mobile home park has officially been rezoned to allow for industrial uses.

After being deferred twice this year, West Kelowna councillors were satisfied that four remaining residents of Shady Acres Mobile Home Park would be given adequate notice to move out and access to compensation from the developer, Kerr Properties.

This rezoning application was before West Kelowna councillors for the third time on Tuesday.

When the application was deferred for a second time in July, West Kelowna councillors wanted confirmation that the rules and guidelines under the Manufactured Home Park...

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Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: DO YOU THINK TWO YEARS AND $20,000 IS MAYBE OVERKILL ON A $1,000 HOME?

Only in bureaucratic America can it make sense to delay a development for two years and spend $20,000 per home for four holdouts in a mobile home park. The homes in the photo appear to be 1980s models in poor condition and probably worth $1,000 each. Unbelievable.

After about nine months of back and forth, a West Kelowna mobile home park has officially been rezoned to allow for industrial uses. After being deferred twice this year, West Kelowna councillors were satisfied that four remaining residents of Shady Acres Mobile Home Park would be given adequate notice to move out and access to compensation from the developer, Kerr Properties. Brent Magnan, director of development approvals, said that once the zoning bylaw amendment is adopted, that will trigger the 12 month notice period for tenants to vacate as well as the $20,000 compensation for their homes.

I’m sure the poor developer regrets getting involved with a city this out of touch with reality.

Manchester: Warner manufactured-home park purchased by residents with an assist from NH Community Loan Fund

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WARNER, NH – Homeowners in Pleasant Pond Cooperative permanently secured affordable lot rents for 33 homes when they purchased their manufactured-home park and became New Hampshire’s 151st resident-owned community (ROC).

There are now 21 ROCs protecting affordable housing for over 1,200 homes in Merrimack County [click here for a full list of ROCs in NH].

New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s ROC-NH™ program met with park owners Peter and Terri Wyman in March when they expressed interest in selling the park to residents. Shortly after that, residents began training and technical assistance with ROC-NH™ to help guide the incorporation and...

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Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: THE RENT GOES UP JUST AS FAST WHEN THE RESIDENTS OWN IT – OR FASTER.

We once sold a mobile home park in Austin to the tenants. Years after the sale calls still came in from the local media wanting to know why we were shamelessly gouging the rents. I explained to them that we had sold the park years earlier and the residents were simply learning the harsh realities of ever-increasing utility costs, insurance, property taxes and all the real-life things that park owners must pay.

All that really happens when a park sells to the residents is that the debt becomes dependent on non-profits that have to personally guarantee it – typically on short balloons – and when they no longer want to stick their necks out it goes back on the market for a normal landlord to purchase. Has a single resident-owned deal ever made it to full 25-year maturity of the mortgage?

HW Media: HUD issues ’extensive’ update to manufactured housing safety standards

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The  (HUD) on Wednesday announced updates to its manufactured housing construction and safety standards, a move it called the most extensive such updates in three decades as the department seeks to modernize the features of these homes to drive demand.

The new standards, scheduled to be published via a final rule in the Federal Register on Sept. 16, were announced on Wednesday by  (FHA) Commissioner Julia Gordon in Elkhart, Indiana, which is home to the RV and Manufactured Housing Hall of Fame.

The revisions include “90 new or updated standards to increase...

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Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: WITH MORE REGULATION COMES HIGHER PRICES WHICH BENEFITS NOBODY.

People buy mobile homes simply because they are inexpensive. When HUD adds on more regulations it simply makes the price higher, while providing nothing of real value to the buyer. Nobody goes around the mobile home park trying to outdo the neighbor by saying “my home saves $4 per year on my energy bill due to my unique window design” but instead says “I sure am glad I bought my mobile home before HUD raised the prices by $15,000 with those new regulations”. I know the nation has gone nuts for ecology and virtue-signaling but the reason you buy a mobile home is not with a concern about energy efficiency. Let rich people worry about all this nonsense and don’t punish those on small budgets with unnecessary add-ons.

The Real Deal: The most overlooked affordable housing, and its big flaw

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The increased attention to housing affordability has elevated the cause of manufactured homes, which account for 6 percent of the nation’s housing stock and a far higher share of its low-cost housing, despite being unsubsidized.

The Biden administration just changed some rules to increase production of manufactured housing and make it safer and more attractive. (The Department of Housing and Urban Development sets design and construction standards for units built after June 15, 1976.) The biggest change is to allow single-family manufactured homes to have up to four dwelling units.

That could boost the sector’s share of single-family...

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Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: NOBODY BUYS A MOBILE HOME BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY CAN MOVE IT.

All that is great, but the fundamental flaw of manufactured housing remains. Owners of these units typically don’t own the land under them; they rent space in trailer parks. And mobile homes, despite their name, are hardly mobile. Relocating one can cost $10,000 — more than most of their residents can afford.

People buy mobile homes because of their one big strength: THEY’RE INCREDIBLY INEXPENSIVE. Nobody, in real life, ever has the desire to move a mobile home. It has always – and will always – make much more sense to sell it where it sits. Let’s just model that out for a minute for those who are truly common sense challenged. If you buy an old mobile home for $5,000 already set up in a mobile home park in Kansas and then get a new job in Oklahoma, you could move the $5,000 home at a cost of $10,000 (net loss of $5,000) or just sell it to somebody else – exactly where it sits – for $5,000 (so you get all your money back) and then buy another one for $5,000 in Oklahoma. It’s not rocket science. These articles attempt to make you feel that being deprived of your ability to move your housing choice is what makes it a bad buy. The last time I checked you could not move a single-family home or condo either. Give me a break.

AD Pro: Sarah Paulson’s Mobile Home Drops in Price, Roy Lichtenstein’s Hampton Retreat Is Up for Grabs, and More Real Estate News

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This week, Sarah Paulson reduces the price on her Malibu mobile home (AD, March 2023), penthouses designed by AD PRO Directory firm Meyer Davis hit the market, and developers announced the completion of Helmut Jahn’s final building. In this roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.

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Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: NOBODY WANTS A $2 MILLION MOBILE HOME. BETTER KEEP DROPPING THAT PRICE.

Sarah Paulson brings her Malibu mobile home down from $2 million to $1.8 million

I guess she has friends in the media who keep hyping this up like it’s a great buy or something – it’s been floating around every week for like a month. Give it up.

Reason: Tim Scott Wants to Deregulate Manufactured Housing

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Tim Scott Versus the Chassis Requirement

On Thursday, a group of Republican senators led by Sen. Tim Scott (R–S.C.) introduced the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act, which proposes a grab bag of reforms to federal housing programs.

Unlike the slew of federal YIMBY (Yes in my backyard) bills that have been introduced in recent years, Scott's bill doesn't try to poke, prod, or bribe local and state governments into liberalizing their zoning codes. "Housing policy is inherently local, and federal legislators should encourage local solutions to local problems," reads the press release on the bill.

Nevertheless,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: THE CHASSIS RULE WAS DESIGNED TO MAKE MOBILE HOMES NON-COMPETITIVE.

There's some debate about whether HUD's chassis requirement is primarily responsible for a massive, post-1970s drop in manufactured home production…

Gee, I wonder why HUD would have made it illegal to remove the mobile home from its hideous boat trailer foundation, thereby requiring it to sit 3’ off the ground and brand it with the “trailer” stigma? Let me think. Do you think it might be the well-funded single-family home lobby that could get their political allies with influence over HUD to derail the threat of $20,000 homes that look like $100,000 stick-builts back in the day? Nah, they’d never do that, right?

Tampa Bay Times: St. Pete candidate hosted ‘Trailer Trash’ fundraiser for Catholic school

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ST. PETERSBURG — A candidate for City Council has removed posts on social media about a Catholic school fundraiser she hosted two years ago under a “trailer trash tragedy” theme.

In May 2022, Torrie Jasuwan posted about the party at her home that included several photos of party guests dressed in ways that promoted stereotypes, including exposed bra straps and fake tattoos. Several were photographed with plastic red cups and cigarettes in their mouths, with one sporting a fake pregnant belly.

“Such an epic “Trailer Trash Tragedy” murder mystery party-party for HFCS this weekend!” Jasuwan wrote. “Now to think of our theme for next... Read More

Our thoughts on this story:

COMMON SENSE ALERT: HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR, IT WON’T KILL YOU.

I’ve been in the “trailer park” business for 30 years and I sincerely doubt that anyone truly finds any of this so objectionable that they are going to lose sleep over it. We see this same stereotype shamelessly advanced in absolutely everything on television and the movies.

ST. PETERSBURG — A candidate for City Council has removed posts on social media about a Catholic school fundraiser she hosted two years ago under a “trailer trash tragedy” theme. In May 2022, Torrie Jasuwan posted about the party at her home that included several photos of party guests dressed in ways that promoted stereotypes, including exposed bra straps and fake tattoos. Several were photographed with plastic red cups and cigarettes in their mouths, with one sporting a fake pregnant belly. “Such an epic “Trailer Trash Tragedy” murder mystery party-party for HFCS this weekend!” Jasuwan wrote. “Now to think of our theme for next year...”

The only one who cares about this story is this person’s political rival for that city council spot.

wvtf: Charlottesville's ground-breaking approach to protecting trailer park residents

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Nancy Lee Sprouse moved to Charlottesville 12 years ago after a visit from her long-distance boyfriend who had lived here all his life.

"One time when he had to leave we had gone to Walmart, and I started crying, because he had to leave," she recalls. "I said, ‘I just don’t want you to leave,’ and he asked me to marry him right by Walmart, so I said yes, and that's how I got here."

Today, she and her husband – Jimmy – are active in their church, a few blocks from home, and they’re living on a pension, so when word came that the Carlton Mobile Home Park was being sold and they’d be evicted, Nancy was distraught.

"We couldn’t afford to move...

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Then, one of her neighbors reached out to Dan Rosensweig at Habitat for Humanity." A woman from the mobile home park came to our office in a panic," he told Radio IQ. "She showed us a note that’s been distributed to all of the residents at Carlton that said the mobile home park is being sold. It was basically a 60-day notice." Working with the Piedmont Housing Alliance, the Legal Aid Justice Center, and park residents, he offered to buy the place with $7.25 million dollars from the city. Over the next three years, Habitat will help residents plan a new community with plenty of affordable housing. No one will be forced to leave, and the group says it won’t raise rent more than $15 a month.

Yes, this is the same story – regurgitated for weeks now -- in which Habitat for Humanity pretends to be the savior of these poor residents who have absolutely no idea what is about to happen. It’s like watching a war movie where the soldiers are walking into an ambush while admiring how nice the weather is. Just look at the wording “… will help residents plan a new community with affordable housing …”. That means the trailer park is going to be torn down and put back as an apartment complex or something other than a mobile home park, in all likelihood. That’s apparently what Habitat has done in the past, according to a park resident in an earlier article. Sure sounds that way to me.

KLFY: Property developer says Kaplan officials wrongfully prevented mobile home park project

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VERMILION PARISH, La. (KLFY) — A property developer says Kaplan city officials must pay up after violating its property rights.

In a lawsuit recently moved to federal court, the developer claims the city wrongfully rezoned property the developer had purchased and prevented it from creating a mobile home community.

LECO Properties LLC said in the lawsuit that it purchased the property — Legion Park Subdivision — in September 2022. At that time, the property was zoned as an R-2 Residential District, meaning it could be used for mobile homes as long as those homes complied with certain requirements, the developer said.

The developer claims...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Not to dispense advice – and with the understanding that I am not an attorney and never hope to be one – but here’s what a well-known municipal attorney once told me the attack plan was on cases like this: sue any council member or official who acts out of accordance with the law, in a personal capacity. When they realize that they have personal accountability for their actions – including potentially having to personally pay their own legal defense – they will typically change their vote. I don’t know the details of this case, but that’s an angle that should probably at least be discussed by the owner with his attorney if he feels that this group refused to give him the permit that the ordinance demands he should receive. Most bureaucrats and volunteers in these committees have no idea of the litigation liability dangers they face when they go “rogue” from what the letter of the law states. And, once informed, they may have an immediate attitude adjustment.

Concord Monitor: New Hampshire celebrates 150th resident-owned community, leading the nation in affordable homeownership

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New Hampshire is known for many firsts: the first to declare independence from England, and its first-in-the-nation primary. 

New Hampshire is also the first state where residents of a manufactured housing community purchased their park, forming a cooperative to retain control over bylaws, like lot rent, to maintain affordability within their community.

Derry Oak Village, a 27-home park, celebrated a milestone this week as the 150th resident-owned community in the state.

Owning a manufactured home can be a path to affordable homeownership – and a way for many to downsize – but purchasing a home in a park means that the resident owns the...

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Our thoughts on this story:

If you go to the website of ROC – who has been, to my knowledge, the most prolific promoter of “resident owned communities” – you will see that virtually all of their properties have been in New Hampshire. You will also see that there are very, very, very few properties that have ever been successfully made into tenant ownership. We’ve sold several properties to the residents – so we are no stranger to the concept – but I wonder if U.S. politicians are aware of how incredibly few of these transactions have ever happened. The bureaucrats spend so much time talking about this concept, and even passing laws regarding it, without probably realizing that they actually go to completion at an incredibly low statistical level. It’s like spending time legislating new laws to protect polar bears that are hit by lighting and then hit by a meteorite.

The Paducah Sun: More affordable housing coming to Southside Paducah

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More than 50 new affordable homes will be coming to Southside Paducah, according to management at a mobile home park.

Country Aire Mobile Homes in Paducah is developing its property as part of a plan to bring more economic development to the neighborhood. Management said the goal is to bring more affordable housing to the community.

All reservations are expected to be completed by next January. Solsidan Management Co. Inc. is investing about $2 million in the property, and property manager Amy Fritts said more affordable housing in Paducah is crucial — especially amid the national housing shortage.

Additionally, mobile home park is...

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Jon Stratton has called the Southside community home for 21 years. “Southside’s been dying for a long time now. It’s been happening probably over the last 12, 15 years that I’ve noticed,” Stratton said. “And I feel like the whole economy on this side needs to be rejuvenated.”

Finally, a truthful quote from a “normal” resident – and not some nut case who would choose a bucket over a toilet if it saves $3. This is what 99.9% of park residents really think about park improvements and higher rents – they are 100% on-board with it. It’s about time that the media starts interviewing the nice people with nice homes, yards and cars and not the .01% of park residents who could care less about their quality of life as long as it saves 50 cents.

The Post and Courier: Rent increases coming to Spartanburg County mobile home parks as new owners plan repairs

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SPARTANBURG — The group of investors who bought four neglected Spartanburg mobile home parks in July plans to fix up the units while also raising rent.

“We're not looking to come in and be the highest rent in the area,” said Tim Woodbridge, one of the investors who made the purchase. “We're looking to increase enough so we can put enough money back into the parks. If you're not making money, you're not putting the money back into the parks, into the homes, and all of a sudden it just cascades into a bad situation.”

The sale was brokered by Marcus and Millichap and includes 98 mobile home lots and two single-family homes.

The parks... Read More

Our thoughts on this story:

The group of investors who bought four neglected Spartanburg mobile home parks in July plans to fix up the units while also raising rent. “We're not looking to come in and be the highest rent in the area,” said Tim Woodbridge, one of the investors who made the purchase. “We're looking to increase enough so we can put enough money back into the parks. If you're not making money, you're not putting the money back into the parks, into the homes, and all of a sudden it just cascades into a bad situation.”

I commend the new owners on their narrative to the media, which is that you have to charge higher rent to offer a good, safe product.

And then, of course, the writer can’t help themselves to add this worn-out quote from a resident:

"If they’re doing an increase, they’re gonna put a lot of people out of a place to live".

You can use that same quote on literally every good and service in the U.S. right now, which are up a collective 20%+ under the Biden administration. It’s a meaningless statement. I wrote an article recently in which I highlighted that – under the government’s own budget-setting on-line help site for Americans – it shows that housing is not the #1 cost, but instead ranks behind healthcare, childcare, taxes and even transportation costs. When you get those four solved then you might start complaining about mobile home park rents going up! Give me a break.

The Post and Courier: SC's biggest bank sells its manufactured housing business to Warren Buffett's company

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The largest bank headquartered in South Carolina has sold its manufactured housing loan portfolio at a loss to a company backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, describing the specialty financing niche as a distraction.

The Greenville-based parent of United Community Bank said Sept. 3 that the deal was finalized late last week. The buyer of the loans, totaling more than $318 million, was 21st Mortgage Corp., a division of Berkshire-owned manufactured housing developer Clayton Homes.

United Community said it expects to book a onetime $21.6 million loss on the sale when its reports its third-quarter financial results later this year....

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Our thoughts on this story:

It’s really hard to lose money financing mobile homes in mobile home parks that are “backstopped” by the park owners (the model that Buffett created) and incredibly easy to lose money on financing mobile homes without the park owner being involved in “backstopping” them (just ask any mobile home lender on their results from the year 2000 “Great Chattel Crisis”). Once again, park owners get zero credit for this invaluable service they provide their residents. Does that seem unfair? It does to me.

KSBW: Watsonville recommends regulating mobile home park sales

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he Watsonville Planning Commission recommends new regulations to prevent the sale of mobile home parks to developers, aiming to protect affordable housing options in the city.

In Watsonville, mobile home parks make up 6% of the total housing units. Some consider these affordable housing options.

With rising property values in California, there is a growing concern that developers will buy out entire mobile home parks and displace residents.

"I've got no plan; just hope that the city of Watsonville is going to step up to the plate and basically keep that from happening," said Martin Hathaway, a mobile home park resident.

"I can't go out...

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Our thoughts on this story:

With rising property values in California, there is a growing concern that developers will buy out entire mobile home parks and displace residents.

No joke. Mobile home parks represent perhaps the most attractive re-development parcels in every market in the U.S. Not only do they have the right size (2 to 10 acres) for virtually every pad user, but they also typically have great street frontage, access to municipal water and sewer, and the city will grant any zoning or variance required to get the “trailer park” torn down. I have long said that eventually somebody would figure this out and build a business model around simply buying parks for the development potential. They’ve already figured this out in California. That’s why the national conversation on mobile home park lot rents needs to be “how high do they need to go to keep mobile home parks from being torn down?”.

my central jersey: 'It's not your grandma's trailer': Mobile homes are affordable solution to homebuyer woes

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Cesar Gaona Jr.’s story is a familiar one.

A native of the Avenel section of Woodbridge in his late 20s, he was excited to buy his first home when he started his search last spring.

But even with his job as a business development manager in the IT sector, he soon found that high interest rates, low inventory and the most competitive real estate market possibly ever stood in his way of fulfilling the American dream of becoming a homeowner.

That was until about five months later when he toured a new unit at the Carteret Mobile Park.

“I purchased the home and I’ve never looked back,” Gaona Jr. said. “It was so unexpected, and it was probably...

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Our thoughts on this story:

"It's really disappointing that banks are not willing to see how stable the market is for manufactured homes in a land use community," said Dolan.

No, what’s really disappointing is that nobody appreciates the fact that probably 90% of every mobile home loan in a mobile home park is “backstopped” by the park owner in order to get the customer financed. Under that arrangement, if the customer defaults, the park owner has to abate rent, effectively take over payments, renovate the home, run the ads, and get it sold. The media gives 0% attention to this fact. Once again, without mobile home park owners the U.S. supply of affordable housing would be greatly reduced – yet we get zero thanks for that fact!

realtor.com: Sarah Paulson Offers Major Discount on $2 Million ‘Jewel Box’ Mobile Home in ‘America’s Priciest Trailer Park’

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Sarah Paulson is offering up a very rare opportunity to snag a property in one of the world’s most exclusive (and pricey) trailer parks after putting her mobile home on the market for $1.8 million.

If paying such a hefty sum for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom, transportable trailer seems outrageous, keep in mind that the $1.8 million price tag attached to the home is actually discounted; Paulson, 49, originally put the property on the market back in May with a $2 million ask.

It’s also important to note that the trailer park in question is far from average. In fact, it has actually become known as America’s “most expensive” and “most...

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Located in Malibu, CA, the park, known as Paradise Cove Mobile Home Park, has an illustrious history. In addition to Paulson, the trailer park also counts the likes of Stevie Nicks, Matthew McConaughey, Pamela Anderson, and Minnie Driver among its current and former residents.

Before I ever got into the mobile home park business, I owned billboards including a company I bought during the Los Angeles economy crash at the time of the Rodney King riots and the Northridge earthquake. Back then it was well-known that those mobile home parks were the home to stars on the way up or the way down in their careers. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that role, but to pretend that a 1960s trailer is a “jewel box” is as absurd as pretending that a 1980 Yugo is a “classic high-performance automobile”. Nobody is going to buy that outside of Los Angeles.

KJZZ: 'A Decent Home' documents the fight of mobile homeowners for everything they have

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Mobile home parks here and around the country are being bought up by private equity firms and wealthy investors.

It might seem like an odd investment. However, people who live in these parks often own their manufactured homes — but not the land they sit on. And they’re not actually very mobile.

The 2022 documentary “A Decent Home" tells the story of many of these mobile homeowners and their fight to stay in their homes when their rents were raised — or their land was sold out from under them.

Sara Terry spent seven years making the film, and it’s screening Friday, Aug. 30, at Glendale Community College.

Conversation highlights

When did...

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So what private equity found it could do was coming and raise lot rent — sometimes by as much as 60% and 70%. Which, you know, may not sound like much if you're going, "Oh, it went from $320 to $405." But think about if your mortgage was increased by 40%, 60% ... that is a huge impact on people…

No, that’s not correct at all. Raising rents from $320 to $405 is an increase of 27% NOT 60%. If you raise the lot rent from $320 to $405 that’s a $85 increase. The average mortgage payment in the U.S. is $2,715 per month (per Google). If you raised that by 27% that’s a monthly increase of $733 per month. THERE’S NO WAY YOU CAN COMPARE AN INCREASE OF $85 PER MONTH TO AN INCREASE OF $733 PER MONTH – that’s nearly a 10-for1 difference! Using this logic, McDonald’s raising the Dollar Menu price of the McChicken from $1 to $1.60 – a 60% increase – represents a much greater offense and financial burden than either of the above.

When you talk about price increases, the percentage means nothing and the actual amount means everything. If milk goes up 50% and a car goes up 5%, guess which one is a bigger problem for the average U.S. household?

How math challenged is America, anyway?

Yambill County's News-Register: Maybe it's time our planners revived mobile home option

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According to MHVillage, a national mobile home brokerage, a dozen mobile home parks were developed in McMinnville in the quarter century extending from 1972 to 1997. Together, they served to accommodate more than 1,000 units of affordable, factory-built housing for local families.

And in the quarter century since, extending from 1998 to 2023? Nada. Zilch. Zero. Nary a one.

That suggests we are overlooking one of the best options available to meet the demand for habitable quarters at a manageable prince point — a daunting challenge everywhere, but all the more so in a West Coast wine country community marked by soaring lot and home... Read More

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NIMBYism certainly plays a role, but what is it about modern, well-kept developments like Kathleen Manor and Olde Stone Village that puts off prospective neighbors? We find nothing objectionable about them at all.

Whoever wrote this obviously lives in an apartment as no homeowner on earth would welcome a mobile home park being built in their neighborhood. If this writer did own a stick-built home, and there was suddenly a zoning request to build a “trailer park” next door, you know they’d be the first one marching on city hall with a flaming torch. Give me a break.

Bowling Green Daily News: Fate of residents in mobile home park uncertain

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It’s a muggy Monday night, and lawn chairs sit around a glass-top table outside Cindy Floyd’s trailer at the Kentucky Gardens Mobile Home Park, where a meeting of the BG Mobile Homeowners United advocacy group is taking place.

During the meeting, as she watches a group of children play basketball on the nearby street, Floyd expresses worries about her children as they will soon have to move out of the park.

“We have responsibilities to these children to give them a lifestyle they deserve,” Floyd tells the group.

The land on which the mobile home park sits, with some ancillary properties, was purchased by Joy and Eddie Hanks in...

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The land on which the mobile home park sits, with some ancillary properties, was purchased by Joy and Eddie Hanks in 2020 for $600,000, with plans to redevelop the park into “Digs on the River,” a 23-acre mixed use area with plans for apartments, a restaurant and commercial space.

What part of the residents’ “fate” is uncertain here? They have been formally given notice to leave and the owners of the property seem to be following all the correct steps.

What’s really interesting is the price paid for the property, which equates to only around $15,000 per space. Once again, this park could maybe have been saved with higher lot rents, as most well-run parks today are worth around $50,000 a space and that would have made the redevelopment plan less appealing.

Once again, as always, LOW LOT RENTS = REDEVELOPMENT.

GV Wire: Mobile Home Park Owner Seeks $1M from City of Fresno in Rent Control Dispute

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The owner of a controversial mobile home park is suing the city of Fresno for $1 million, alleging that rent control has cost the company money and diminished the park’s value.

The lawsuit from La Hacienda Mobile Estates says Fresno’s Mobile Home Park Rent Review and Stabilization Commission’s November 2023 decision to only allow a minimum rent increase has prevented the park from being profitable.

“The Commission approved only the minimum annual Consumer Price Index adjustment allowed under the ordinance of 6.6% — amounting to just $24.92 per month and far short of what would be required for La Hacienda to break even,” the lawsuit...

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Now this is an interesting article. A rent control board member is accused of deliberately keeping the mobile home park rent increase low in order to try to buy the park themselves at a reduced price. I hope the park owner wins and that puts the fear of God into every other rent control board member out there that they may actually have personal liability from their decisions. It reminds me of the zoning case in Dallas in the 1980s in which a real estate speculator went to the Dallas City Council to renovate an abandoned K-Mart into a movie theater. The neighbors hated the idea and got to the board members and convinced them to vote against it. The property owner reminded the board members that the property already had the zoning for a movie theater and they had no option other than to approve the plans. Nevertheless, the board voted it down. So the developer filed a personal lawsuit on each and every member of the board that voted “no” and within two days they had an emergency meeting and approved the theater.

Amazing how a little personal accountability takes the fun out of things, right?