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NPR: At a Mass. mobile home park, residents are evicted for a new housing development

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Residents of mobile home parks are losing their places to live as new investors buy up park land for redevelopment. Residents typically own their homes, but not the land they sit on.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: Mobile homes have long been an affordable housing option, but big investment firms have been buying up the land they sit on, causing homeowners to worry about whether they'll be able to stay. From member station WBUR in Boston, Simon Rios reports on how corporate ownership is upending the lives of people in one park.

SIMON RIOS, BYLINE: Outside John Piazza's trailer, the 84-year-old former harbor captain and amateur historian is sorting...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This is the argument that woke journalists can’t handle because it makes too much sense: if mobile home park lot rents don’t go up significantly then they will be torn down to make way for more profitable uses. How much more would the lot rent have had to be to keep this park from being redeveloped? I bet the residents would be happy to pay it now – but it’s too late.

News Center Maine: Professor at UMaine to research climate resilience of manufactured homes

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ORONO, Maine — For 50 years, researchers at the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute have had their finger on the pulse of Maine's changing environment, and what that might mean for its residents. 

To learn more about if manufactured homes, also known as mobile homes, will hold up in Maine's future climate, UMaine Research Assistant Professor Sean Birkel will soon team up with collaborators from the University of Vermont and University of New Hampshire for a one-year study on the climate resilience of manufactured homes. 

The study is made possible thanks to a $79,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The NOAA spent $80,000 on a grand to see if Maine mobile homes can survive climate change. I could have done the same work for $8. The answer is: yes.

Inforum: Manufactured home park in Moorhead receives $2.6 million for infrastructure facelift

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MOORHEAD — For many Bennett Park Cooperative residents, news of $2.6 million to better the manufactured home park’s infrastructure came as a surprise.

But most knew how they wanted the money to be spent.

“The roads. I hope it will help the roads around here,” said Edwin Eumans, a resident of the park for 10 years.

Other residents said the streets inside the park are filled with potholes, which cause damage to vehicles.

Eumans said the roads have drainage problems; rain pools during summer. In the winter, when snow and ice cover the roads, the potholes aren’t visible.

Some of the manufactured homes aren't suitable for extreme cold. Back...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The Minnesota Housing Board of Directors has approved $166 million to help renovate 2,156 housing units. That works out to $77,000 per unit. Can you imagine anyone in the private sector spending that much?

WJCT News: Affordable housing faces challenges in Florida

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Rents and home prices rose dramatically in Florida over the past few years.

In an annual trends report published earlier this year, the Florida Housing Coalition documented the progress and challenges to achieving housing affordability in the state.

The incoming CEO of the housing coalition, Ashon Nesbitt, said there’s positive and negative indicators to note.

Housing instability is on the rise

Although fewer people are experiencing homelessness in Florida compared to a decade ago, residents are being exponentially squeezed by housing costs.

“Homelessness is decreasing throughout the state, but because of the cost-burden issue at the same...

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Our thoughts on this story:

So let me get this straight – the way to save affordable housing is for the government to buy it all up and give it away? Here’s a better idea, give those 60,000 people mentioned in the article $80,000 each and have them move to a state with lower real estate costs where they can buy anything they want with all cash. Mississippi is just a couple states over, you know.

WNEP: More than two weeks without running water for residents of mobile home park in Wayne County

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HONESDALE, Pa. — It's been 17 days since the residents of Sunrise Terrace mobile home park in Honesdale last had running water.

In early December, hundreds of gallons of heating oil spilled near one of two water wells located inside the park.

Since then, the water wells are still shut off, and crews have been brought in to contain and clean the area where the spill happened.

While progress has been made, there is still no running water.

"The wells that pump water to the park remain off to prevent drawing contamination from the dirt in the ground that has been contaminated with the fuel oil. So that was the decision done by the...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Apparently two residents had leaking fuel oil tanks for their heaters. So the park owner has to shut the wells off and truck in water until the heating oil is cleaned up. Once again, you’ve got to love the media’s headline which makes it look like this situation is the park owner’s fault. Wouldn’t want to blame the two residents who created this mess, right?

Aspen Daily News: Nonprofit to purchase trailer park for pilot project

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Carbondale-based social justice nonprofit group this week went under contract to buy a 20-unit mobile-home park outside of Glenwood Springs for $2.4 million in an attempt to buck the trend of displacement and affordable-housing destruction at the hands of private-equity groups buying Colorado parks.

The Roaring Fork Community Development Corp. — the affordable housing arm of the nonprofit Manaus — intends to transfer ownership in coming years to 3-Mile Mobile Home Park’s residents, who own their trailers but pay rent for the land on which they sit.

The sellers are the children of the late Ben Krueger, a longtime Vail Valley resident who...

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Our thoughts on this story:

So the concept here is to pay $110,000 per space to keep 20 households living in an old trailer park near Vail, Colorado. Wouldn’t these residents be better served if the non-profit paid them each $110,000, telling them to move to Kansas and buy a new home for cash and with no mortgage, and then developing this property into a different use? Altruism has limitations and one is called sanity.

NBC 2: Lee County mobile home community still without water & electricity after Ian, 1,500 displaced residents awaiting answers

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LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Since Hurricane Ian, the Indian Creek RV Resort and Manufactured Home Community in Lee County still has zero water and zero electricity access in the park. 

“We moved here two weeks before Hurricane Ian and now we can’t move back in,” said resident Mike Jablonski. 

The park, according to residents, houses about 1,500 lots that were mostly full before the hurricane. 

“That’s 1,500 people now displaced,” said resident Clara Maggio.

The people in the park own their homes or RVs for the most part, but lease the lots at the park located on San Carlos Blvd, just over three miles from Fort Myers Beach. 

“That means they (Sun...

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Our thoughts on this story:

And this is why you don’t want to buy a mobile home park in a hurricane zone …..

ABC 10: Stockton mobile home without power since Saturday night

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The members of the 55 and older community said they can't use water, flush toilets or turn on lights because everything is powered by electricity.

STOCKTON, Calif. — One Stockton community is still struggling with power outages into Monday evening.

The Tehama Mobile Home Village Park a 55 and older community off Highway 99 and East Eight Mile Road. Residents say they have had no power since 10 p.m. Saturday night.

Overnight heavy winds toppled trees and knocked out power to some in the area. The extreme weather conditions even caused students with the Stockton Unified School District to miss two days of school.

The members of the 55...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Only in California would you see this quote “the members of the 55 and older community said they can’t use water, flush toilets or turn on lights because everything is powered by electricity”. I know that California is all about a green agenda, but since when can you not turn on a faucet or flush a toilet without power? I’m lost.

Fox 5 Atlanta: How manufactured housing can save America

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You finally graduated from college at 28, moved out of your parent's basement at 30, married your best friend at 32, and now she is pregnant. You’re 33, and now you want to buy a house and quit paying rent. But you’re squeezed between sky-high housing costs and rising interest rates.

Millennial couples are the largest single block of prospective homebuyers.  But during the pandemic, home prices in Georgia skyrocketed, and in 2022 borrowing costs more than doubled.

FOX 5 real estate expert John Adams says today’s millennial home buyers can get out of paying rent every month by buying a "manufactured house" from one of several manufacturers...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Some good stats and information in this article, but nobody is going to believe the statement the statement that “in 2022 the average single-wide in Georgia is $82,000 and the average double-wide is $158,700”. The reporter needed to do some more research on mobile home prices and should have included the used home prices which are around $15,000 and $40,000 respectively.

Cape Cod Times: Judge makes decision in Pocasset mobile home park trial. Here's the latest

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BARNSTABLE — A Superior Court judge found on Wednesday that Crown Communities LLC is the rightful buyer of a Pocasset mobile home park.

The 15-page decision comes after a years-long legal battle between the Wyoming investment firm and the Pocasset Park Association, with both sides seeking ownership of the Bourne park, which is home to about 170 people at its prime location off Barlow's Landing Road.

"The Association lacked sufficient support (and authority) to exercise lawfully its right of first refusal and to purchase the park," wrote Judge Michael Callan, who decided the jury-waived trial.

In a statement to the Times, Walter B....

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Our thoughts on this story:

Another classic tale of park residents wanting to buy their mobile home park and failing miserably. They apparently cheated on the number of votes necessary to even start the process and the real owner and real buyer sued the tenants and the judge agreed that the tenants were wrong. Of course, in cases like these the tenants have no money to pay any of the legal fees involved or damages to the other parties. Had the roles been reversed, you know that the tenants would have sued the owner and buyer for $1 trillion.

Washington Post: In a trailer park, boxes deliver fresh produce and a sense of belonging

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His shoulders hunched against the raw wind and freezing rain, Gerson Lima trudged through puddles earlier this month with his 6-year-old son, Cristian. But they didn’t have far to go: It was just a few minutes’ walk from their trailer to the parking area where the food truck was parked. Every two weeks it brings ingredients for meals for the family of two adults and two children, who arrived seven months ago from Guatemala.

“It’s made a big difference,” said Lima, 28, one hand gripping a black umbrella, the other holding his son’s hand. “It’s helped a lot. It’s everything, especially now, because we just arrived and have no other...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Finally, a story with a purpose.

Flathead Beacon: Mobile Manipulation

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On the first day of December in 2018, Sharon Parmelee moved into Greenwood Village RV Park with her mobile home. She signed a month-to-month rental agreement and started paying $312 per month in lot rent fees in the park, which is located just outside of Kalispell city limits along U.S. Highway 2.

The mobile home park, which has roughly 85 manufactured homes and RVs in addition to a hotel and cabin accommodations called Greenwood Village Inn and Suites, is home mostly to individuals over the age of 50, many of whom are veterans, senior citizens or people living with disabilities on a fixed income.

About six months after Parmelee moved...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The average single family home is $448,200. The lot rent was $325 and now it’s $700. Residents don’t like it. They want the rent to stay at $325. The folks that bought all those single-family homes want them to go back to being $100,000 like they were in 1977. Neither is going to happen.

Salem News: Mobile home owners struggle to find insurance in 'dysfunctional' market

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ORMOND BEACH, Florida — The problems at Peggy Childress’ mobile home started in May when a tree from the vacant lot next door crashed through their carport, the first damage she or her husband, Mike, could recall in 15 years of living there.

Having the tree removed cost $600, all the money they had in savings. “It wiped us out,” said Childress, 61.

Then Hurricane Ian tore off their roof.

“It was like it was raining inside,” Childress said. Rooms filled with water, then mold.

Childress said she’s gotten estimates of more than $22,000 for repairs, “more than this place is worth.”

As is the case with many owners of manufactured and mobile...

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Our thoughts on this story:

A mobile home park resident has $22,600 in damage from two back-to-back storms and can’t figure out why nobody will give her another insurance policy. It’s called economics – not that complicated.

The Daily Star: Mobile home requests on rise in Hammond

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Conditional variance requests to place mobile homes in areas where zoning does not permit are creating a juggling act for Hammond leaders as they try to accommodate land owners and adhere to zoning regulations.

Two more requests for mobile homes to be placed in non-compliant areas were presented this past Tuesday night during a council meeting and were met with mixed results. One was granted, the other denied.

Typically, the council has been favorable to granting the majority of such petitions.

The requests were only the latest that continue to pop up on council and Planning and Zoning agendas, a fact not lost on city council...

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Our thoughts on this story:

What single-family home owner would not object to a mobile home going on a lot next to their neighborhood? It’s a simple scientific fact that single-family homes next to mobile homes show a sharp decline in value. You can’t argue it – simply look on Zillow. Don’t make the case that these people are wrong for trying to preserve their home values.

Texas Public Radio: Mobile home residents buy their park, protecting themselves from eviction

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JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

Private investors have been buying up mobile home parks across the country, threatening to raise fees or close the parks altogether. From member station WBUR in Boston, reporter Simon Rios takes us to a community near Cape Cod where residents decided to fight back.

BOB COSTA: How's everything going?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Good.

COSTA: Good - good to see you. How's it been?

SIMON RIOS, BYLINE: Bob Costa is like an unofficial mayor of Royal Crest Mobile Home Park in Wareham. On a recent afternoon, he walked through the park, saluting everyone he saw with a big smile.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It's all right.

COSTA: You...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Another rehash of the residents in MA spending $80,000 per lot of a non-profit’s money to keep a professional owner from bringing their old park back to life to show them who’s boss

News 5 Cleveland: Retirement communities' fears over rising rent prompts letter from senator

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STARK COUNTY, Ohio — Neighbors in several Northeast Ohio retirement communities are grappling with drastic rent hikes after a company took over properties in Navarre and Elyria. The seniors, many of whom are living on fixed incomes, worry how they’ll afford to stay in their homes.

News 5 stories highlighting the concerns are now being cited by Congress in a demand for answers.

Monday, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown issued a letter to Legacy Communities, LLC about the steep rent hikes at Navarre Village and Twin Lakes. He also sent one to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, better known as Freddie Mac, requesting a review of its...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Let me get this straight. The residents are mad because the new owner doubled lot rents for NEW residents moving in only but NOT for the existing residents. They claim this makes their existing homes harder to sell with the higher lot rent a new owner would have to pay. Perhaps the Senator would like to cover the rent differential if he feels that strongly about this ridiculous complaint. The residents could just pay the old rent and the Senator should pay the increase, right? If not, then he needs to shut up because he’s making a fool of himself.

Voice of San Diego: Another South County City Is Regulating Mobile Home Parks

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On Tuesday, the National City Council moved forward with a new ordinance that will provide a temporary rent cap for all mobile home parks within city limits. The ordinance goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, and is good through the end of 2024. 

The decision to intervene in mobile home parks, which typically fall under state jurisdiction, comes after the Keystone Trailer Park increased its rent by 20 percent on July 1. Elected officials said the ordinance was a good first step but acknowledged that more work needed to be done to keep the cost of housing low. 

“It is long overdue,” said City Councilman Jose Rodriguez. “We need to make sure...

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Our thoughts on this story:

How dare this mobile home park owner raise rents by 20%! Sure, the rents are about 90% less than every other housing option in San Diego even after the increase, but that’s not the point apparently. I wonder how long it will take for the park owner to start calling land brokers to find someone to redevelop this parcel? Answer: not long.

WBUR: Big investors are buying mobile home parks — and upending the lives of residents

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John Piazza remembers when he first moved to Lee’s Trailer Park in Revere in 2000, after his rent skyrocketed in Boston.

Piazza fell in love with a 720-square-foot mobile home, finding it more spacious and affordable than his small apartment in the North End.

He said the park owners charge him just $575 a month for the lot under his home — a fraction of what he would pay in rent for an apartment in Greater Boston. He also paid $20,000 for the mobile home itself, far less than the cost of a traditional single-family home or condo.

The 84-year-old planned to spend the rest of his days at Lee's Trailer Park. But last year, the park was sold...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Another take on Lee’s Trailer Park, discussed above. And once again it makes the critical point that either rents go up or the wrecking ball comes in.

Seeking Alpha: Manufactured Housing: Recession-Resistant REITs

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Summary
  • Manufactured Housing REITs snapped an incredible streak of nine straight years of outperformance over the REIT Index in 2022, impacted by headwinds from higher interest rates and hurricane-related disruptions.
  • Despite their REIT-leading growth rates, Manufactured Housing ("MH") REITs have historically been among the most interest rate-sensitive sectors due to their counter-cyclical demand profile and remarkable operational consistency.
  • While rent growth has moderated from record-high levels across other residential property types, MH revenue growth is poised to accelerate in 2023, driven by their under-appreciated...
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Our thoughts on this story:

Mobile home parks are the best sector in U.S. real estate. Couldn’t agree more. Great stats in this article. One of the few good ones in a sea of woke idiocy.