$2 Million For A Double-Wide Mobile Home? That's Malibu For You

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/09/20/140629530/-2-million-for-a-double-wide-mobile-home-thats-malibu-for-you

The word is spreading about the $2 million — in cash — paid recently for a double-wide mobile home in Malibu, Calif.

Since AOL Real Estate reported the news last week, the story's been picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle and others. The home, as Malibu Real Estate Blog reports, has a great view from a bluff above the Pacific Ocean, two bedrooms, two baths and a two-car garage.

The rest of the story, so to speak, is that there's something of a trend.

As The Vancouver Sun reported earlier this month:

After some down times for Malibu mobile home sales in 2009, "there has been a rebound at these mobile home parks located in world-famous Malibu, home to numerous celebrities. Sale prices at Paradise Cove [one mobile home development] reached as high as $2.5 million in the past year, and at Point Dume [Club] a sale is pending on a two-bedroom home listed at $1.25 million."

These lines in the Sun's story particularly stand out:

"What is being sold in these gated communities is not so much the luxuriousness of the homes but the views and easy walk to the surf. The price does not even include the land — as is common at mobile home parks, the lot the structure sits on is rented.

" 'You are not buying land, you are buying air,' said Paradise Cove newcomer Gina Carlson, who moved into her 1,500-square-foot, $645,000 home in June."

At Paradise Cove, though, you are buying "access to a private beach, tennis courts, a children's playground and a clubhouse," as the Los Angeles Times wrote in 2008. And at Point Dume Club, there's "a pool, a large spa, saunas, tennis and basketball courts, a clubhouse and proximity to Point Dume State Beach."

Manufactured Home Communities: Affordable Housing for Baby Boomer Retirees?

How is this country going to provide affordable housing for the millions of Baby Boomers getting ready to retire? Many people no longer count on the retirement funds they paid into. The economic melt down changed everything for most of us. But, there are still Federal mandates for affordable housing in every community in every state. How is California going to meet these requirements?

Many California residents in mobile/manufactured home communities are being economically evicted from their homes by predatory park owners, many of which are anonymous LLC Corporations, owned by multiple other corporations, etc., etc. One of the largest companies with the WORST reputation for treating their residents and their communities in the most heinous ways is publicly held with investors earning dividends from seniors and Veterans trying to survive on Social Security and miiltary pensions. Why? Where are they to go? When tracking down motivations one might conclude the underlying basis is greed, plain and simple. How much is enough?

The land many of these parks are located on was purchased in the 1960's and 70's for their serene surroundings for retirement and recreation. Now, ocean side property, mountain property, outlying areas of cities and communities are in high demand by those who want to re-develop the properties for higher revenue projects. Again, where are residents to go? And, how much is enough?

Our mobile and manufactured homes are NOT mobile. Our homes are our investment in our futures, just like stick built homes. Now that more and more people are in need of affordable housing, and those numbers will continue to grow, perhaps our cities will think more seriously about helping mobile home residents purchase the land their homes reside on.

Right now, more and more affordable housing communities are needed to provide safe housing for retirees as well as families. Local cities, counties, and even the State, should be ready to help residents by standing up with us against blatant corporate greed and help us purchase the land under our homes. This is the only REAL solution in sight.

New manufactured home parks and communities need to be developed to meet affordable housing needs. It's time for all of us to wake up to the reality we are already living in. We need affordable housing. Mobile home parks and manufactured home communities seem like such a good answer to California's needs. Let's share our ideas with our state legislators, our County Supervsiors, Mayors, City Councils, our friends, and our neighbors!

MURRIETA: City puts age limit on manufactured homes

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/murrieta/article_132a82df-ed56-5353-a1b6-373db2e2dc24.html

Thanks to a new Murrieta ordinance, bars and senior citizen communities won't be the only establishments to enforce an age limit.

Members of the City Council unanimously decided earlier this month to ban mobile or manufactured homes 10 years or older from moving into Murrieta.

Per the new ordinance, which was approved during the Sept. 6 council meeting, a mobile home owner wishing to relocate to Murrieta could not bring the home if it is 10 years or older on the moving date. The ordinance, however, won't affect homes that are already in the city.

In her report discussing the issue, City Planner Cynthia Kinser said the new ordinance will ensure that neighborhoods remain appealing and that the homes are safe for residents.

"The city now desires to limit the age of manufactured or mobile homes," Kinser wrote, "to promote and ensure the aesthetic quality of neighborhoods, to minimize the devaluation of communities due to upkeep and repair, and to maintain safe building standards for occupancy of manufactured homes."

City Building and Safety Director Allen Brock said that although the city does not inspect the interior of manufactured homes ---- mobile homes are inspected by the state ---- the building standards typically are not as stringent as the latest standards imposed on conventional homes. He said the more lax standards for manufactured homes could jeopardize safety.

"Do we really want a really old mobile being moved into the city that may present a hazard?" Brock said. "Not just for the occupants, but for the neighbors. If they're moving into the Spring Knolls community where we have a lot of mobile homes that could be disastrous."

Ritch Purcell, former president of the Spring Knolls Homeowners Association, which is the largest mobile home park in the city, said the ordinance would benefit Murrieta mobile homeowners.

"It is a good idea; it really is," Purcell said in a telephone interview Thursday. "The value of a neighborhood is determined, in part, by the average age of the home in the neighborhood. If people were allowed to bring in a home that was over 10 years old, it just reduces the value of the community."

Purcell said this is another move by the City Council that has greatly benefited the homeowners in the three Knolls communities: Spring Knolls, which has 384 homes, Warm Spring Knolls, which has 215 homes, and Golf Knolls, where 512 mobile homes are situated.

In 2009, the City Council approved waiving a $10,000 fee charged to residents who wanted to replace their mobile homes with models even a foot larger than the digs they had outgrown. Now mobile homeowners are allowed to replace their homes with models that are up to 720 square feet larger without being charged the fee.

And earlier this year, Purcell said, a visit from Councilman Rick Gibbs resulted in the city repaving a gnarled street at the west entrance to the three communities that had been tearing up the tire tread of the Knolls residents' tires.

"They came out a couple of months ago and tore the whole thing up and put brand new cement and didn't charge the association anything," the 15-year Knolls resident said. "We get real good response when we get a hold of the City Council."

Resident purchase of Manufactured Home Parks in Oceanside

Not widely known, but well-documented, supported by the U.S. Supreme Court, California Legislative Counsel, and State Attorney General, is a win-win-win-win solution for Oceanside's Affordable Manufactured Housing.

The Residents can own the land under their homes at a housing cost no more than what it is today. Compensation for the owner of the land "must equal fair market value of the owner's leased Fee interest", per the U.S. Supreme Court. No financing is required from the City of Oceanside. The Citizens/Voters will not have to bear the threatened, unnecessary litigation.

The homeowners will enjoy a stabilized housing cost, with conventional financing. Being forced to pay for the 150% Gorilla of sub-prime loans through a Bond issue is eliminated. The City can do away with the litigation cost associated with Rent Control. It, for all practical purposes, will disappear.

The land owner will receive far more than if the 'so-called' subdivision process if pursued. The City Resident/Voter can enjoy a local government functioning as it should. This is all public information that our "Mobile Home Owners Forum" has compiled over the years. Why isn't it being used?