SOLD: The Land Under Mobile Homes 

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So sorry for these folks. I lived in a mobile home park 5 years. I knew that I had to get out so I now am on my own land so I can have a garden and animals and freedom.

I live in a resident owned over 55 mobile home park. I love it. It is a real community. A group of volunteers mow the grass, change the street light bulbs, trim trees etc. I pitched in painting the mail sheds. This has helped keep our rent low. When looking for my home, a friend told me about resident owned parks. I did not look at anything but resident owned communities.

Who owns Harmony? Is it a foreign interest? I think that it’s important to stop foreign land investor and equity firms from buying property. They are wrecking America.

Our park was bought a Chinese company. If China doesn’t allow anyone else to own their land why do we do it for foreigners!!

This is truly a very sad problem that's been happening for years in mobile home parks. All across the nation. They're seriously needs to be legislation passed to protect the homeowners.

I have been a manufactured homeowner in a community park twice, and now I live in a manufactured home on a foundation on land that I own. This decision of the state to open the opportunity for manufactured homeowners to buy the property/community is brilliant. In the first manufactured home I bought, the "lot rents" increased to the point that it was all I could do to keep up with the lot rent and the mortgage on the home. I was an RN working for a well-paying union university medical center. I know that at least one of my neighbors was working for an automobile manufacturing plant like Chevy/Ford and other people in our community both the spouses had to work to keep up with things. This should not happen when you are living in a manufactured community. These are supposed to be starter homes and places to retire, but they literally are out-pricing their residents.

The key to owning any thing in real estate is owning the land under the home..If not, without it you are a glorified RENTER..This includes HOA'S, Condos, APT'S Farms and businesses..

Happening here in South Carolina too! My Mom was forced out of her park last year. We had to help come up with about $5000 to pay for it. Everyone said just get a government apartment. For one thing, there's a 2-3 year waiting list. You don't just go get one. For another thing, you spend the rest of your life being owned by the government. You have to account for every cent you make and you usually can't have a pet. It becomes all about them and you're just a fly on their wall. That's not a fun way to live.

I own the 1/2 acre that my mobile home sits on. In 28 years I have purchased 5 different trailers on my land. The house I live in now was manufactured in 1983. I have owned it since 2005, when I bought it from my neighbor. I paid $2,500 for it (earned income credit). It's about had it now, but I don't owe rent or have house payments. My property taxes are $5.00 per year because I am over 65. Before this one I had a 4 bedroom double wide, but the finance company raised my monthly payments from $350.00 a month to $625.00 a month. I told them to come and get it and they did while I cried.

Beautiful story, but the problem is not new. Thirty years ago mother and stepdad bought a mobile home in a park with a locally owned landlord east of Phoenix, then the park was sold to the proverbial "out of state investor." Soon the costs of rent and utilities skyrocketed. The folks and some of their friends in the park decided to get even, and remarkably had the skills and money to pull it off. They bought raw land nearby, subdivided it and created the first occupant owned park in the region. Plus they moved their mobile homes from the old park to their new park. An old park with vacant lots does not have curb appeal! I am so glad that now there is a push for creative ways for old parks to become occupant owned

The key to owning any home nis making sure you own the land under it.

This reminded me of the story of Pedder Bay MHP in BC, Canada from several years ago. The residents of the park, many of whom had lived there for thirty-five years and had made major investments in improving their homes, were given twelve months notice to vacate because the company was converting the property to a marina and hotel. The residents banded together and sued the corporation to stop the evictions, but the weak provincial legislation over manufactured homes meant they lost. Many of the homes could not be moved and there was nowhere to move them anyway. Homeowners lost everything. The tragedy was exemplified by a 91 year old resident who was laying the last piece of his new hardwood floor and died. After this horrible outcome I started work on what was ironically called the Colorado Model. The government would lease crown land for $99 a year to a property management company, essentially a Land Trust. The manufactured homes built locally would be transported to the site from the factory with a temporary permit. Once installed on the site a provincial inspector would confirm the installation and hookups to water, sewer and electrical and then the home would be certified as a permanent home with all the same requirements as a stick built home including payment of local property taxes and the need for permits for any additions. Because of this certification as a standard home CMHC guaranteed mortgage financing would be available from any bank. It was a win win for everyone. I got a major development company to do the site infrastructure like roads, sewers, water and electrical for a ten percent interest in the property company. I got a local manufactured home builder to agree to supply a model home for the site. I got the local Mayor plus the local Westbank Indian Band to agree to approve the project. I got the CMHC to agree to offer standard financing. The whole project fell apart when the provincial Minister of Housing failed to support the concept because he "didn't want to jeopardize the development of any home parks in BC". This despite the fact that there was not a single park planned anywhere in the entire province. The affordable housing crisis has only gotten much worse since then and this is still a viable option.

Land is so expensive and most zoning and ordinance laws restrict manufactured structures! Most land is stipulated that you stick build. It’s outrageous

I am very happy when things work out in favor of our lower income families❤️

This video is extremely informative and relevant to other states as well!! There is no mobile home park rent control or ceiling in WA state. Our rent goes up every year. Fair market value is now $750 a month. Our homes are well maintained, but too old to travel on state highways. Even if they were newer, there are no lots available in other parks. We are, as this video states, trapped. On the other hand, brick and mortar rentals are twice as costly...with low to no availability in this area. We can only hope to approach our city council to permanently change our zoning to mobile home, as opposed to multiple dwellings. We are managed by a very large management company representing a foreign owner. These mobile home issues are happening in every state. Congratulations to those who have been able to purchase their own parks!!

EXCELLENT job reporting 👏. Beware mobile home owners as huge corporate entities are big business who have deep pockets to acquire these parks and jack up the rents which are approaching $1,000 per month. Wake up people and remain informed about what is really going on out there !

If you buy a mobile home and have to rent the lot you're just throwing your money away you so you really don't own anything. What are you going to do when you can no longer afford the lot rent

Far too many people fall through the cracks. Something has to give ! We need to call these businesses out and we also need legislation for our lower income tenents.

If the tornado doesn't get you the landlord will.

Everyone deserves affordable housing. It disgusts me how large companies buy out these parks and try to take advantage of the less fortunate. Laws should be put in place to prevent this from happening.

This is how my grandfather became homeless and ended up living on the streets at the age of 70 Years old. He'd owned his home for 20 years in the same park. They gave him 30 days to get out of the park. No park would let him move it to there because his home was to old.

That is SO wonderful to see the residents stand and work together to keep their communities!!

I grew up in multiple trailer parks as a child. My grandmother lived nearby in a nice trailer. It was seemed as a safe haven to fall back on when you couldn't afford a house.

In the first week of 2019 I bought a 29 of an acre riverfront legal off-grid no building restrictions in Southern Colorado for $7,500 with the only requirement to install a septic system and having electricity 500 ft away. A few months ago a neighboring lot the same size sold for twice the price in less than a minute after being posted on the internet. The realtor I bought from was landio, I bought it sight unseen I have absolutely no problems and I was able to visit the property 10 months later.

I wonder how much federal housing money is being used by these big corporations under the guise of providing "affordable" housing? Plenty would be my bet. Venture capitalism at it's finest.

RHP bought our park (not in Colorado) last year from a private owner. Sure wish we would have been offered the chance to purchase our plots!! It was a big secret till the day they took over. RHP sent us all kinds of documents of impending new rules. So far the bark is worse than the bite. However financially the rent is higher and we do expect more expenses added on as time goes by, water, garbage, etc...... I have one of the original trailers in the park. Just turned 50. Not bad shape for a 50 year old trailer but there were some months that raised anxiety.... until I decided that I would just handle it as it came. So far it's better than they threatened.

The average size of a home in 1950 was *983* square feet for 3.37 people. The average size of a house in 2022 is *2,392* square feet for 2.93 people.

they claim the average price for a mobile home is 125,000; BUT the average price for all the mobile homes they showed in the video was probably less than 50,000.

Very sad. I lived in a manufactured home park and the owners raised the lot rent higher than what was legal. And they got away with it. In the end I sold the house and was able to get out and find a regular house. I liked my neighbors there, but I couldn't continue to pay the steadily rising price for the dirt under my home. I do understand the problems people face there.

I just watched a documentary about this happening in Phoenix Arizona. The heartbreaking part of that situation is that the company waited five years after the property was sold to tell the residents that they needed to move out quickly!

I'm in California, and there has not been a Mobile home park built since like 1979 in this state. I found several mobile home parks near Palm Springs that were condo-ized years ago and they own the land under their mobile or modular homes and pay a homeowners fee to keep up the pools, club and Gates

GREED OF A FEW--BRINGS HARDSHIPS TO THE MANY.

Sonia, thank you so much for all your dedication and hard work on this story . It was very informative and stories like this one help other communities know that there are resources and organizations that can support them in situations like these.

There is no class of tenant that has long term security.

Greed is running rampant!

The same is happenning here in Georgia. Developers are using the land to build much needed shopping malls since people have so much to splurge.

Love how the community bought the place

I bought a mobile home in Florida for $12,000 .. it is in a prime area.. 4 miles from the beach, one mile from all shopping.. I put $20,000 into it, new roof, new central air plus other things.. I love it, all my neighbors are great, no crime. I am 50 yards away from the clubhouse.l huge pool, tennis courts skeetball, weight room. My rent for the lot is $639.00. It’s a great place to live..

All the comments to "buy the land" are not helpful. If people could afford it, they would have done it... the state and/or local governments should adopt regulations to protect people from this. One thought, people not owning their land is like people who own an apartment in a high rise are subject to monthly fees. Or even hoa which can get very expensive too. This is a big problem. Where are the people who work lower paying jobs supposed to live? Think if every place we shop, eat, and have cars serviced, and then all the folks who work there. Not everyone can be married to a higher earning spouse. Some have kids and other forms of housing restrict the number of people who can live there, and we don't want 3 families per apartment anyway... I'm lucky because I'm single, no kids, so I can rent a bedroom, but if I had a kid, this would be nearly impossible.

My parents live in the park in Leadville CO! I grew up in that park, and they have been there for over 30 years!

I would never pay $125,000,00 for mobile home, maybe with the land, that is a ripped off, for the buyer. The government owns the land and the buyer will be paying rent forever 🙄. Way to go bill gates.

This whole housing crisis needs to be addressed. It's insane. Left or right, it's no longer a political issue. These corporations are literally killing poor people with their money games. It's disgusting. Really wish everyone could come together. This issue affects us all, no matter what skin color you are, no matter what gender you are , we all just want to live our lives.

The Colorado housing market is hostile to anyone with limited funds. I left the state to find a place where I could retire and buy a home. Buying a home was completely out of reach given the huge price increases. Renters keep facing increases that are unpredictable. Shall we talk about the homeless population?

If you don't own the land then don't buy a mobile home.

This is a proven model in assisting low income family's to own and create investment and be proud of their neighbors and themselves. One word "HOME".

The rent should go up. It's rent. That's one of the reasons prople get their own property. I dont get why people are surprised at increasing prices.

Kingsley management based out of Utah has been awful from my experience

I don't understand, in all seriousness, how people buy into mobile home parks and think that the rent for the space their house is on will never go up...over and over and over again. That's how the park makes a profit. The land has probably BEEN paid for. I bought into a mobile home park (great community I have to say)...but I never intended to stay there. It was a stepping stone. I did exactly what my realtor told me to do and after 5 years I sold my mobile home (ironically to the park) and bought a stick home on land.

Our states need to consider all the ways that will help homeowners keep their homes and the land. Also there should be more Apartments that would allow renters the ability to Purchase their apartments… we need to have safe homes for lower income and fixed income families without the FEAR of someone raising prices that put them in the streets. #1 thing for Colorado should be SAFE AFFORDABLE HOUSING for the citizens of the state!

This happening all over the country. Rent and real-estate prices are going through the roof.

This is happening everywhere as the previous ROIs on Mobile Home Parks continue to drop. The parks are being sold.

This is not "homeownership". Mobile homes are classified as "motor vehicles". It is tangible property, not real estate. Selling this homes as "own a home" is fraudulent marketing.

We lived in a nice mobile home park in the Bay Area (Hayward, CA) . Buying the used but newer model home was nice and affordable but years after there were rent increases. After ten years (retirement) we moved out and were able to buy a house in another state. If states could provide many affordable home/communities for citizens it would be helpful for struggling families. Multimillionaire companies buying lands or raising rents and forcing tenants out is cruel.

The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. Such greed.

Young farmers need a group too! Bill is buy a ng up all the farm land. Can you help them get a voice?

It's not home ownership if you don't own the land.

Living in the mountains, mobile home parks used to be the real affordable housing for working people. But, with the advent of "affordable housing" regulations, taxes, etc. Big Government made incentivized land owners to sell their mobile home parks for big bucks. All the mobile home parks were sold once "affordable housing" became a priority for mountain governments. Now it's sad to see people who bought "affordable housing" watching their property values fall way behind those of people who bought housing outside the government marketplace. Affordable housing initiatives are the biggest scam against low income / working families.

we lived in a double-wide for a year, you buy your trailer, you lease the space for it to sit. the land you sit your trailer on isn't yours, it belongs to the person leasing the land. affordable land space for trailer parks is being pushed out to the outskirts of urban developments. Mobile homes have that characteristic, they're Mobile.

I live in a mobile home. I agree its kind of a middle ground area. It's your home in a sense. But it's not at the same time. I still think it's better than apartment living.

I am one of the Mfg homes and have lived in mobile home parks. In Washington state there are laws on the books that protect the renters to an extent. I bought one mobile home in park and it was a couple years when I was notified that I would have to move. I was able to find a space in another park and was provided the funds to do so. Some were not as lucky as I was and had to abandon their homes. I now have a mfg home that is 1350 sq ft and it is on my private land. I have to live out of town a little ways but it is my land and no one can tell me to move. This is the only way I can feel like I own my home and not have to worry about the land being sold out from under me.

You can buy a mobile home but you are buying a declining asset. They devalue like a car. And most of the time you don't own the land so you are renting anyway.

FANTASTIC miniDocumentary. A+ work PBS of the Rocky Mountains!

We can refund or pay off student loans but we can't keep people, some, that are one step away from homeless, in their homes.

You own nothing but a headache if you don’t own the land.

No one makes Mobile Home Parks anywhere anymore. Everyone cannot afford houses,,,, a basic mobile home starts at 40,000.

I considered buying a mobile home that's how i ended up here doing research 🥺. I got my answer. Thank you for ths.

Yep I live in a mobile home Iv owned for 21 years, I rent the lot, when I moved in it was $411 a mon it is now over $900 with rent, water and pass on tax. I'm on disability and don't even get enough to pay the rent so I have a 80 year old roommate that wont be around forever, have no clue what I will do after or if they sold the land.

Thanks Sonia and for all the team too, this was an excellent report about the situation on the Mobile homes parks.

People need to get together and buy large lots that they can move their mobile homes to!

This is why I live in a travel trailer. If I don't like the rent, my neighbors, the neighborhood, or the city I can just pick up and go elsewhere. So far where I am living, the rent is reasonable and the RV park is gated, has laundry, and a park for kids.

Help it's happening in wolhurst. Littleton. Buyer is haven park. That's a senior park of 301 homes. SOS Save our Seniors!!

Municipalities better start passing ordinance and laws discouraging absentee landlords. Neighbors generally treat people better than shareholders.

Make Colorado Cowboy Again!

Realize this, the parks in my part of the country that speak mostly non English , are not living on fixed income social security check, but they are getting free health care and ebt cards for free food. Sure does help offset the cost of living. Guess what is causing the housing shortage?

I always knew growing up I would need a place to live. When I was a senior in high School In 1980 I bought my mobile home for $1,250. I went driving around in the country looking for land for sale and I came across an empty lot. I went to the courthouse to find out who owned it. It belonged to a judge who forgot all about it. He said you look like nice people how does $2,500 sound 🙂? 😧😯😳 I said "SOLD! I went to the bank, got the money and bought it. I have lived here ever since 😂. I have kept up all the repairs and my trailer is still in great shape. 40 years of no rent, no landlords, no rules ☺️. I didn't have to worry when COVID-19 hit. If something needs repaired I fix or replace it. One acre of land is plenty for what I need. 😊

Refreshing story, beautiful people.

Thanks for covering something that everyone has ignored

Whatever land, or business or any kind of property you own can be and should if you want be sold to the highest bidder or to whom ever YOU as the owner wants to sell it to,. It's called property rights of the owner. Government should and cannot be involved in any other transaction

The renter-owned parks are nice, but what about the poor rich people who can't double the rents and get rich off or them? What ever will they do? 🥺

I could easily ammortize a fabulous 40' trailer for $425 a mo. over 20 yrs. but the rent on the land underneath it, would cost several times more.

So happy for them!

Low income housing was built all around the country. ....and destroyed by the people that lived there. Many were torn down because of that.

I will never understand ppl complaining about the housing yet pregnant ??? I think my priority would be making sure I have a home myself before bringing children into unstable housing situations.

The problem with mobile homes is even if they own the land underneath them. Eventually, housing regulations and code enforcement will tell these people. Hey, look, your trailer is too d*** old, it's gotta go. I live in an area where I've watched 4 trailer parks destroyed because of that.

We bought a lovely manufactured home in a 55+ park --- It had a golf course, wonderful pools, incredible community center. When we bought we were verbally told that the park was going to install new sod and irrigation once we moved in. Ha! Never happened. After my husband passed I decided to sell because between the 'lot lease' and property taxes the monthly cost was approaching a $1,000 a month --- I sold, used the money for a down payment on a small home with an HOA - Even with the HOA fees, mortgage and property taxes, it was about $200 less a month than the the monthly cost of the 55+ park. Buyer beware! After moving out I heard absolute horror stories about retirees who had lived there for 15 to 20 years and now were reaching the point where they couldn't afford the 'lot lease' and their manufactured home is now worth a fraction of what they paid, leaving them in a very bad situation.

Housing, medical, dental, basic food sustenance, baseline utilities, and mass transit should be free to all Americans. If it was, we’d have the strongest economy in the world. There would be NO poverty. Real estate, housing, should NOT be an investment sector. The industries I stated should not be profit sectors, they should be public service. Now, if a person desires more than that which is provided, then they would purchase it. But there should be huge free barter, or repurposing warehouses where nothing goes to waste, but continues to be re-utilized until it is beyond repair. This Country is a mess and everything is WRONG. If we don’t completely revamp our way of doing things, we will soon crumble, as we’re crumbling now.

I think Sandra’s example demonstrates why low rent cost are much more profitable for the area then high ones. Sandra spent her rent deduction on work for her house, meaning instead of sending that money to a corp she gave blue collar contractors in the community work. Putting in the regulatory effort to ensure that rents are low might be costly in the short term but will pay itself back many times over with the increased economic activity from the benefiting residents

8/2/22...Wonderful but scary video. Lots of info that most ppl don't know. SAD b/c housing has become so expensive BUT even worse with today's inflation! Thank goodness I found/decided to buy in a mfg home community with each person OWNING their 1/3 acre lot as well as the well-kept mfg house permanently moved there. I have lived here 8 yrs this month...but it's value has JUMPED HIGHER just this past year. I could sell + get twice what I paid...but where would I move with my elderly dog? ONLY place that allows a fence + my dog is my 1st consideration as well as my security/companion/family. NOT to mention STRICT DEED RESTRICTIONS + HOA MONITORING OF ALL UP-KEEP. 55+ is definitely the best way for home ownership on Soc Sec + having health issues.

Yup , I live in one , I was worried when we bought in here . Started out with low rent , we put tons of money into the home . My husband passed and now I’m stuck here , the rent goes up twice a year and we can’t do anything about it . Couple more years and I’ll be out of my home . And yes they evict you and take your home .

So sad. This is one of the reasons (greed of the 1%) America is going downhill in a big way. To the 1%, you can't spend that money in the next Life. Be kind to everyone. 🙂🙏❤

I can't even fathom owning a home on someone else's land

Stop having kids you can't afford.

This is basically the last generation who could potentially "buy" a piece of this earth. 20-30 years from now it will be for the ultra rich or for those who can pass it down from generation to generation. It's all about the land!

Housing costs will crash soon so hold off. And dump your city council.

Some of these mobile homes are so old they can't make a move. Very sad

Well in CA the rent for the land is more than the mobile home payment 🤦🏽‍♀️

Why aren't there any co-op type ownerships of these trailer parks? The city could easily mandate it by law for any new ones, although I don't know about already-existing ones.

How are the nice residents of the Westside Park going to pay back the $5.5 million loan without raising the rents? In addition some of the parks look a little dated. That also costs money clean up and dispose of the heavy items. I wish them luck.

MHVillage advertising is a great source for mobile home buying. Oceanside, ca. San Louise Rey. Own the land and the mobile home. Only place I could find. Lot rent is ridiculous. Rip off and greed.