We need tent cities too! Hat tip to ‘just some guy; for sending this in:
SUNNYVALE — Two years of mounting rent increases pushed them out of their 800-square-foot apartment, but Emily Gwynn and Roderick Fox have now purchased their dream house.
“It’s 1,370 square feet, three bedrooms, two full baths, washer and dryer,” Gwynn said, excited to show off the spacious kitchen, as well as the master bedroom with its 14-foot cathedral ceiling.
The price: $219,000, in a county where median home prices hit $782,000 last month. The catch: It’s a manufactured home — a classy new spin on the old prefab “mobile” home.
“We were surprised,” Fox said.
Read full article here:
“Now, between their $1,300 monthly loan payment, the $980 monthly space rent and other fees for upkeep, they’re paying the same amount — but own their own place. They feel secure.”
I’d never feel secure in a home where the land is owned by someone else. We lived in Hawaii, and there were lease hold lots and homes available for sale. We bought a “fee simple lot”, and built our very first home. It was only 1,248sf (3/2) with an ocean view from the lanai, but its value doubled in four years.
My two cents? If someone owns the land beneath your home, I don’t think you can ever really feel secure…
On a lot of these mobile home lease lots, they have rent control (Oceanside and Carlsbad have them).
Without the rent control on these lots they would have been gone long ago.
I think an important point, aside from overall investment value, is this is a way for the middle-class to participate in their own version of “white flight,” since it appears to provide for lower income “home owners” while defeating section 8 and other government housing schemes that typically turn middle-class neighborhoods upside down.
This setup secures them from being across the street from a gang-infested apartment building, or a few doors away from a halfway house. If you’re an older person looking for safety, or a young couple with limited funds, starting a family, and don’t want to be worried about allowing their your outside, this is an attractive low-end option.
It’s like they’re creating their own “Mayberry.” Or maybe more accurately, “Brazil.”
“and don’t want to be worried about allowing their your outside”
should read “and don’t want to be worried about allowing your kids outside”
The article should read 43 year old married 29 year old girlfriend + convinces her to move into doublewide.
Livin the dream…