ON THE HUNT FOR MOBILE HOMES

In early May I traveled to Massachusetts to scout out a number of mobile homes for sale. Some of the homes were only 1,000 dollars and I wanted to see what kind of condition they were in. When I arrived I was greeted by Kathy, a woman in her 70’s, she told me— from a distance that I could go in each of them to take a look around. There were several homes lined up in a large dirt lot. I had to climb into each one because the staircases had been removed for transport.

Kathy explained to me that some one could repair and upgrade the homes for between 3- 5,000 dollars because of the small square footage. Most of them were in pretty bad shape, almost unlivable, but had good roofs and bones, and like she said, could be rehabbed on a budget.

A few months later I caught back up with Kathy in late July to find out more about moving, selling, and repairing mobile homes. Her father was in the business of building and fixing up homes and took Kathy to work while she was growing up. She said by the age of 11 she had the knowledge and experience to build and rehab homes herself. She worked her whole life in the ER and as she grew older she wanted to make more time for herself and her expanding family. So she started looking for other ways to make money. She answered an add on craigslist for mobile homes that were in need of repair and soon grew a relationship with that park owner to rehab homes for him. She eventually bought her own equipment and vehicle to transport these trailers and made it her full time job till this day. She buys, fixes up, sells, and transports second hand mobile homes.

What kinds of people do you see looking for mobile homes?

She told me the people that come to her are young millennial’s who cant pay their rent and this is a cheaper alternative that affords them a larger space with a yard. Also baby boomers are looking for something, “bullet-proof”, as she states. She explained that “bullet-proof” meant that someone could use their social security to pay for their lot rent. Taxes on a site built home have skyrocketed and taxes on mobile homes are extremely cheap because you are renting the land.

“Its not longer just a venue for the poor and under privileged”

Kathy moved from her site built home into a mobile home because it became to much of a house for her to maintain and she felt it started to own her instead of her owning it. So she got rid of her mortgage and high taxes and moved into a mobile home community.

“For me owning a mobile hoMe means I will never be homeless. I know that i get enough money from my social security that if all hell broke loose in my life and I had almost nothing except that check coming in I could still live very comfortably in that mobile home and not worry about going into a elderly housing or anything like that.”

Kathy remarks,

“There are two types of parks you have ones that are run as businesses and then you have an increasingly large number of co-ops”

She lives in a co-op and her rent has only gone up 5 dollars in the last 5 years. A co-op is when the mobile home residents get together when a neighborhood is being sold and if residents can organize themselves with the help of different organizations, for example ROC-USA, that assist in purchasing it. As long as the residents can match what the company wants to pay the owner they have to sell to the residents.

In Co-op housing the residents have a say in where the money goes and how it’s spent. They have a volunteer board and pride of ownership exists in these communities. Large management companies and owners raise the rent every year making it harder to afford rent. Its also hard for the homeowner to leave because of the cost of moving a home and they are sometimes to old to move.

Kathy, what is your idea of the “American Dream” ?

“I want to have all my expenses covered with my Social Security check. My dream it to be able to have more freedom to do things.

She goes on to say, “You can’t have time and money you either have one or the other , i think more people are moving towards they want more time and want to enjoy their lives and not work 80 hours a week and be owned by their bills.”

Kathy loves living in a community where she feels secure and knows her neighbors who look out for her. Mobile home neighborhoods are privately owned and therefore keep unsolicited people out. These communities provide sewer, garbage removal, water, and a small tax bill for a fair price averaging around 300 a month. I also want to be transparent and say that not all parks are the same and as she stated a parks owned by a management company or owner can raise rent each year 20-30 dollars making it very hard to afford. Also whats happening all over the US are parks being sold and people are being kicked out with no place to take their homes or are unable to move them rendering them homeless for one reason or another. Theres a lot of pros and cons to mobile home living and I want to thank Kathy for taking the time to talk with me.

Please contact amyb.ritter@gmail.com for any inquiries and if you are interested in having me visit your neighborhood or home. Want studio updates? Request to be added to my mailing list!