Senior Mobile Home Parks....Where are the Best?

[Keeper]

Originally Posted by carmac

Have never given AL a thought, but will now check it out...thanks. Where are these condos located??

To get an idea on the cost of houses, check out valleymls.com. The condo's are just starting to be built. I didn't see a price and don't think they have even put them on MLS yet. I am going to guess they will be around 80-100K. I live in Arab, AL pop 7,500, 20 minutes from Huntsville, 1 hour from B'ham and 3 hours to Atlanta. We are 10 miles from Lake Guntersville if you are in to boating/fishing. It is 69,000 acre lake. Never really crowded either. Arab is a small town and not very diverse. Guntersville is 10 miles away and is more diverse.

N. AL does get cold and even has snow every couple of years that last a day. It also get hot here in the 90s usually in Aug, the rest of the time in the 80s. We are at the end of the appalachian mountains, not the smokies but still pretty. Tornadoes are a possibility here during spring and fall

S. AL is not as cold but just as hot during summer. It is greener in S. AL in winter. Hurricanes are a threat in S. AL which affects the cost of HOI. Check out Fairhope, Lillian, Summerdale or Silverhill. Fairhope is a little bigger and artsy, more expensive as you are right on the bay.

Really depends on what will make you happy. I love it here, housing is inexpensive as are tax and HOI plus there is very little crime.

[MotleyCrew]

Originally Posted by Keeper

To get an idea on the cost of houses, check out valleymls.com. The condo's are just starting to be built. I didn't see a price and don't think they have even put them on MLS yet. I am going to guess they will be around 80-100K. I live in Arab, AL pop 7,500, 20 minutes from Huntsville, 1 hour from B'ham and 3 hours to Atlanta. We are 10 miles from Lake Guntersville if you are in to boating/fishing. It is 69,000 acre lake. Never really crowded either. Arab is a small town and not very diverse. Guntersville is 10 miles away and is more diverse.

N. AL does get cold and even has snow every couple of years that last a day. It also get hot here in the 90s usually in Aug, the rest of the time in the 80s. We are at the end of the appalachian mountains, not the smokies but still pretty. Tornadoes are a possibility here during spring and fall

S. AL is not as cold but just as hot during summer. It is greener in S. AL in winter. Hurricanes are a threat in S. AL which affects the cost of HOI. Check out Fairhope, Lillian, Summerdale or Silverhill. Fairhope is a little bigger and artsy, more expensive as you are right on the bay.

Really depends on what will make you happy. I love it here, housing is inexpensive as are tax and HOI plus there is very little crime.

We are planning to visit AL when the economic crisis calms down a little. We like what we see regarding Daphne and we can't wait to do a little ocean fishing.

[Keeper]

You are right about Daphne, very nice area although I don't know if there are any 55+ MH parks there. Daphne and Spanish Fort area housing has kept its value because it is close enough to I10 to get to Mobile in a fairly reasonable amt of time. I heard Jimmy Buffet visits a pizza place there occasionally. He is friends with the owner. Jimmy's sister also owns a restaurant in LuLu's in Gulf Shores.

You might also want to check out Loxely, Robertsdale or Silverhill too.

[jimmyP]

Originally Posted by Keeper

I know there are some resident owned parks in FL for MHs. Condos are owned by residents, although I have seen builders rent condos out when sales were slow.

There are quite a few resident owned parks in Ft Myers area.

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by whowants2know

We are planning to retire and move away from the Kansas City area in a few years and are considering purchasing a mobile home in a senior park...obviously away from tornado country!!

Can anyone shed some light on where they believe the best sr parks are? Price range we can afford for a home is around the 100-120k range, and as far as the lot space, we could afford up to $400/month.

We are not party animals, so don't need to live in the 'big city'. We mainly want to get away from the freezing winter climate...and we're tired of scraping ice/snow off the car!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If you can afford 120,00 there are in Florida, dade city, etc., many villa
types homes which include lawn trash etc for far less than 400.00 per
month. The mobile home with the weather here would not be so good.
check out real estate in the tampa tribune. Prices have come way down.
and now they are at there lows. Land o lakes also is a good place to look
as wesley chapel. In the building boom, they over built.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

I'm a bit surprised that nobody posting to this thread has suggested the Rio Grande Valley of Texas as a low-cost retirement destination. We lived there for 18 years (1981 to 1999) and there was an enormous annual influx of Midwestern retirees coming south for the winter. Many, including my own mother and my spouse's parents, owned mobile homes and lived in 55+ mobile home communities; Mission was a particularly popular community, La Joya was starting to boom quite a bit, Harlingen and Weslaco were both very popular among seniors, and for those wanting to live closer to the coasts, South Padre Island, Port Isabel and Brownsville were all very attractive.

Cost of living in South Texas is quite a bit lower than in most other parts of the country, which is certainly one of the things that attracts frugal retirees. It has only snowed there a handful of times in the past century, so the weather is certainly warmer than most of the country. Hurricanes are a concern for those who live close to the coasts, but 70 or 80 miles inland, it's less of a problem. And in the 18 years we lived in the area, there was ONE hurricane that actually reached the Valley.

Downsides: there is little diversity. The local culture is Hispanic, which is a fine heritage, but people of other ethnicities were unusual and were sometimes looked at askance. The low cost of living is caused by low pay scales, and the poverty level can be depressing.

It is close to a decade since we lived there, and of course much could have changed in that time. But I'd still recommend that soon-to-be-retired people check out the area as a possible relocation destination.