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Not sure if this is the right forum to ask this, but I am toying with the idea of getting a little mobile home in the future in California just to spend a few months in each year. I am not serious enough right now to be contacting brokers, etc., but just doing some research online, it seems most parks are leased spaces and are right around the $500-$600 per month mark. Does anyone here know what does this fee typically include? I assume water/garbage, but what about cable/internet or any other utilities.
I was also curious about taxing, but I think I read that if you are on a leased space it is taxed by DMV, but if you own the lot it is real property.
As I said, not sure if I will do this, and definitely not ready to do it for a couple years, but I have always wanted to live there (central coast) if even on a very part time vacation basis. Thanks for any info you can give!
it seems most parks are leased spaces and are right around the $500-$600 per month mark. Does anyone here know what does this fee typically include? I assume water/garbage, but what about cable/internet or any other utilities.
A relative just recently sold a mobile home in California, and every park is different, but in this case the space rent included trash and sewer. Water, electricity, phone, and Internet were all separate.
And cable TV? That was especially odd. There was a charge for the park's own cable package - which didn't include channels most people would want, but did include the history channel and the military channel, and a fishing channel - evidently the owners put together their own package, and did it according to their own interests, rather than choosing more general interest channels. And every resident HAD to pay for that package - even if they decided to call the cable company and get a different package - so they were being charged twice for cable TV. Just weird, but no way to opt out. It was mandatory.
I also have heard that in some parks, if the park issues the electricity bill to you, rather than it coming from the electric company, that means the park is billed for everyone, and then they divide it up according to what your meter says. Thing is, if the electric company bills you directly, you start out with a certain allowance that's cheaper, and the cost only goes up if you use over a certain amount of electricity. But if the park bills you, there is no allowance that's cheaper - it's all billed at the more expensive rate - which can make a really big difference in your monthly bill.
Most mobile home parks charge you for cable tv in their package, even if you choose not to have a tv. As far as taxes go, if you own the mobile home it is taxed as personal property not real property. Most mobile home parks do not sale the lot your home is on, hence, lot payments. If you choose to buy a lot and put your home on it, it will all depend on how the home is set up one the property. If you just use the standard block mount home then you are taxed two different ways. 1st the home is taxed as personal property because it is not a fixed structure, 2nd the lot your home is on is taxed as real property. If you remove the wheels on the home and mount it on a foundation then it is taxed as real property because it is not longer mobile.
I can't offer any help with your questions but I am posting to tell you what happened to a sweet little old man who did weeding and trimming at our home for years...( my step-dad gave him the job every year cause the man wanted to work to keep his mind off of his and his wifes medical problems )
Him and his wife were both 80 and lived in a mobile home in a small but nice and quiet mobile home park for many, many years...decades.
They loved living there...safe and close to their doctors and also the hospital as well as to shopping...
One day everyone who lived in the park got a notice that the park was sold and that the new owner would give everyone 90 days to move to someplace else..those who owned their own mobile homes had to take them and those who rented just had to get out....
Well of course they all were very upset and turned to the town leaders to help them stay in their park....but all the politicians told them they could do is to get a one time relocation payment from the new owners which the exact figure I can't remember but I believe it was $4,500.00 All of them said no to the payment as they wanted to stay. But they were told they had to all get out or the sheriff would come to evict them......so they took the payment and left.
This lovely old man and his wife my step-dad rented a place for and then they moved from there to another mobile home park.....others also left....some were crying the old man told us...
What happened was the life long owner of the park got a huge offer for the park from a developer and he took it....the developer then destroyed everything that was there...completely leveled it as he had a deal in place for a chain drugstore to go there....and that is what it is today....a drugstore replacing where many elderly people called home I go to their competitor's drugstore as I can't bring myself to shop inside of a store where I know people use to call home.
So my advice is to please make sure the place you are considering is stable and plan on being there for some time....or maybe best to buy one where the land is included...
In referance to the post by Fashion Girl. in California as well as Oregon mobile home parks are mandated by law to give the tenets of the park one years notice if they are planning on selling the property. This really doesn't help if your park is being sold all it does is delay the move by a year.
Thanks for all the advice. After taking it all in, I don't think buying a mobile is something I am going to consider no matter how cheap. Probably better just to rent something if I want an extended vacation and not have the responsibility and continued expense.
Thanks for all the advice. After taking it all in, I don't think buying a mobile is something I am going to consider no matter how cheap. Probably better just to rent something if I want an extended vacation and not have the responsibility and continued expense.
This is probably wise. Aging mobile homes often develop leaks. Nothing you'd want untended for several months at a time.
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I go to their competitor's drugstore as I can't bring myself to shop inside of a store where I know people use to call home. 
