Men and Women retiring alone to a new city/state -- where will you go and why? (beach, move)

[brightdoglover]

I read May Sarton. Her late lover, Judy, lived a block away from me in Cambridge.
I did wonder about Sarton's frequent mentions of her own rage and anger- not sure how that happened or why it persisted, but she mentioned it a lot. I also read her later book of life on the Maine coast in quite old age-can't remember the name.

[Wisteria]

Tesaje: Daughters need to pull away from their mothers if they are to actually grow up and live their own lives. If the relationship is healthy, then once the break is made & she knows who she is, then she can come back but with a new relationship to her mother. One that is on an equal footing as grown women instead of the old relationship of child to mother. I think the mother needs the break just as much so the 18-20 year habits of mothering. The child is forced to stop and she sees her child in the grownup space and can treat her as an equal.

Don't you remember having to pull away from your mother to exert and find your own self? I do and I remember the sea change in our relationship afterwards.

Oh, I definitely understand! And yes I DO remember myself doing that -- and with regret, now. As a mother, I had no idea what impact it would have on my mother when I left home at 18. I often tell my own daughter that it's a different feeling to be a mother with a child, than to be the child with a mother. And it's true. Although I intellectually understood, and I honestly thought I was mentally prepared, I wasn't! It took me by surprise! But, yes, I did that, too, and in retrospect, I wish I had known how hard it is on a mother to see her child leave and have little contact.

flyingscot47: Every time I think I have narrowed an area down I see somewhere else mentioned and curiosity has me checking it out. I was impressed by the lovely photos of Nancy and Wisterias Mobile Home Park near the ocean in Santa Cruz. I have seen a mobile home in a park called Deanza on Delaware Ave in Santa Cruz. The realtor did get back to me promptly when i asked about the space rent--hopefully what she told me is a typographical error but she said the rent was $3,300.00 a month but was negotiable? Do Nancy or Wisteria have any info about this park. Many thanks in advance .

Newenglandgirl: That must be the annual space rent. No one can afford that on a monthly basis.

I know exactly the place you're speaking about. It was a scandalous thing here and I think that some county rules were changed as a result. I did go and look at some of those places -- they're dirt cheap and beautiful! Within 100 feet of the ocean -- but that's why. Apparently, the park was sold or whatever (I can't remember the details now), and they gave the residents a choice of staying, buying into it, or something, and many just couldn't, so they have loads of vacancies. I walked through one for sale and then I asked about the monthly rent -- $3,000!!!!!! Holy moly!!

Yes, it's true. $3,000 -- no wonder there are so many vacancies. My hunch is that they wanted to make it into one of those mobile home parks like in southern California where some movie stars live and they can afford to pay that much in space rent. It didn't work out that way, though, because this is a mixed income community and college town. So, yes, that is true.

Chris Clayton - S.V,SLV.,Santa Cruz real estate This is my realtor's website -- she is excellent. You could inquire about other places. Unfortunately, the parks don't have websites, so it's hard to figure out what's what. Yeah, you do have to shop around, and having someone in town can be a huge help!

Don't despair, that's not the norm! But it IS true!

[HDL]

And space rents can go as high as $5K a month, so I've heard, depending upon the location in the park. I've also seen it as low as $1650. The rent normally goes up annually based on CPI , so best be prepared !!!

Here's a very helpful article on DeAnza MH Park :
Metroactive News & Issues | De Anza Santa Cruz Mobile Estates

And here's a website with Mobile Home Park names in Santa Cruz and the approx space rents. Remember that space rents vary in MH parks. Don't count on accuracy as I have no idea how often the link is updated, but it will give you a general idea and is the best website link that I've found in my extensive research so far :

Mobile Homes Parks in Santa Cruz County, CA; Mobile Homes For Sale Aptos;Capitola;Scotts Valley; S Cruz

Santa Cruz mobile home association fees; Santa Cruz MH parks space rents:

I prefer to use Redfin.com and CL (aka craigslist.com ) for home searches .

Best of luck!!!

p.s.
I am not affilated with any Realtors mentioned above ! But if they wish to send me oodles of money, I am NOT averse to taking it - lol !

Originally Posted by flyingscot47

Every time I think I have narrowed an area down I see somewhere else mentioned and curiosity has me checking it out. I was impressed by the lovely photos of Nancy and Wisterias Mobile Home Park near the ocean in Santa Cruz. I have seen a mobile home in a park called Deanza on Delaware Ave in Santa Cruz. The realtor did get back to me promptly when i asked about the space rent--hopefully what she told me is a typographical error but she said the rent was $3,300.00 a month but was negotiable? Do Nancy or Wisteria have any info about this park. Many thanks in advance .

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by HDL

And space rents can go as high as $5K a month, so I've heard, depending upon the location in the park. I've also seen it as low as $1650. The rent normally goes up annually based on CPI , so best be prepared !!!

!

Egads.

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by Wisteria

I walked through one for sale and then I asked about the monthly rent -- $3,000!!!!!! Holy moly!!

Is that monthly rent (as in a home lease), or do you own the place and spend that per month on the space only? Does that include property tax, insurance, etc, or only the space that the home occupies?

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by newenglandgirl

Is that monthly rent (as in a home lease), or do you own the place and spend that per month on the space only? Does that include property tax, insurance, etc, or only the space that the home occupies?

She said space rent so the mobile home would be more. Apparently some of these park owners think this is still 2007.

Please note this NOT where wisteria lives and she doesn't pay anywhere near this amount.

[HDL]

Originally Posted by newenglandgirl

Is that monthly rent (as in a home lease), or do you own the place and spend that per month on the space only? Does that include property tax, insurance, etc, or only the space that the home occupies?

I believe it's a "Land Lease" that you sign at De Anza MH Park, but don't quote me on that. I remember them stating something to the effect of "30 yr land lease" and to qualify to live in the park you need to have income 3 times the rent amount !

The mobile home itself is always a separate transaction, though sometimes the park does own the mobile home for sale. Mobile homes over a certain age are difficult to impossible to get financing on, so they are many times 'cash only'.

I would guess that a large percentage of mobile homes around the US have no property tax. Normally there's some comment in the MLS listing about 'still on D.O.H., no proprty tax'. What you do pay yearly is equivalent to car registration fees. MH insurance is paid separately also.

[flyingscot47]

Thanks for all the replies. I still want to be closer to my daughter in Sacramento but $3,300.00 a month rent totally is against all my Scottish principles lol.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by flyingscot47

T...want to be closer to my daughter in Sacramento ...

How about 15 minutes away in a ROC (resident owned (MH) community)
Cooperative Housing in Davis, California (+ ROC in Woodland)

There are several other options on this site as well. Often ROC has some restrictions or conditions on 'sub-lease'. They are for the good intention of keeping residents active in managing the community, but can be difficult for those with 'wanderlust' (me) Often they allow some portion of a yr to be sub-leased.

It is often the case that your MH in a ROC will appreciate instead of decline. One longterm successful example I found in my travels is Rio Robles in Kerrville, TX (a very, very nice park).

• ROC since 1978.
• Space rents (fees) are $120/month.
• Homes go for about 20-30% higher due to space rents being about 1/2 or 1/3rd of local market rate.
• They created a supportive cash flow by developing and renting several RV spots along Guadalupe River. This pays for (2) fulltime staff, property taxes, and swimming pool maint.

More ROC's listed here. (Not the exclusive place to find them, and you may need to 'dig')
ROC USA : Home

[nancy thereader]

The realtor did get back to me promptly when i asked about the space rent--hopefully what she told me is a typographical error but she said the rent was $3,300.00 a month but was negotiable? Do Nancy or Wisteria have any info about this park. Many thanks in advance .

This is not the norm here in Santa Cruz whatsoever, flyingscot. It is less than a tenth of that in most mobile home parks. That one park is in a beautiful location, to be sure, right on the Pacific Ocean , but there was some kind of dispute with the owner & they lost their "rent control" status.
There are so many of these parks here and I know that you'd be able to find one with a more reasonable rent. None are far from the ocean & wisteria and my park is only three blocks away. Every morning on my drive to the "mall walkers club", I pass the most beautiful stretch of land imaginable & the mountains are right there in the near distance. I look around in wonder at the beautful area I live in.

Best of luck with your search.