Mobile Home Parks – Homeowner Risks and Rewards

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Over 100 years combined experience promoting long-term affordability and stability

Mobile Home Parks – Homeowner Risks and Rewards

A mobile home park with diverse people in front
Over 20 million Americans live in mobile home parks. America’s non-subsidized affordable housing
A mobile home in a mobile home park,
A permanently placed mobile home in a mobile home park, also known as a “manufactured home”

Mobile Home Lot Rent

(click/tap) Deals / costs explained

Mobile Home Prices – You May Pay Twice

(click/tap) Profitable or not?

What Could Go Right?

(click/tap) Advantages of buying in a park

What Could Go Wrong?

(click/tap)What surprises could happen?

The Mobile Home Park Industry

(click/tap) How your housing situation really works

Are Mobile Homes Worth Buying?

(click/tap) Long-term risks and rewards

Shopping and Living Checklists

What to look for
(click/tap)

Trailer Park, Mobile Home or RV Park?

(click/tap) What is the difference?

5 Basic Facts About Mobile Home Parks (AKA Manufactured Home Parks)

  1. Very few mobile home park landlords provide a house!  They only provide an “empty space” or rented bare lot with hookups for the home. Included are utility connections, streets and shared niceties such as a swimming pool or clubhouse.

  2. In most cases, a new park resident gets financing and buys a park home from a previous homeowner/resident. The buyer also agrees to pay monthly rental to the park owner for the land, infrastructure and amenities.

  3. Over 90% of the structures in most mobile home parks are owned and financed by the residents, not the landlord. These stakeholders create their “community” with their home ownership investment and efforts.

  4. This combination of home ownership and land rental provides unique opportunities for seekers of affordable housing. It also has unique risks that the homeowner too often discovers long after purchasing the home.

  5. This is America’s largest form of non-subsidized affordable housing. When park landlords manage well and work with the community acting as good citizen-stewards, then low-income residents can take pride in home ownership, contribute more to the economy and start on the road to prosperity.

5 Basic Facts About Mobile Home Parks (AKA Manufactured Home Parks)

  1. Very few mobile home park landlords provide a house!  They only provide an “empty space” or rented bare lot with hookups for the home. Included are utility connections, streets and shared niceties such as a swimming pool or clubhouse.

  2. In most cases, a new park resident gets financing and buys a park home from a previous homeowner/resident. The buyer also agrees to pay monthly rental to the park owner for the land, infrastructure and amenities.

  3. Over 90% of the structures in most mobile home parks are owned and financed by the residents, not the landlord. These stakeholders create their “community” with their home ownership investment and efforts.

  4. This combination of home ownership and land rental provides unique opportunities for seekers of affordable housing. It also has unique risks that the homeowner too often discovers long after purchasing the home.

  5. This is America’s largest form of non-subsidized affordable housing. When park landlords manage well and work with the community acting as good citizen-stewards, then low-income residents can take pride in home ownership, contribute more to the economy and start on the road to prosperity.

Ironically, under predatory park owners, a park can become a financial trap for those very people whom we wish the most success.

Mobile home owners in parks are financing the last non-subsidized affordable housing.  Mobile home owners are heroes. They should be championed and supported by everyone because these homeowners typically pay their own way, asking for no aid or subsidies, all while significantly reducing pollution and waste, conserving precious land and contributing to the economy.

There are many personal, city and environmental benefits to owning and living in a manufactured mobile home in a park. But there may be risks.

Exposing Risk, Raising Potential

All consumer investment carries some level of risk, including housing investment. Risk is part of life, but needs to be minimized. Civilization progresses toward decreasing risks to human beings, resulting in a better society. Mobile home park trends show the opposite is happening – risk is increasing in this form of affordable housing.

Ironically, mobile home parks can provide fundamental solutions to many current challenges – were it not for the increasing risks to mobile home owners. This site helps consumers understand those risks. If managed and supported fairly, mobile home parks can play a role in reducing global problems.

At MHP411.com, readers can find experienced, civic-minded mobile home owners sharing their experiences and suggestions for prosperous, healthy, and affordable mobile home park living. 

MHP411.com is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have legal questions, contact a homeowner-friendly attorney with experience in mobile home law. 
Here is a suggested attorney list for California.

News and Articles

  • MHP411 – Your Source for a Successful Mobile Home Park Living Experience

    Our contributors have over 100 years of combined experience of actually living in mobile home parks and helping homeowners handle the critical issues of housing stability and affordability. We promote good parks, we warn about bad park business, we help…

    Read more: MHP411 – Your Source for a Successful Mobile Home Park Living Experience

  • Mobile Home Parks – What Most People Don’t Know

    MHP Education - books about what works

    Easy Mobile Home Park Course. Read the following posts and you will know more about this excellent form of housing than most of the population – including city leaders, city planners, legislators and even some mobile home park residents!

    Read more: Mobile Home Parks – What Most People Don’t Know

  • Mobile Home Park Homeowner Problems – How They Grew

    Complex Housing Increases Risk

    Part 1 of 4. How risk developed. Parks first served travelers with towable trailers. That changed to permanent residents in permanent houses that were too big to move. What could go wrong?

    Read more: Mobile Home Park Homeowner Problems – How They Grew

  • The Lowest Rent in a Mobile Home Park

    A balancing scale with house and money weighed against each other

    Costs: Part 4 of 4. Shopping for low mobile home park rent? Compare different kinds of parks for their rent levels and long-term financial security.

    Read more: The Lowest Rent in a Mobile Home Park

  • Living in a Mobile Home Park – The Hidden Conditions

    Mouse going for cheese in trap

    Costs: Part 3 of 4. There are several conditions you submit to when living in a mobile home park. They are often unwritten, even invisible. But you may discover them later – after you have made the commitment to move…

    Read more: Living in a Mobile Home Park – The Hidden Conditions
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