Several months ago, I heard a presentation about mobile homes from Franco Perez, a Santa Clara County Association of Realtors member. His presentation really opened my eyes and changed my perception of the amenities a mobile home could provide.

I have had family members reside in mobile homes, mostly around the Brentwood area, that were basic in design and the mobile home park itself lacked any significant amenities. By the end of Franco Perez’s presentation, I had a whole new perspective on what mobile home living could be in Santa Clara County. Surprisingly, some of these units had the features and design details comparable to that of a $1.2 million home in Silicon Valley, but at a much lower price tag.

I wanted to learn more about mobile homes, so I reached out to Realtor Lawrence Gillen of Compass for an education on all things mobile homes.

Lawrence has been selling mobile homes for over 15 years. The first thing he shared with me is the term “mobile home” and “manufactured home” are used interchangeably. After 1976, building standards increased and the term “manufactured home” became slightly more common. For the purpose of this article, I will use the more common term “mobile home.”

When you purchase a mobile home, you are buying the unit only. The land it rests on is owned by the mobile home park provider and you are responsible to pay a rental fee for the space.

There are basically three types of mobile home parks: family parks have no age restrictions, senior parks are age-restricted and usually require at least one owner to be 55 years or older, and resident-owned or co-op parks are parks in which the mobile home owners actually own a financial stake in the park. The advantage of co-op parks is it is very unlikely the park would ever be sold.

Gillen informed me the average space rent in San Jose is about $1,100 per month. Most parks offer a clubhouse and may also have other amenities such as a pool, spa, exercise room, tennis court, RV parking, BBQ area, playground or more. He recommends you try to talk to existing residents for their feedback on the park, and also try to drive through the park at different times of the day to make your own assessment of whether the amenities are adequate and that the park meets your expectations.

There are five cities in Santa Clara with rent stabilization ordinances for mobile home parks: Gilroy, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Morgan Hill and San Jose. In cities with ordinances, annual increases are capped and tied to the Consumer Price Index. Here are the existing mobile home rent stabilization ordinances in Santa Clara County:

As with any major purchase, buying a mobile home comes with its own set of nuances. First off, there are only about five major lenders that offer financing. Be sure to work with a professional that specializes in this area of financing. The terms of the financing are traditionally shorter than the standard 30-year mortgage most homebuyers expect. Finance terms for mobile homes are usually 20 or 23 years. There is no mortgage insurance needed when buying a mobile home, so that is a cost-saver. Closing costs are also substantially less than costs associated with buying a traditional home.

When purchasing a mobile home you must also get approved by the mobile home park. Most mobile home park providers require that owners have an income of at least three times the housing expense. For mobile homes, that includes the loan for the mobile home itself, the amount to rent the space, taxes and insurance.

Mobile homes are not considered real property, but you still can gain equity on your purchase because mobile homes are a scarce resource in our area and there is an increasingly higher demand for them. If you are preparing for your next move, you may want to consider purchasing a mobile home instead of renting an apartment.

For example, by renting an apartment for 10 years at $3,000 a month, you are spending a minimum of $360,000, and when you include rent increase over time, you are looking at spending upwards of approximately $400,000+ out-of-pocket.

Although a single-family home could possibly appreciate $200,000 to $300,000 over that same 10-year period, a mobile home could still gain you $40,000 to $60,000 in appreciation over that same time. Today, you can own a very nice three-bedroom, two-bathroom mobile home filled with modern amenities for about $400,000 and still have the ability to write off the interest on your loan. On the other hand, you will have zero tax incentives and no opportunity to earn equity when renting.

San José Spotlight columnist Neil Collins is CEO of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, a trade association representing more than 6,000 real estate professionals in Santa Clara County and surrounding areas. His column appears every fourth Thursday of the month. Contact Neil at [email protected] or follow @neilvcollins on Twitter.

Our work is essential to a better-informed community and a healthy democracy. But as a nonprofit newsroom, it would not be possible without the support of readers like you.

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

We’re changing the face of journalism by providing an innovative model for delivering independent news to the nation’s 10th largest city.

We need to build up mixed use multi story residences and services. We need to slowly move away from cars, to buses, and light rail. We need more walkable cities, less parking, and more community centers and parks.

You will own nothing and you will like it.

I still maintain the mobile home parks are doomed, especially with so many fanatic dense housing advocates infesting the South Bay. They neglect employers and jobs, as usual, though some big players in the business community might get their way sometime. For example, the mobile home parks in Sunnyvale across highway 237 from the changed Lockheed area between 237 and Moffett Field and other Bay lands might one day not all be housing but might host a small number of office high-rises adjacent to the frontage road. The potential for this has been obvious, screaming loudly or flashing more brightly than any huge, obnoxious, distracting new electronic billboards.

Good luck with traffic any (more) larger development will bring with it and good luck with parking spillage if the anti-parking types developers chuckle about along with politicians, privately, it’s reasonable to suspect, all keep getting their wrongful way.

Tell that to all of the people that bought mobile homes right before the housing crash. Mobile homes only do well during a housing bubble. I wouldn’t bet on increasing equity as there is too much risk that the mobile home park gets leveled for other housing.

Is it “equity” in the financial or asset sense with an asset that usually depreciates, or “equity” in being able to find a place to live without a high income, or pulling race and et cetera into it, a current “woke” fad even finding its way into government?

Before I spend $400K on a mobile home with over a $1K a month in lot rent then I am going to be either renting a room for a $1K month to save my money to buy a single family home somewhere else for $250K and actually OWN the land under the house.

The so called “equity” is based on you occupying a landlord’s space with your mobile home and since those spaces are are at a premium, you are able to sell your mobile home at a premium. This sets up an adversarial situation with the landlord who believes that equity is being stolen from them. Consequently, many want to get out of that business.

Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

We’re changing the face of journalism by providing an innovative model for delivering independent news to the nation’s 10th largest city.

Now in the App Store and Google Play

San José residents deserve a trusted source for unbiased, independent political news. And we’re here to provide it.

San José Spotlight is the city’s first nonprofit, community-supported digital news organization. We’re changing the face of journalism by providing an innovative model for delivering reliable, truthful news to the nation’s 10th largest city. We’re partnering with you – the readers – to make it happen. This is your newsroom.

San José Spotlight is a project of the San José News Bureau, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization | Tax ID: 82-5355128. | All donations are tax-deductible

Your gift to San José Spotlight today will be TRIPLED!

Your support allows us to staff amazing reporters like Tran Nguyen, who works tirelessly to bring you in-depth stories that directly affect your life.

No thanks, I’m not interested!

Thanks, I’m not interested or already a subscriber