On my quest for a slide show a day, went to Paradise Ranch yesterday afternoon to take the pictures. Started the climb of the grapevine down from Lake Hughes Road and Interstate 5 to go the final five minutes up the freeway.
Trucks everywhere and no, I don't like fighting big rigs on the freeway but it is a must if you want to get there. I arrived safely and got off on Templin Highway. How beautiful it is! High up in the mountains with a clear blue sky and nothing else around it but forest. I love it!
Drove onto the road that the county does not maintain, which leads you to Paradise Ranch Mobile Home Park after a couple of minutes. It goes along the Interstate 5 so on the west side of the park, it's a little noisy. The school bus just pulled in to drop off the kids and I parked my car to go and take some photos.
How sad to see the vacant spaces still sitting vacant after the flooding a few years back. Only one home got replaced after the flooding and Cal trans did fix the problem with a new drainage system (it is HUGE!). The space that got a new home apparantly had some issues with sitting levelled, don't know all the details though.
What I do know is that the spaces are still vacant and the park put up a banner saying RV spaces for rent. Well, so far no takers. I wonder what an RV space would cost per month? Country living right on the edge of Los Angeles National Forest. Beautiful.
Talked to a resident that just sold her mobile home. It was listed for $30,000 and she thought it would appraise, it didn't. Why, you might wonder. Because two homes were sold for only $12,000 and that ruined the comps. Hers only appraised for $23,000.
Today I'll have to call the lender that I have a listing with and tell him that his reposession probably will not appraise either. Its been on the market for almost nine months and no takers. We are down to $29,000 and the home is in GREAT shape with a newly remodeled kitchen.
It is a large three bedroom home with two baths and is the second home from the end on the east side with no freeway noice and a huge back yard. Why isn't it selling? Well, with gas prices the way they are, beeing out in the boonies and a space rent of $950, you take your guess.
The space rent does include water though, which is trucked in on a daily basis. You can not drink it though. For drinking water you can go to the office and fill upp for free. The ground water is contaminated. Talking about water, there is a good size swimming pool and it is all fenced in.
Currently there are seven mobile homes for sale in Paradise Ranch. Most of them have been sitting for at least six months. It seems like that unless you are willing to dump your price dramatically, nobody wants to buy. I did have a buyer for my listing and she was all cash but she got turned down by the park due to credit issues.
Yes, you heard me right, buying cash is no guarantee for park approval. Since the space rent is $950, take that times three and then add on another $125 for utilities. To qualify financally, you need to gross at least $2,975 which means you need to be making a minimum of $18 an hour. Do you make that kind of money? What happened to affordable?
It is not only Paradise Ranch Mobile Home Park that has a high space rent. Quite a few other parks are up there as well. However, how many people are willing to pay todays gas prices and climb the grapevine on a daily basis to come home to a place that has been neglected, got bad water, gets snowed in wintertime, choked up on weekends because of people leaving town for the weekend or coming back Sunday night on the Interstate 5.
Back in August 2002 the space rent was a low $400, gas prices were low, the park was in good shape and it was still a hard sell. Now, it seems impossible. There is another repo for sale, besides my space #59 and that is #118. It's a 1999 with three bedrooms, two baths in GREAT shape for only $39,000! It too, is just sitting. The listing agent had another cash buyer for it. Same thing, did not qulify for park approval.
Where else can you find a mobile home for pennies on the dollar?? Nowhere except for here in Paradise Ranch. Personally, I would LOVE to live here because I LOVE the country feel and then on the other hand, I HATE fighting big rigs on the freeway. A love/hate relationship!
What about you?
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