patrick.net

WOW,
This will open up a whole new market.

Imagine, Mobile offices in New York. Migrate your business into trailers, and you can take your office with you to see customers, they will be impressed.

Even better, can they be stacked on top of each other to make high rises?

Gives whole new meaning to the phrase 'trailer park trash.'

“One-liner as thread” ?

Well, Jack, I grant you it's not the most thought-intensive thread so far.
To be honest I'm getting a little burned out. If you --or anyone else-- has a good topic, post it here and I (or SactoQt or Peter P) will turn it into a new thread. If Patrick's back, he can also make you a threadmaster.

An idea for a new thread.
How about valuations.
Pick a house that is listed (with pictures) and we can discuss what a fair value for the property would be?

Gives whole new meaning to the phrase ‘trailer park trash.’

At $1million+, maybe we should call them 'eccentric hoi polloi'.

AntiTroll,

Not a bad idea. Actually, there's no reason why we can't do that right here. As Jack already pointed out, the hook for this thread's a bit thin.
(One possible drawback: most of us may run the numbers through the CEPR & Dinkytown rent vs. buy calculators & come up with close to the same values).

(One possible drawback: most of us may run the same numbers through the CEPR & Dinkytown rent vs. buy calculators & come up with close to the same values).

He did say 'fair value.' Debating that could be kind of comical.

@Suds,

Np --let the idea percolate for a while. Think of some specific points/questions you'd like discussed and see if you can find 1 or 2 good links on the subject. When we reach the 'magic 200' mark, post it here and one of the threadmasters can generate it for you.

My mom told me about these mobile homes a couple of months ago, and I thought it was totally ridiculous, and it is. I have to wonder what the whole attraction is. Is it simply to be on the beach? Obviously if you can spend $1 million for a mobile home, you can afford to buy something decent elsewhere. I wonder if it's a typical LA thing. Has it become trendy in a weird sort of way, so people buy in thinking they'll be trendsetters or some nonsense like that? Or it could be part of the thinking that has the sheeple surveyed in LA saying they think the market is going to continue to go up 20% a year for the rest of the decade. Can you image? $2 million+ for your crap mobile home on land you don't even own. I'd say 'only in LA' but I'm afraid this kind of stupidity is catching.

Can you imagine .. 2025

Tent for sale. Airy with views where ever you can pitch it.
bargain $2m. Carry bag negotiable.

Can you imagine .. 2025

Tent for sale. Airy with views where ever you can pitch it.
bargain $2m. Carry bag negotiable.

For an extra $500,000 we'll pitch it for you.

Jack

We must talk ameneties....

Actually, I would like to see the inside of one of these mobile homes. I mean, what should a $1 million mobile home look like? If it was built in 71', is it a 'refurbished' mobile home? If so, what does that mean?

But it has a jacuzzi, so that $1 million price tag can't be too inflated.....

Nite Jack. I'll sleep on some thread ideas too.

How about PRIME locations on granite mountains? Your tent can have as much granite as you want.

On the other hand, absolute madness is an absolute sign of the end.

As I understand it, they basically bought the right to rent that space in the park, right?

Exactly. They want a Malibu address.

What if the trailer park owner decides to develop the land in the near future? Oops!

I rather buy the right to rent my current apartment for exactly $0.

Scott:-
Unforturnately I am from downunder, and unfamiliar with your tax laws.
I am a natural sceptic and maybe the financial could be viewed creatively:-

Right to beach front view $50,000
34 year old trailer (onsold to family business) $950,000
Rent per year $24,000

Since the trailer was onsold to business at no profit you have no capital gains.

The company carries a depretiating item (vehicle) as a tax deduction or offset on other capital gains.

As an investment property mobys are perfect, by the way. The old ones in particular.
- $50k purchase price
- finance it with an existing heloc @ 5.75%.. around $350 a month will pay it off
- upkeep won’t be that much, maybe $30 a month
- space rent $250 / month (includes tax)

- Total expense: $630 a month
- Rent income: $800 a month

The rate of return (4.08%) looks awful, considering that mobile homes tend to depreciate over the long term. (I know you can deduct depreciation)

Anyone know someone who buys aircrafts and rent them out and get positive cashflow? I heard that aircrafts appreciate over the long term.

Sorry for my bad grammer today... need proof-reading.

I am expecting more mobile park closures because of institutionalized greed. BTW, I consider mobile home living to be the worst of both worlds (buying and renting).

I thought the lead story for this thread was really plumbing the depths of bubble-insanity. Boy, was I wrong...

LA Times Real Estate Page 1 news:

"Bad Lands Now Hot Property"
tinyurl.com/czyt6

VALENTINE, Texas— For 19 miles, most of it bumpy enough to shake your bones, State Route 2017 runs down to the Rio Grande and the Mexican border.

"You could live there in a tent, if you could find your land," said Jeff Davis County Clerk Sue Blackley. "But you'd have to helicopter everything in."

Well, I guess they can build a town to serve "Border Watch" vigilantes. Or when the climate changes (The Day After Tomorrow?), people migrate to Mexico in droves. They can charge a toll.

Well, I guess they can build a town to serve “Border Watch” vigilantes.

Hmmm... I'm not so sure that nonviolently patrolling your county's borders (something the federal government steadfastly refuses to do) constitutes "vigilatism". I was thinking of joining one of the groups here myself, "Friends of the Border Patrol", founded --I might add-- by a latino, Andy Ramirez.

This could provide a name for the new settlement, though: "Minuteman Flats".

HARM, I totally support the border watch program. It is just that for some reason the federal government calls them "vigilantes". I guess I have misplaced the quotes. It should have been Border Watch "vigilantes".

Np, Peter (had me worried there a sec ;-) ).

A lot of people are hearing the reflexive "V" label and "rascism" charge from left-wing immigrant-activist groups, which then gets picked up and looped by the press and so on... Although some of the groups have attracted a, shall we say, "stridently nativist" element, I believe they are a very tiny minority and get weeded out quickly.

@Nanter,

So, do you view the desire to see our nation's border laws enforced as vigilantism? I'd call it civic activism and common sense.

Nanter, btw I'd prefer the government do its job and patrol the borders. Unfortunately, in reality what we have is an open-door (or more accurately an open "back-door" policy) that benefits agri-business, hotels, construction, etc. to the detriment of our infrastructure, tax base, wages and overall standard of living.

I am *not* against raising immigration "quotas" or abolishing them altogether. I don't agree with tacitly rewarding habitual law-breaking, however. And I think that applies as much or more to the businesses that exploit poor immigrants as the immigrants themselves.

if you speak Spanish, watch Univision News Channel, they show how these “patriotic” bastards shoot children now.

Max, Nanter,

If actual registered Minutemen were really shooting children, wouldn't this be splashed across every newspaper in the country? (L.A.Times/La Opinion would love for this to happen, I'm sure.) This would immediately discredit the whole movement, so my guess is these stories are either (a) bogus agit-prop, or (b) about unaffiliated rascist morons who claim to be "minutemen" but are really acting alone.

Anyway, you're right --we're getting OT here. Welcome to the blog!

Nanter, thanks for the intro.

I'm a 37-yr old IT guy renting in an L.A. suburb, facing an almost identical dilemma. My wife & I want to leave SCAL for better quality of life/cheaper housing/less population density, traffic, etc. But, as they say, "you better take your job with you." Starting over in a new place (much less a career change) is hard but often necessary when we want to improve our lives. I wish you success.

How do Border Watch programs differ from Neighborhood Watch programs that are widely supported by homeowners everywhere?

Shooting at unarmed people is obviously wrong. If that is actually the case those individuals should be punished to the fullest extend. However, there is nothing wrong about simply watching and reporting.

I believe we should allow more legal labor workers into the country. This is perhaps better for California as well as the migrant workers. However, I strongly oppose the creation of a quasi-legal underclass.

These terrorists should be prosecuted. How can one violently break laws in the name of upholding law?

Max,

No, I hadn't read about the Hal Netkin incidents. He sounds like a real whack-job. Anyone who commits random violence in the name of religion/patriotism, etc. seriously "has issues" and should go to jail. Again, I don't think he's representative of the average citizen upset over illegal immigration (and the exploitation thereof by big business) any more than an extremist MEChA-type is representative of all Mexican-Americans.

What’s the big deal if illegals come to work here anyway? Let’s not pretend we don’t need cheap labor.

Well, for one they're here illegally. I realize that doesn't seem to count for much anymore, but if you've ever spoken to someone who's actually tried to immigrate here legally (and had to deal with the Byzantine red tape & bureaucracy), then you might understand why this matters to some. Aside from "cutting in line", there's also the issue of the impact on taxes, wages and overall economy. Apologists for big business (who love cheap tax-free exploitable labor) and immigrants-rights activists tend to downplay these impacts as insignificant. The current state of our schools, hospitals and infrastructure in CA indicates otherwise.

Again, if big business is really so concerned about there being a labor "shortage", then why don't they back increasing or eliminating (legal) immigration quotas? A: Because they hugely profit from the status quo. Having to pay legal immigrants a fair and living wage + benefits, or even worse, having them *gasp* join unions is an anthema to big business. They want no part of it.

Anyway, sorry to the rest of the bloggers for the digression. Back to housing?

Fake P, glad to hear from you.

My prediction is progressing as expected so far. More and more people are now quoting October as the beginning of the end.

Fake P, can you please stick around. We have been missing you so much.

Fake P, can you please stick around. We have been missing you so much.

Yes, please. Sauce is no substitute for the "real deal".

October might be the beginning for bay area, but I think in SD, it has already be gun. I’ve seen houses reducing in price and sellers under listing the other sellers.

I know. The SD market has been stagnant for months.

There should be a well-defined documented process for everyone who wants to come to this country and it’s ok not to allow everyone or anyone for that matter. But let’s have clear rules and let’s enforce them properly. 4-5 years of processing time for skilled professionals and tacitly encouraging people to risk their lives and to cross borders is not good for anyone. It’s a great country but the immigration process needs a total overhaul.

I absolutely agree.

It is unacceptable for a government to encourage law-breaking through deliberate non-enforcement.

Dipanjan, make sure you are in touch with the immigration lawyer from time to time.

Knowingly allow illegal behaviors through non-enforcement or under-enforcement forces legitimate business/individuals to compete with entities with illegal advantages (illegal immigration, cash-businesses not paying tax). This is unacceptable.

I have no problem bending rules... but law-breaking should never be encouraged.

Do you guys think that the minimum wage system is to be blamed? It is probable another "protective" mechanism that is producing the opposite results. The market will prevail in the long run.

iceman, are you being sarcastic?

@MP
It just closed today for $100K over asking. Not bad for $1.31MM.

The marketing and sales of a property is always an interesting dynamic.

For example:-
A seller may underprice their property to generate a bidding war (sometimes achieving a price better than expected). It may appear that the final price was alot better than expected....

Also, the buyer may have been willing to pay more, but since there were no other interested parties, the seller may not have achieved the absolute maximum.

Likewise, the buyer may have overpaid as the seller was asking for a lower price.

In summary, prices achieved will be a mix of sales, marketing, and supply and demand.

BTW, if the seller truly did achieve a price better than expected, then
WELL DONE...