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Then, there are those who may already own a manufactured home but are living in a land lease community that has fallen into the hands of a so-called “predatory” manufactured home community operator. Some possible examples are shown below. What follow those linked reports is what Jefferson Public Radio reported out of Oregon. A takeaway hint. Whatever someone’s beliefs or background, certain principles are as certain as gravity. Understanding those principles are useful and practical.
Each of the reports above and below should be carefully considered by affordable housing shoppers. Manufactured homes are a good option. BUT it is important to do business with an honorable company in order to gain the most benefit from manufactured home living. Thus, it is important to do your homework about any company you may consider doing business with. Once you commit, it may become more difficult to avoid problems reported by others that MHLivingNews have taken the time to document and organize on this platform.
The Jefferson Public Radio report is by Erik Neumann. Per his bio, “Erik Neumann is the interim news director at Jefferson Public Radio. He earned a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and joined JPR as a reporter in 2019 after working at NPR member station KUER in Salt Lake City.” Their report refers to Casa of Oregon, which has a pro-manufactured housing wing of their nonprofit operation.
Oregon bill would expand development of manufactured homes to benefit wildfire survivors
Jefferson Public Radio | By Erik Neumann
Published February 16, 2022 at 5:33 AM PST
A bill moving through the Oregon legislature could expand locations where prefabricated and manufactured homes can be sited in the state.
Among its provisions, the legislation would prevent cities and counties from imposing optional standards that create obstacles to these homes being built, like the pitch of a roof angle, minimum building size, the presence of a carport or garage, house color or appearance.
“We are stipulating that manufactured homes should simply be held to the same standards that you would apply to any other kind of construction on the ground,” says Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, the bill’s sponsor.
It would also directly benefit wildfire survivors in Marsh’s district, where manufactured home parks were among the hardest hit communities by 2020’s devastating Almeda Fire. The bill would allow wildfire survivors to use the state’s manufactured home loan program to pay for prefabricated structures and would allow prefab homes to be built within communities explicitly defined as manufactured home parks.
Approximately 2,500 manufactured homes or RVs were destroyed in 18 parks during the Almeda Fire, according to Marsh. Prior to the fire, her Southern Oregon district had more manufactured homes than any other district in the state.
Like many communities in Oregon, the Rogue Valley is in the midst of a housing crisis and manufactured homes served as de facto affordable housing, often for the elderly, Latino families, and low-income residents.
“What we’ve seen as a result of Almeda is the devastation of just wiping out a significant portion of that sector because the people who are most hurt there are our most vulnerable residents,” Marsh says.
The bill is being endorsed by CASA of Oregon, an organization focused on farmworkers and affordable housing development, because it would explicitly allow for more housing types to be added to manufactured home parks.
“Now the Almeda Fire has become the catalyst for expediting that change and getting it done, so that we have more options on the table,” says Rose Ojeda, a senior project manager with CASA of Oregon.
While the proposal has received broad support by legislative House members and a coalition of groups like Oregon AARP, the Housing Alliance and the League of Oregon Cities, it has not been supported unanimously.
Rep. Lily Morgan, R-Grants Pass, is among a contingent of Republican lawmakers who opposed the bill. Morgan says past legislative sessions during the pandemic resulted in dramatic changes to the state’s housing laws. She says lawmakers should wait to see the impact of that legislation before enacting new laws.
“It is a matter of the timing in the short session and just allowing the impact of what we passed in the special session and the long session to take place to see the next phases,” Morgan says. Instead, she says lawmakers should take up the issue in 2023.
HB 4064 was passed by the House of Representatives this week. Its awaiting review by the state Senate. ##
Additional Information, More MHLivingNews Analysis and Commentary in Brief
In order for any type of housing to remain affordable – be it manufactured housing or other forms of construction – certain factors need to be in place. Among them? There must be plenty of supply to meet the demand.
If there is insufficient supply, prices are all but guaranteed to rise. That’s economics 101. Who says? “When demand exceeds supply, prices tend to rise,” said Investopedia. The exceptions are rare.
Until the supply dramatically increases, prices are going to continue to rise. That’s implied by manufactured homeowner and resident-advocate, Tim Sheahan’s comment.
Sheahan’s comments mirror something that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said a few years ago. The only way to mitigate the ever-rising cost of housing given high demand was to increase the supply of new homes.
In the context of land-lease communities, while there should be mitigation efforts to keep so-called “predatory” manufactured home community property owners from unjust tactics with their residents, there should also be a press to bring new homesites online as an alternative for residents to have the ability to select from.
In various markets over the years, when a new manufactured home community opened, there were certain community operators who offered to pay for the move of a manufactured home resident from an existing (older) community into their new one. That’s but one of several reasons why there should be an encouragement of new community development.
But also, there should be fee simple options. Meaning, instead of leasing a site, some manufactured homeowners may want to move their home to a site that they own. Or, they may want to sell their current mobile or manufactured home, and then buy a new ‘land-home’ combination purchase.
The free market should be encouraged, not discouraged. Housing choice should be facilitated, not thwarted. Modern manufactured homes are documented to be appreciating faster in dozens of states than conventional housing. These are reasons that it can be a good investment. But it is important to discern those you may (or may not) want to buy a home, or lease a site from, well BEFORE signing papers. How can public officials, federal and/or state, do more? See the first report linked below.
Then, learn more on each of these topics from the linked reports and in new items coming to MHLivingNews in the days ahead. ##
We lay out the facts and insights that others can’t or won’t provide. That’s what makes our sister site and this location the runaway leaders for authentic information about affordable housing in general, the politics behind the problems, and manufactured homes specifically. That’s a wrap on this installment of “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Recent and Related Reports:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
