This is REAL afordable housing in Iowa City... if you dare to look

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This is REAL afordable housing in Iowa City... if you dare to look

(24 posts) (8 voices)

Started 2 years ago by Joyce Barker
Latest reply from Joyce Barker

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Joyce Barker
Member

You will notice below that I only have included those Mobile home parks that have decent management and websites. In total there are 16 homes available now for under $20,000. 15 year payments on a mobile home $20,000 or under is aprox $122/mo plus lot rent of $270/ month is very close to that minimum wage single earner low income status of aprox 30% of your income only for housing…$392

Believe it or not most of these homes are 2-3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, central air and all appliances...

In our case a Mobile Home made sense for my husband and I as we both had low paying jobs and lots of bills to pay… Then he spent 6 of the last 20 years on disability and off work due to near terminal illnesses. So we choose to stay to keep our expenses low and to keep our maintenance low. Now approaching retirement it makes even more sense especially in this economic world we live in.

Some of you will argue that you lose money on mobile homes… well.. in Iowa City even they don’t do too bad… I will bare our info. We spent $21,000 on our home when we bought it (in 1990) and have been told that it would sell for $18,000…..

Tell me where you could live in Iowa City for 20 years for aprox. $141 per month…
That is including 20 years of lot rent (averaged), 20 years of property taxes we have paid in Iowa City, and loss on the value of the home….

While it is not the same as the investment of a home… We have lived in two mobile homes in 22 years… the first one my husband bought for $4000 and sold for $3500, 4 years later… the second I described above.. if you take total that we have not appreciated on the two properties for 22 years is $3,500….

I don’t think that is too bad for 22 year in expensive Iowa City...

We had a shocker a few years ago.. Our dishwasher line broke while we were gone for the weekend…
It flooded ½ the house… I called serve pro to help… After them tearing up the flooring, cutting down 1/3 of my drywall I would have to tell you my house is built quite well.
They said that all mobile homes built after 1990 are built as good as many homes.
They dried out my subfloor and I was able to put things back together… So they are not the tinker toys once imagined by all.

Please take the time to re-evaluate your thoughts on mobile home living.. It is truly the only low cost housing for people just starting, trying to restart, or retire…..

Below I have listed the current holdings in each reputable court….

Bon Aire
lot rent aprox. $270
2801 HWY 6 East
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Has 2 homes below $10,000
And 10 homes between $10,000-$20,000
And Only 6 above $20,000

Hilltop Mobile Home Park
lot rent aprox. $270
2018 Waterfront Dr.#128
Iowa City, IA 52240
Has 4 homes below $20,000

Modern Mannon
lot rent aprox. $300
1 below $20,000
2 between $20,000 -$37,000

Lake Ridge
lot rent aprox. $300
893 Spring Ridge Dr.
Iowa City
IA
52246

18 between $20,000-$68,000
1 below $20,000

Sunrise Village
2100 Scott Blvd.
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Only 1 for sale for $62,000

Posted 2 years ago #
Rod Sullivan
Member

The Wolfe family owns/operates several of those. I have always been impressed by their mobile home courts. They have put in shelters at their own expense, and they seem to treat people fairly and respectfully.

There are operators out there who leave a lot (no pun intended!) to be desired. If I knew someone looking for a place to rent a lot, I'd recommend the Wolfes.

---Rod Sullivan

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

Of the 5 that I listed the Wolfe family owns 2, Lakeridge and Modern Manor. The Alberhasky family owns Bon Aire the Dahln's own Hilltop and sunrise is the Hames family.....
All very decent people. Some take a more active role in keeping thier places safe and family friendly.....

While some like Regency (formerly Indian Lookout) have alwasy been under questionable management....
and the owners live out of state....

Posted 2 years ago #
Dan Brown
Member

Actually, in the1970s Indian Lookout was owned and managed by Pete Peterson and a partner. It was VERY nice. The principal of Shimek at the time lived there. Once sold it began to decline. I agree that the Alberhasky's and Wolfe family are models for mobile home community management.

Dan

Dan Brown's opinions are his own and do not reflect those of the Press-Citizen, its editorial board or employees.

Posted 2 years ago #
Rod Sullivan
Member

I neglected to mention the Hammes family... really nice folks.

My family and I sandbagged there in '08. Most of the residents were doing what they could, with the help of city workers and a few of us from the community.

It was not until my third trip over there that I realized the Hammes' were the owners. They impressed me with their hard work and concern for the renters.

---Rod

Posted 2 years ago #
Charlotte Walker
Member

This area needs more mobile home courts but it seems very obvious to me that the city will not allow that. I recall that a few years ago there was a change in the Iowa City building codes that completely took out the code category for mobile home courts. I also recall that there was an attempt to expand a mobile home park just outside Iowa City limits, I think it was Lakeridge, but that request was denied. Iowa City has a say in approval on developments in an area outside the city limits. Iowa City was against that expansion. I don't know if Rod Sullivan was on the BOS at that time but if so he will probably recall the details about that rejected request to expand.

I think a seniors-only mobile home park would be a good option for retired people who now live in homes that are now too large for them. That transition could allow younger families to make better use of those bigger houses that growing families need.

Joyce you brought up a very good subject and put quite a lot of work into what you wrote. I'd love to see our local politicians give their opinions in writing on mobile homes and whether they would favor a new mobile home development. Mobile homes offer an good alternative for lower cost housing that does not require on-going HUD subsidy like the "affordable" housing being produced by the Housing Fellowship.

Posted 2 years ago #
Rod Sullivan
Member

Charlotte:

Lake Ridge added a shelter (or perhaps two) since I was on the Board, but I do not recall any request to expand. That must have been prior to 2004.

---Rod

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

as a resident of Hilltop for 20+ years I will have to say that I do apreciate the Dahlen family. They are very compasionate people who really do care for thier tenants and keeping a good park.

Charlotte. Thank you for your thoughts.. but I am afraid you are correct that more mobile home parks will never happen in this town...

Joyce

Posted 2 years ago #
Charlotte Walker
Member

Rod, I'll try to find out more information about Lake Ridge. Its possible that Wolfe was just asking for a larger amount of land to be rezoned at that time. I think it ended up approval of only .58 of an acre to be used **only** for that shelter use. But there may have been another request separate from the shelter matter.

I think the Fringe Agreement does not currently allow the development of a mobile home court in that fringe area. But you might be able to explain that. Perhaps I am misunderstanding it. Its possible that the Fringe agreement does not allow the expansion of the current courts either.

It would be good to read in plain language if the zoning codes in the city or county allows for expansion of the present courts or the development of new ones.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bob Roelf
Member

I regret that I didn't see Joyce Barker's article sooner. This was an excellent well reasoned and sensible letter. I admire her and her husband for their resourceful and responsible approach solving difficult problems.

I also thought the responses were civil and helpful to my understanding of the situation. The possibility of using well managed mobile home courts as part of the affordable housing solution never occurred to me before reading Mrs. Barker's article.

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

Bob,
Thank You.
The biggest problem is that the people who really need to see this article and to think of this as a good solution will never see it. Because even if they read it they will discount it and not want to admit that it makes good financial sense.
Joyce

Posted 2 years ago #
Charles Eastham
Member

Inclusion of manufactured housing in its several forms in a communities overall plan for providing housing that is affordable to residents is, in my opinion, clearly a discussion that should be going on continuously. As Mrs. Barker has well advocated, there appear to be significant cost advantages to manufactured housing residents.. The role of management in maintaining an attractive living enviornment within manufactured housing parks has also been discussed. I believe this is an important point which deserves closer examination.

A number of nonprofit affordable housing developers, including The Housing Fellowship, have considered attempting to incorporating various types of manufactured housing in their development activities. As Mrs. Barker suggests, the opposition to such efforts has been insurmontable. However, the past should not stop us from renewed attempts.

I believe a significant barrier in Iowa City is the Comprehensive Plan. As I read the plan there are no or very few areas that are designated for future residential development that includes manufactured housing parks. Altering that situation could be a good starting point in sensibly expanding affordable housing strategies to include manufactured homes.

Charlie Eastham

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

Charles,
with your roll in The Housing Fellowship and involvement with the city, how is such a statement like this taken forward.
I have been willing to bear all my details so everyone can see....
I actually estimated the cost high but, believe it or not, have kept a budget sheet monthly for the last 20 years so I would be able to pinpoint a history if need be.

I sent a copy of the full comparison, that i printed in the general blog of the press citizen, to Steve Rackis and asked whom else shoud see this to put this forward in the afordable housing relm.
I pose the same question to you, or anyone who wishes to tell me whom else is pertinant in this argument?
Joyce

Posted 2 years ago #
Rod Sullivan
Member

I agree that mobile homes can play an important role in the affordable housing discussion.

But a couple things need to change:

1. All trailer courts adjacent to cities (Modern Manor, Sunrise, Lake Ridge, etc.) should be annexed. Cities leapfrog over them, develop on three sides, but act as though they do not exist. Owners will object because of the tax implications, but this really needs to happen. We are not technically creating islands, but that is the result for all intents and purposes.

2. No new trailer courts should be developed without access to city water, sewer, transit, etc. That would address the key issues that create substandard living arrangements going forward.

3. Johnson County should adopt a property management code similar to that enforced by cities, so that the tools exist with which to enforce health and safety standards in the remaining rural trailer courts.

4. Cities need to be willing to allow mobile home courts rather than fearing them.

I think these 4 things should happen. If they do, necessary protections will be in place, and mobile homes will make sense for more people.

---Rod Sullivan

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

Rod, I went and did some homework because I love your suggestions...
These are the numbers that came out of the research....

Hilltop mhp is in city limits so pays a different tax structure and is on city water/sewer has bus service within ½ a block, city fire protection, grocery within 2 blocks and kmart 4 blocks.
It sits on 15 acres and pays Taxes of $49,000 per year on the land. Lot rent is $270 and garbage is included. That works out to $3267/acre in taxes.
Modern Mannor is outside city limits so pays a slightly less amount in taxes. They are on well water, they are on county fire protection and covered by West Branch, grocery about 1 mile, bus about 1 mile.
It sits on 16.6 acres and pays Taxes of $43,000 per year on the land. Lot rent is $305. They include free expanded family cable and garbage. That works out to $2590/acre in taxes.

Believe it or not the difference between county and city taxes are only $677/ acre.
As far as the property management code… from what I can tell from all the contracts I can see or from what I know all the Mobile Home parks I listed follow a stricter code than the city holds apartments to.
Maybe apartment rentals need to come up to our standards?

Posted 2 years ago #
Charles Eastham
Member

After commenting earlier about barriers in the IC comprehensive plan to manufactured housing parks, I decided I should take a closer look at the zoning code. I should have taken that step first.

While manufactured housing parks do seem to be rather restricted in IC's land use planning, there appears to be considerable flexibility within the framework of the zoning code in locating manufactured, modular, or even mobile home housing within the city. Manufactured and modular homes are classified as detached single family dwelling units and can be located in any residential zone on single lots. Of course lot size and dimensional requirements have to be met.

Mobile homes (defined briefly as “factory built housing built on a chassis”) can also be classified detached single family dwellings and located in residential zones if the unit is “converted to real property and taxed as a site built dwelling, as provided in the Code of Iowa” (removing mobility and attaching to a foundation is not enough). I'm not sure what is required to meet the Iowa Code definitions but it might not be too difficult.

So it might be fair to say that the IC zoning code is actually reasonably accomodating of prefabricated housing types.

However, the same is not the case for private restrictions and convenants. These are of course very common in many subdivisions now and I believe they almost always prohibit any type of prefabricated housing. The prevalence of private land use restrictions may make the availability of this important type of lower cost housing in deveoping subdivisions unlikely. It would seem preferable that the economically priced housing choices offered by prefabricated homes were offered in most neighborhoods of our communities. Perhaps others are aware of successful efforts by local governments in limiting the intrusion of private restrictions into the area of land use planning.

Charlie Eastham

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

Charles,
You are correct with the zoning...
My husband and I investigated this 20 years ago... we were going to try and put a modular home on a lot in Iowa City.
with the price of the lot, foundation, and the apropriate home was going to total $60,000.

Zoning said no problem...(zoning just requested that it fit in with the neighborhood).
Realtors were helping us find a lot.....

The Banks said ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!
There was not ONE bank in this town who would do this.

Turns out the only way to pull this off is to find a general contractor (whom you have to pay so that adds to the cost), I grew up on construction so I would have done my own GC.

Your General Contractor has to get a "construction Loan" on the whole project..... then once it is all finished then the bank will CONSIDER if they will finance the transfer.

To me that was too big of a gamble....

But the banks turned around and offered us a loan for $85,000 to buy a house in the fairmeadows edition.
I was offended because many of those are skogman homes and while not exactly like modular homes back in the 70's those homes were built elsewhere and assembled on site.... so very comparable to todays modular home construction.

Not exactly fair lending practices....

Posted 2 years ago #
Linda Schreiber
Member

Mobile homes do offer many people affordable housing. However mobile homes can create a burden (less tax revenue) for schools, if school districts don't have sufficient industrial tax base to offset lower property taxes received.

Disclaimer: I've lived in a mobile home and served on a school board.

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

Linda,
I am not sure I understand the loss of revenue...
Yes, I don't pay much in property taxes directly to the county but I do pay lot rent which a good percentage of goes for the landlord to pay property taxes on the land...
I will have to add up the number of homes on the property and figure out how many regular houses could be on the same acerage and the property taxes they pay....

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

Ok... you had me curious... so I went and crunched some numbers...
for the 15 acres of land our landlords pay $49,000 per year.
for the 150 mobile homes the county gathers $24,000 directly from the mobile home owners.
Netting $73,000 for the county per year for the 15 acres.

looking at a modest neighborhood nearby... in the same 15 acre area you would have 50 properties each drawing from the owner an average of $1,900 per year ( by looking at the tax record).
Netting $95,000 for the county per year for the same average acerage.

A difference of $22,000.
While any amount is not insegnificant... I don't see too big of a problem as with diverse building there are people paying much more in taxes so I should average multiple parks and multiple neighborhoods... but....

It is not the drain that I thought it would be....

Also just checked on an apartment complex that covers roughly the same land mass as Hilltop.

Acording to the tax information they bring in $309,000 for the county.

That was shocking....

Posted 2 years ago #
Charlotte Walker
Member

Must housing for lower income people be expected to draw similar amounts of taxes as the higher cost housing? It is disgusting to hear that a mobile home court is considered to be a drain on the community. Think of the lower paid workers who do needed work in this community who need places to live that they can afford, preferably without on-going heavy subsidy from HUD. Should the low paid workers be expected to live in housing that takes up most of what they earn?

Though it is technically possible to put a large modular home on a foundation on a supposedly available city lot, like Mr. Eastham pointed out, there is no zoning currently on the Iowa City books that allows for the development of a new mobile home park. It takes a well designed park to make mobile home living affordable.

I doubt that the city planning staff or the City Council will ever allow a new mobile home park to be developed in Iowa City. I also doubt that they would approve of a new mobile home park to be developed or expanded in the county fringe area either.

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

Charlotte,
You are correct about the city allowing for a new mobile home park to be allowd in the city.
Unfortunately, instead of treating landlords of the current mobile home parks by their own merrits they choose to paint all with the broad brush of we are undesireable and so must be eliminated.

I am positive that if we could get the city to open it's mind and treat all landlords by their merrits and not differently by whom they are related to and what kind of property they are managing.

Also we really need to encourage landlords that if they keep the rules they will eventually attract the type of people they desire and not the ones they do not.

but support rather than condemnation and snobbery by the city would help.

Posted 2 years ago #
Donald Baxter
Member

I can't justify negative attitudes toward manufactured housing and the parks that contain them except to say that it's probably something akin to the negative attitude directed toward mass transit involving buses versus mass transit involving trains on fixed rail. Trains simply suffer from less stigma--never mind the fact that this makes no real sense. The only way bus transit overcomes stigma is when it starts looking more like rail service (step up platforms, dedicated lanes/pathways).

One thing cited by visual critics of mobile homes is that their proportions/aspect ratio tend to violate what most of are trained to expect to see in housing. Again, this is nothing I can (or would care to) justify. I think that the concept of mobile homes and mobile home parks could stand an update in image. Why isn't this concept studies by planners and designers to address some of the stigma associated with this necessary and useful housing choice? Japan has well-designed manufactured housing that can be assembled on-site in less than a day; many of the now-prized Craftsman or Craftsman-style homes were built from delivered kits in the early part of the 20th Century. These are also useful housing options that we don't see in the United States.

Posted 2 years ago #
Joyce Barker
Member

And now with a recent article in the main part of the paper.... "Iowa City needs leaders in affordable housing"

this post came on the article: As of 6:00 A.M. March 31,2010 there were 234 houses available at $163,000 or less. This number represents 37.2% of all the listed property. An advocate of affordable housing established this dollar amount as the upper range of affordable housing in an earlier article in the PC.

Last year there were 389 home sold under $163,000 in Iowa City. This was 44.25% of the total sales.

Greg Rockow

These sales are spread through the community.

The data shows there is affordable housing available in Iowa City and that it is dispersed. Figures don't lie. Those pushing an agenda do.

Greg

I decided to crunch the numbers off of it... this is how it came out... I do not feel this is low income unless there are two income earners in the household.

A house at $163,000 with 10% down ($1,600) would have a monthly payment of $1031/mo. to qualify at low income (30% of income) would be one person earning $3093/mo ($19/hr) or two people equaling that.
I don't call that low income

Posted 2 years ago #

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