Mobile home living in a Senior Park

[Aneeda72]

As I mentioned in another thread, we, husband and I, moved into a senior mobile home park. About 200 homes, in a nicely contained area, the outer edge placed somewhat in a circle apparently in case of an attack by Native Americans or, even worst, young children. Not to mention teenagers.

Have you ever noticed that? Some mobile home park are circular. It’s nice for walking. And some of us walk. Around and around and around like hamsters on a wheel, walking, walking, walking, always ending up back where we started. It’s hard to get lost in a circular smaller mobile home park.

This is a good thing. If you ever seen an elderly person with a dazed look on their face wondering where the hell are they, or if you’ve even been in that state, then you will realize the importance of the small circular park; as opposed to a larger square park. The circle is a mile. It passes all the side streets.

Unlike apartments, which all look alike, mobile homes are all different. The landscaping is all different. This makes it nearly impossible, except for the most dazed, to attempt to enter the wrong mobile home. Have I ever tried to get into the wrong apartment?

In my defense, I lived in 3 different apartments in the same large apartment complex, so yes, yes I have gotten apartments mixed up. Some children in apartment complexes seem to never know where they live; as in no sweetie, you still don’t live here. . But I never tried to enter the wrong house when I lived in a neighborhood. Although, I had neighbors who had this issue. When everything looks the same, especially at night, there can be issues.

You must be very careful in choosing the right park. In Utah, most of the park rent is that same, differing only by 50 dollars or less. Some of the parks are seniors only. These parks are 55 and older. But children can visit, and stay over night. Also, if you are over 55 and have a disabled younger child, the child can live with you-this is federal law.

But the children are not allowed to roam about alone, and must be kept contained at all times. . There are no free range children in senior mobile home parks. But like any grandchild, visiting the grandparents, they are sent outside early in the morning to play; warned not to leave the tiny yards under any circumstances, to be very quite, and, apparently not to talk to strangers. Cause us old people are all very strange.

There are, however, feral cats. Lots and lots of supposed feral cats; more about this later. The feral cat situation, in my mobile home, is extremely funny. The cats themselves are extremely interesting.

Some parks have mobiles that are crammed together so tight if your neighbor farts you can complain about the smell. Mine has yards, some larger than others, which gives space between the mobiles. A mixture of double wides and single wides, lot rent is the same. Some parks have community centers , mine does not. Mine has a large center park.

My hospital is much closer as opposed to an hour/two from the apartment we lived in. This is really nice. The Costco is across from the hospital. Another great feature . The family can pop in and shop while they wait for you.

The parks have rules. Everywhere you live has rules. Some park managers are extremely nit picky, mine is not.

Anyway, this thread will be about my life with the grown ups: the old people as I like to call them. Course I am 78 so I fit right in. It’s also about the various animals both domestic and wild. For instance, in the winter, our park is a major geese rest stop. Did you know that geese crap looks like small dog crap except it is green? Did you know that a senior person with a small dog will tell you, every time they see you, that the crap on the sidewalk is geese crap not dog crap?

Did you know that geese crap is highly toxic? Yup, it is. Do you know most seniors will walk through geese crap and not realize how toxic it is? Get it on their shoes, track it into their home, let their dogs sniff it endlessly. Yup. The management does not sweep up the sidewalks in the park. And the geese prefer to crap on the sidewalks, not in the grass. Apparently, they don’t crap where they eat. So, walking on geese crap, this is a less than amusing fact about old people and geese crap.

But I recommend a Senior mobile home, park over an apartment. To be continued.

 

[Aneeda72]

A little more about the geese. They don’t land during the winter, just very low fly overs so watch your head . They honk a lot though, announcing their presence, flying in V formation as usual. The doves get out of their way.

I had a rare conversation with another resident. Some people here you never see, I mean never. They move in, the park swallows them, and they retreat from the world. Or the have a vibrant night life, and sleep during the day. I don’t know.

There is a lady who I see a bit. Anyway, she lives on the edge of the park. I met her after I first moved into the park on a walk. I was walking; she rides a small wheelchair like vehicle. She dislikes the park’s manager and wanted to get my opinion of her. Wanted to rave about her. . I mentioned the geese.

She mentions she feeds the geese. Feeding the geese is against the park rules. The manager has asked her to not do it. Hmm. Feeding any wild life is against the park rules; including feeding the feral cats. She bakes a special corn bread mixture and spreads it through out the park. I should try her corn bread, she says. No thanks.

The geese are interesting to watch. There are several bullies among them. A goose will be happily eating in a spot in the grass when another goose will suddenly charge, honking madly, racing across the grass, shoving the original goose out of the way, and grabbing the spot.

Reminds me of lunch time at a salad bar.

Bird feeders are not allowed. Bird feeders are, well, hanging from several trees, in several yards, throughout the park. Both regular and humming bird feeders. The manager does nothing, except to say bird feeders are not allowed. The birds knock the seeds out of the feeders, the seeds land on the ground, the geese, squirrels, raccoons, mice, rats, and skunks feed on the seeds.

I have never seen a live mouse. I have seen a dead one. I have seen the neighbor‘s feral cat, , eating a mouse. The pet fee in the park is 5 dollars a month. Obviously, there is no fee charged for feral cats since feral cats do not have owners. Therefore, most of the cats in the mobile home park are feral cats.

People here are on fixed incomes. The people here are old. Old people are not stupid; and 5 dollars is 5 dollars. The psychological of the existence of the feral cats is mind blowing. In Utah, if you feed or provide water to a cat, then you’ve got yourself a cat. But in this mobile home park a cat is only claimed as yours if, in the mind of the elderly, the cat sleeps in your home overnight.

So while my neighbor feeds and waters the cat, has the cat in her house during the day,
brushes the cat; and the cat has its special chair and bed in the house-the cat is feral cause it sleeps outside at night. . Therefore, it’s not her cat. The cats whose owners died while living here become feral. They are fed and watered and cared for by the other residents in the same manner. They sleep outside. They are all very friendly feral cats. .

The feral cats feed on the birds, mice, rats, and, perhaps, a few squirrels. Plus they are fed by various residents. They sleep under certain mobile homes and on various porches and under cars. As mentioned, the majority of the cats are feral. The cycle of life. But, the feral cats, are not really feral. .

 

[officerripley]

The space rent at mobile home parks in my area has gone up to about $700/month in most cases. Which is a lot less than apartment rent but then you're also having to buy the mobile itself (one here for sale, they're asking $225,000 for it; sure it's big and pretty and only 2 years old but wow). No wonder they're building more and more apartments; it's getting to where most around here can no longer afford mobile home park living (or single family, conventional homes for that matter).

 

[Aneeda72]

The space rent at mobile home parks in my area has gone up to about $700/month in most cases. Which is a lot less than apartment rent but then you're also having to buy the mobile itself (one here for sale, they're asking $225,000 for it; sure it's big and pretty and only 2 years old but wow). No wonder they're building more and more apartments; it's getting to where most around here can no longer afford mobile home park living (or single family, conventional homes for that matter).

We were paying 1600 for a one bedroom 750 sq ft apt and the rent was going up. It was bug infested. Really awful and since residents didn’t pick up their dogs poop, it smelled like poop. There were lots of dogs.

The mobile home park rent is 1073.72. It varies depending on the water usage. The water is common and split between everyone.

The price of the mobiles varies. The double wide flipped ones start at 200,000. We paid 60,000 for ours, and had to do repairs, and still need more. It’s a 1998, a lot of the flipped mobiles have 1975 frames, so they can’t be moved. I researched and made sure to buy a home that could be moved as a lot of the parks sell and then homes are built on them.

Ops got to go

 

[Remy]

The space rent at mobile home parks in my area has gone up to about $700/month in most cases. Which is a lot less than apartment rent but then you're also having to buy the mobile itself (one here for sale, they're asking $225,000 for it; sure it's big and pretty and only 2 years old but wow). No wonder they're building more and more apartments; it's getting to where most around here can no longer afford mobile home park living (or single family, conventional homes for that matter).

Yup! They just want to create places for the rich to rent. They are building larger homes and apartment complexes. No condos, new mobile parks, or smaller home communities like cluster homes.

I believe my rent increase notice should arrive tomorrow or Friday. These owners are predators.

 

[Aneeda72]

More about the cats, and people.

The beautiful grey cat is long haired and gorgeous. While my eighty three year old neighbor won’t claim owner ship of the cat, the cat claims ownership of her. When Barbara leaves, the cat lays on the back steps of her mobile and waits for her to return. When Barbara goes for a walk if the cat see her, the cat will walk behind.

The cat is fed by two other people, catches various vermin, and looks to be in very good shape. It gets along with the other cats. Most of the cats get along with each other. The cat currently sleeps under the mobile that is on the other side of me. It is being flipped and the skirting is completely ripped off. It has been unseasonable cold lately and I worry about these cats.

Barbara is a great neighbor. She is a widow whose husband died last year. She has kept his remains in her house and they will be buried together when she dies. They were a blended family, so she has her children and his children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She goes out to dinner once a week with various family members.

She mows, edges, and takes care of her corner lot which is fairly large. She takes care of her double wide mobile. Occasionally, she mows, edges, waters, and cares for other peoples yards; to help her son who does landscaping work in the mobile home park. She also cleans houses part time. She has no major medical issues.

While I don't know her income, it is not high. There is a small cabinet by the office which is the “food bank”. I noticed early on she frequented it. I devised a plan. Often, I buy extra items on sale food and we don't eat it all so Barbara gets it. She gets food we decide we will try and don't like. We/I always ask Barbara if she wants something.

Smith”s sale are 5 items at a time. She always gets the 5th item. I buy items for the food bank, and before I take them down I ask if she wants them. This way I make sure she, and her family, get extras. In return, she sweeps our back sidewalk, which I cannot do. Brings in our trash can if we are not home. Keeps an eye on mobile when we leave over night. Etc.

It“s a great relationship. I am so lucky to have her as a neighbor. Sometimes we just sit and talk.

 

[Aneeda72]

Judy is a total opposite. She also is 83. She lives a block away. While Barbara has lived in the park for decades, Judy, like me, has lived here less than a year. She has a difficult personality with what seems like a touch of paranoia. And sometimes pretends she has cognitive issues which she doesn’t.

Barbara’s son did some yard work for her. It is difficult to get places to do the small landscaping jobs, and those that do charge a lot. Barbara’s son does a good job and is reasonable. I always recommend him to people.

Anyway, he did a job for her, she refused to pay. He had an informal written contract, it was witnessed by the park manager and others because major changes much be approved. It was a nightmare. She frequently changed her mind and he repeatedly had to redo work. When finally done, she refused to pay.

She claimed she didn’t understand the contract. She did. She claimed she couldn’t find her checkbook. Had no cash, on and on and on. She claimed we were ganging up on her. Finally, after her friend got tired of the discussion and her attitude, her friend paid and told her she had to pay her back. Which she did.

But obviously he does no more work for her. She has a husband who is younger than her and never does any work on the mobile. She complains people are not friendly to her, but it’s the opposite. And other than saying hi, I don’t talk to her anymore. She is just too difficult.

She is very defiant, and refuses to follow simple park rules. She throws dirt and weeds into the roadway. She overwaters; and has flooded the neighbor’s property as she leaves her water on all night. She has a for sale sign in her mobile’s window but refuses to hire a realtor. She bought 7 trees to plant which she was told she could not plant. She keeps them in the pots they came in, added flowers to the pots, and placed them around her mobile. She is a real piece of work.

She has an indoor outdoor cat who never strays far from her mobile. There is such a contrast between these two woman.