Malibu Mobile Homes Can Cost Cool Million
Aug. 31, 2003 — -- In wealthy Malibu, Calif., where oceanfront property typically sells for nearly $20 million, Bobbi Hurst paid just over half a million dollars three years ago for her home on the coast.
Hurst enjoys 2,300-square-feet with three bedrooms, two baths and a nice-sized kitchen. Outside, she can stand on her wraparound porch and soak in breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, not to mention Barbra Streisand's estate.
How did Hurst score such great digs in Paradise Cove? She lives in a mobile home.
The term "mobile home" may conjure up images of a narrow trailer on wheels, but think again. In exclusive Malibu there are mobile homes with designer kitchens, luxurious living rooms and even ocean views.
Mike and Lorraine Jennings live further up the California coast from Hurst's home, in Point Dume Club, a gated mobile-home community located 5 miles north of downtown Malibu just off the Pacific Coast Highway.
The Jennings paid $300,000 for their home, which has great Malibu views. The couple built a deck, and renovated the inside of their new home with marble counter tops, new cabinets, crown moldings, recessed lighting and to top it all of a grand piano.
"It's just so entirely different from what you might typically think of when you think of a mobile home," Lorraine Jennings said.
The image of mobile home life is changing. Today, owners and sellers prefer to call them manufactured homes. The structures are built in factories and driven onto empty lots. There are nearly 10 million mobile homes in the United States. The majority of mobile homes can be found in Florida, but Texas, North Carolina, California, and Georgia follow right behind.
Actor Kelsey Grammer once owned a house in a mobile home park not far from Hollywood, and an Oscar-nominated actress currently owns another.
Some of the newer ones may look like standard mobile homes from the outside, but step inside and you'll find upscale, designer interiors.
The Vizzards, a family of four, own a two-story manufactured home with a Polynesian motif, complete with tiki bar indoor waterfall and gas fireplace, in Scotts Valley, Calif.Though the floors look like they are made of wood, they are actually made of bamboo.
They love the high ceilings, the large kitchen and the plentiful counters and wooden cabinets.
One of the biggest misconceptions about mobile homes is that they are on wheels. They are moveable, but are actually propped above the earth on metal stilts. Since the homes do not touch the ground, the homeowner does not pay property tax. But, since they do not own the land — and never will — they do pay rent.
Is it worth it to pay rent, plus a mortgage, plus renovations? Owners say yes. One surfing millionaire bought a 30-year old mobile home for $450,000 before ever looking inside. He said he plans to tear it down, and build a new one.
Contractor Marty King is now building a new manufactured home,worth $750,000. Like other mobile home owners, he will pay rent.
"It's a gamble," King said. "But living in this location, that's what outweighs pretty much everything else."
The Jennings, who are moving east to be near family, say they will miss the ocean view. Though they paid just $300,000, they are selling their home for half a million dollars.
Hurst said she will never sell her home, even though she could do so at a tidy profit. She paid just over half a million dollars three years ago, and brokers tell her that she could now get $1 million for her mobile home. Still she doesn't want to give it up, even to buy some land.
"No way," Hurst said. "No. I'm going feet first."
Popular Reads
ABC News Live