A discussion on Colony Cove Lot Rent

The following is a transcribed podcast discussion about the lot rent in Colony Cove MHC.

It was generously provided by My Florida Dreams, Premiere Mobile Home Sales in Ellenton, Florida

Sue Shields-
Good morning and welcome to our educational Series of podcasts on buying and selling mobile homes without land. My name is Sue Shields. Joined today with my partner husband, Pete Shields. Our company is called My Florida Dreams, and we list and sell mobile homes on the Sun coast of Florida, from Tampa to Naples. Today we’re joined by Patty Frucci and Jose Milave. Our topic today is going to be a lot rent. Is it too high? Jose, let’s start with you. I know that you and your wife came down here and you did a little research on which way you want to go.

Jose-
Yes, my wife did most of the research to be honest with you, but I was alongside with her the whole time. We have been here now for almost two years. We’re from Chicago and newly retired resort living style is all new to us, but so far, so good. When we were researching the part, I was really not happy with the lot-rent idea. I thought, My God, it’s never gonna end, So I wasn’t too sure about it but as we talk to people and living here, there’s so many activities and an option and things to get involved with the community. We volunteer for coffee on Saturdays for the Friendly Social Club, and we have joined other clubs. We started another club called the Plungers. We have a lot of fun and we get to meet a lot more people they have for opportunities to get to know other people. At the cove, we also have dances, and there’s all kinds of activities to keep you involved. You want to get involved, you get and as many things as you want to do. You could just get active or stay home, but I would take advantage of all the amenities, especially swimming pools, and we have the work, the fitness center, and it’s going well. You get to meet a lot of people, and it’s just it’s just a lot of fun. And the people here are just wonderful. I’ve made so many good friends here, and it’s really fun to get to know people from all over the country, plus that you’re no different than anybody from New Hampshire or from California. So that’s part of living in the Cove. So I think the friendships is a big part of it. And I’m glad that we live here.

Sue-
Patty, what brought you here?

Patty-
I’ve been here about a year and 1/2 now from Indianapolis and in our search, we were looking at leased land and only on and discovered that it’s was less expensive to buy a home in the leased land parks so we could keep the rest of our money and our retirement, which was making us money. So that was the route we decided to go, and something kept bringing me back to the Colony Cove website. Just all the activities they have, the park is beautiful. There is so many things you could do. We have friends that live here that moved here just for that, they’re paying over $700 a month for a rental for the boat, and now they’re paying just a fraction of that. So, they’re very excited to be here as well, because it just that and I was improperly imagine forever and know what it takes to run a property. And of this magnitude, there’s a lot of money that goes into maintaining this property. So, if everybody could just look at that as far as when they pay their rent, the beautiful resort we’re getting, that we’re just not living in a mobile home park. We’re living in a community that has a lifestyle that you can enjoy for the remainder of your life.

Sue-
Let me ask you this. How do you feel about the lot rent? Because a lot of people think it’s really too high. So, what do you feel you get for your money?

Patty-
My husband was concerned about that paying the higher land fee and, I encouraged him to look at all the factors as far as what it covered as far as management fees and maintenance of the park. We have several lakes, our club houses or swimming pools and the Marina. We have a beautiful marina here for people who own boats, and it just made sense.

Sue-
So, yeah, let me ask you a question real-quick. I know that when we were talking earlier, you mentioned about the price of the homes without laying being so inexpensive. And the lot rent does include such things as the pools and the exercise room. Fitness centers and your property taxes are included. Some of your utilities are included. So, tell me a little bit about that. What made you make that decision?

Part of the reason is, I mentioned you from Chicago and I owned a condo in Chicago, so I still had about 12 years left on my mortgage. So, my last run here is a lot less than my mortgage would have been for the next 12 years. So, I also sold my condo, and I got made a decent money on it. I came down, we purchased the home paid for in cash, and I was able to put $50,000 in the bank. I not gonna save $50,000 from here until the day that I die. So, we put the numbers together somewhat. I’m not a mathematician, But I thought, Well, geez, it took me X amount of dollars. It takes an X amount of days to save $10,000. I have $50,000 in my bag, and I own the home. So that had a lot to do with it.

Yeah. And I think that Pete being our numbers, man, here in the company, you can probably expand on that a little bit, can’t you?

And of this magnitude, there’s a lot of money that goes into maintaining this property. So if everybody could just look at that as far as when they pay their rent, the beautiful resort we’re getting, that’s we’re just not living in a mobile home park. We’re living in a community that has a lifestyle that you can enjoy for the remainder of your life. So, yeah, let me ask you a question real quick. I know that when we were talking earlier, you mentioned about the price of the homes without laying being so inexpensive. And the lot rent does include such things as the pools and the exercise room. Fitness

Pete-
Sure. Seven years ago, Sue and I were in the same situation as you guys. I looked at all the numbers. I’m a former appraiser so I looked at all aspects. A land owned home around here, um, Mobile Home a 2006. Sold for $248,000. A very similar home in the park here, 2016 13 years, newer with the two-car garage. If you compare the expenses and what it will cost, the difference between those that would take 19.3 years. The offset the difference in the lot that created a lot rent on one was an $80. Are the association fees in the lot? Right here was $784 but it still takes 19.35 to offset years to offset the cost of that.

Sue-
So, what you’re saying is the cost of the home with land was so much more expensive that it took almost 20 years.

Pete-
Absolutely. In fact, 20 years is on the high side, but it never rarely goes below 14 years between 14 to 20 years to offset the cost of the land just to own the land just to get lower library. So, you’re spending more upfront and it takes longer to offset that difference.

So, for many of us, we probably wouldn’t even be around in 20 years.

Again, we’re not with rose colored glasses. I know we’re home sellers, so you know we’re paying. We’re paid by the owners, the solder properties with higher lot.

Pete-
Uh, two years ago, Sue and I were interviewed by Patrick Rucker of Forbes magazine. I just had an email from Patrick last night that they were going to publish the story. He was so intrigued by the cost of homes being so inexpensive and in these parks. He did a really in-depth story. It’s talking some of the residents here. This is a quote from Sue from two years ago “the buyers need to be realistic and understand how much they can afford and be aware they could outlive their savings”. In our case, it made sense. And as an example, the increase of $50 a month for Sue and I. If we want to upset that, we just have to stop eating out one night a month. That’s it.

Sue-
Well, as we wrap up, let’s touch on the main issues that we discussed today. Well, I’m hearing is this is a personal choice. So, you need to do your homework. Do you research, do your math and know exactly what works for you? Like Jose said in his case and in Patti’s. In my case, it afforded us the opportunity to do more traveling. In Patti’s case, she was able to get that boat they always wanted to get and enjoy it. So, I would like to say that if you’re looking for resort style, living with a sense of community and lots of activities, look into a land least community we all have and we love it.

We would like to thank Pete and Sue for this great article.

Please visit their website for more information on mobile homes in Colony Cove and other locations in South Florida mfdmobilehomes.com