Community Chat

[Sooner]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

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@aggravated wrote:

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

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@patbz wrote:

Looking at the news today reaffirms my belief that Florida should make this form of housing in their state illegal.  Any tropical storm, not to mention tornado or hurricane, make these a dangerous housing option.

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@patbz

That will never happen.  

However ..... I wish it were possible to ensure that people had adequate insurance on their residences .... including the relevant version of  "natural disaster" insurance for their area.    

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I thought it was a requirement in order to obtain a mortgage, refinance, or get an equity loan on your house that, if the house was located in a Federal flood zone, you were required to get and retain flood insurance (at least enough to cover the mortgagor's interest in the property).  At least it used to be.  All of the homes and houses in beach areas are locasted on flood zones.  At least it was for a while and I don't know how it works today but the government would only pay to rebuild your home a limited number of times before the property was condemned for future building.  I worked for the Federal Flood Insurance Association when it was initially starting and was a half government/half private insurers program (in my early twenties). 

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@aggravated

You are correct.  

However, my comment was made based on the news coverage interviews for the past few weeks .... and I was surprised that HOMEOWNERS  in Texas near the gulf had no flood insurance .....  and many RENTERS  didn't have even basic renters insurance.  

I'm not saying that everyone must always insure for 100% of current value, but for people whose homes/apartments were totally destroyed, having even 50% coverage will give them a running start on replacing what they've lost.   JMO

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Where I grew up MOST of the people didn't have enough income or assets to get a mortage.  SO, they had to find really inexpensive housing and insurance wasn't even a question.  Lots of people have not much stuff. . . so that's fairly easy and cheap to replace if something happens.

Sometimes people without a good income live very differently from how many of us live.  I'm not saying it is wrong or right, but there is a whole culture of a lower standard of living out there.  Some by circumstance and some, believe it or not, by choice or lack of desire to change their circumstances I'll say. . . 

[Zhills]

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@chrystaltree wrote:

Yeah, sure and people who live in wooded areas shouldn't be allowed to build there because those areas are subject to fires.  People who have beach homes should be allowed to build them because beaches erode and homes can topple.  People who live on hills shouldn't be allowed to do that because if they neglect to set the parking break, their car can slide downhill.  And so forth and so on.

 LOL. Amen!  I can't believe the opinions of some people!  Opinions without actual facts!  People watch too much TV!

[viva923]

i have lived in a mobile home for 30 yrs now. they are decent, a roof over my head. If I could afford a stick built house I would have moved long ago, but the cost of living here is off the chart so dh and i make do with we can afford

[NicksmomESQ]

   No matter how much insurance you purchase for your home, insurance companies just don't have enough  money in reserves to handle the payouts from major disasters such as Harvey or Irma.They will require government assistance or likely some of the smaller ones may go bankrupt!!

  Just think about the billions of dollars it will take to rebuild these cities & towns.Premium dollars collected won't even come close to the needed payouts!! Government assistance is necessary!!

  Climate change must also be addressed or these incidents will keep happening!!

   Oh & as far as mobile homes who am I to judge.I've seen some really fancy ones & some simple ones.I knew someone who lived in a mobile home in Florida.It was all he could afford.It was a nice little trailer & he was proud to be self sufficient. He passed away last year happy that he had not become a burden to his children!!

[chiclet]

I have lived in Florida my whole life and these storms have a mind of their own.  After Matthew last year we road down the beach and only one small area was hard hit and a mobile home park across from the beach was sill standing and a big home next to it was ruined.  My sister lives no where near water and is flooded and has a limb through her roof.  I have heard of several people who live in Naples and Tampa and had no damage and then some poor person in Georgia was killed when limb fell on his house.  I just don't understand it.   My friend never lost electricity and peope down the street have been without for days. 

[Zhills]

People have weird ideas about hurricanes.  They are a series of strong straight  winds and a series of random twisters.  The house 3 houses over lost part of the roof, a small tree down in 2 yards across the street, that we could see, yet we only had limbs and a few shingles from the roof 3 houses away were in our yard.  There is a picture on my FB of a MHP...one side of the road is damaged, the other side, nothing!  

You prepare for the worse and pray for the best!

[Poodlepet2]

@Zhills, Amen! I was shocked to see how many mobile homes SURVIVED in Key West....every state has it's meteorological idiosyncrasies....earthquakes, fires, volcanos (Mt. Saint Helen's for the younger people here-on the continental United States)....

Can't we just stop judging? I know more people that have rebuilt two or three times inland and they weren't even in flood zones!

Hugs,

Poodlepet2

[Love my grandkids]

@softwareI do understand ordinances under certain circumstances and for, I'm sure, good reasons. but the OP is advocating the entire U.S. making them illegal and I say again, that's just plain unAmerican.

[SahmIam]

Here's the thing.... for the vast MAJORITY of Americans, owning a house made of siding, brick, wood (what most think of a "real" home) is simply not possible due to cost. It isn't. I don't care what graphs or sound bites or Yahoo or any other news media may say or claim; most of the US is not doing well and hasn't for a long time. A frailer is something they CAN afford and live in and own.

There is also, depending on where you live, a MAJOR tax/cost advantage to living in a trailer/mobile home vs a "traditional" home (aka permanent structure). Mobile homes are quite common as the choice of home for those who farm the land. My family owns a large amount of land in VA and West VA; the fact that we have a home standing on both properties makes us stand out. Doesn't matter that the home in VA was built long before the CIvil War (and took hits during a few battles during said war), it's still a house where most live in a trailer; same in West VA. On our trip down through South Carolina, we saw trailer homes on land FAR MORE OFTEN than single family homes. 

I think the "they should be banned" reeks of privilege. Those are people's HOMES that they worked hard to purchase and maintain. Educate yourself as to WHY these homes are so popular and understand that the day may come when you or someone close to you may be living in one.

[Love my grandkids]

@SahmIamVERY WELL SAID!!