The Lakeview Mobile Manor is located 10 miles south of the traffic circle on Route 38 and is owned by Rick and Charlene Teeter. The park sits back a distance from the lake road and is situated at an elevation which offers an awe inspiring view of Owasco Lake.
The Teeters would like it to become the first -plus” park in the country.
“We only have 20 sites in the park, and although we have a few families living in some of the units, our older population has been steadily growing,” Rick said. “It's because our seniors are special to us that we've decided to start a waiting list so that when our few remaining families move out, we can offer their place to an older person or couple who wants to buy.”
One of the oldest residents in the park, Hilda Ribley, said, “I've lived here for 20 years, and it's not just a quiet park ... it's a great place to live.”
Another senior, Sprague Wheeler, is the park's “snow bird.”
“I'm here for most of the year because I have family living in Cayuga, but when the snow flies, I'm off to Florida where I live in a mobile home there.” (Wheeler has a boat which he uses in the summer but stores in the Teeter barn when he's away.)
According to the U.S. census, nearly 10 percent of the nation's population currently live in mobile homes, and for most seniors who live on fixed incomes, more and more of them are opting for mobile home living because it is affordable.
Most of the one- and two-bedroom older coaches in Lakeview Mobile Manor have been rehabilitated. Buyers usually find them in good move-in condition. A few of them are owned and financed by the Teeters.
“Our lot rent is under $200, and thus it makes living here affordable,” Charlene said. “The rent includes water and sewer, trash removal and plowing of the roads inside the park as well as everyone's driveways.”
Across the road, Ensenore Road leads downhill to a private swimming beach and a boat launching area maintained by the town of Scipio; thereby offering one more advantage to living in the park.
The Journal of Housing for the Elderly cites safety and security as two of the reasons why seniors prefer living in a park. (The Teeters have their home adjacent to the park property.)
The reason most parks in some areas of the country are full of older people is because, for many, the mortgage payment was their single biggest monthly expense. The inability to keep up the mortgage payments and/or keep up with increasing property taxes caused many of them to sell, take the one-time federal income tax exemption and walk away with enough cash to buy a mobile home. This allowed them to still have money left for savings.
Another bonus to living here is that during the summers, the average temperature is a good 10 degrees cooler than it is in the city. There's also a breeze because the park is on a hill. And for those seniors who don't drive, the SCAT Van comes here to take seniors to their doctor appointments, etc.
As a writer of this article, I too live in the park. I lived in one when I was living in California in the late '80s and through most of the '90s. And, as a former real estate broker, I never believed mobile home living was an alternative, but now that I have lived in (more than) one, I can honestly say, “don't knock it 'till you've tried it!”
It wasn't just the view of the lake from the park that made me want to buy here. It was the quality of the drinking water that comes from the three spring-fed wells on the land that made me decide to purchase a mobile home here. (The Cayuga County Health Department routinely checks the park's water quality.)
According to the AARP, “It is due to the increasing numbers of young adults returning home over the past two decades that has caused a financial burden on most of their parents and an even greater burden for those who are already living on limited and/or fixed incomes.”
But it was an exception the park owners made by letting my 52-year-old son move into his own unit here in the park which has meant a lot to me, personally.
Now he can be close by, and because he is a disabled Vietnam veteran, can also be more closely looked after.
Hackett-Smith writes on mobile home living in Cayuga County
“We only have 20 sites in the park, and although we have a few families living in some of the units, our older population has been steadily growing,” Rick said. “It's because our seniors are special to us that we've decided to start a waiting list so that when our few remaining families move out, we can offer their place to an older person or couple who wants to buy.”
One of the oldest residents in the park, Hilda Ribley, said, “I've lived here for 20 years, and it's not just a quiet park ... it's a great place to live.”
Another senior, Sprague Wheeler, is the park's “snow bird.”
“I'm here for most of the year because I have family living in Cayuga, but when the snow flies, I'm off to Florida where I live in a mobile home there.” (Wheeler has a boat which he uses in the summer but stores in the Teeter barn when he's away.)
According to the U.S. census, nearly 10 percent of the nation's population currently live in mobile homes, and for most seniors who live on fixed incomes, more and more of them are opting for mobile home living because it is affordable.
Most of the one- and two-bedroom older coaches in Lakeview Mobile Manor have been rehabilitated. Buyers usually find them in good move-in condition. A few of them are owned and financed by the Teeters.
“Our lot rent is under $200, and thus it makes living here affordable,” Charlene said. “The rent includes water and sewer, trash removal and plowing of the roads inside the park as well as everyone's driveways.”
Across the road, Ensenore Road leads downhill to a private swimming beach and a boat launching area maintained by the town of Scipio; thereby offering one more advantage to living in the park.
The Journal of Housing for the Elderly cites safety and security as two of the reasons why seniors prefer living in a park. (The Teeters have their home adjacent to the park property.)
The reason most parks in some areas of the country are full of older people is because, for many, the mortgage payment was their single biggest monthly expense. The inability to keep up the mortgage payments and/or keep up with increasing property taxes caused many of them to sell, take the one-time federal income tax exemption and walk away with enough cash to buy a mobile home. This allowed them to still have money left for savings.
Another bonus to living here is that during the summers, the average temperature is a good 10 degrees cooler than it is in the city. There's also a breeze because the park is on a hill. And for those seniors who don't drive, the SCAT Van comes here to take seniors to their doctor appointments, etc.
As a writer of this article, I too live in the park. I lived in one when I was living in California in the late '80s and through most of the '90s. And, as a former real estate broker, I never believed mobile home living was an alternative, but now that I have lived in (more than) one, I can honestly say, “don't knock it 'till you've tried it!”
It wasn't just the view of the lake from the park that made me want to buy here. It was the quality of the drinking water that comes from the three spring-fed wells on the land that made me decide to purchase a mobile home here. (The Cayuga County Health Department routinely checks the park's water quality.)
According to the AARP, “It is due to the increasing numbers of young adults returning home over the past two decades that has caused a financial burden on most of their parents and an even greater burden for those who are already living on limited and/or fixed incomes.”
But it was an exception the park owners made by letting my 52-year-old son move into his own unit here in the park which has meant a lot to me, personally.
Now he can be close by, and because he is a disabled Vietnam veteran, can also be more closely looked after.
Hackett-Smith writes on mobile home living in Cayuga County
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