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Discovering a 9 out of 10 “Mobile Home Park” Lifestyle

No two people or places are exactly alike. There are no perfect people or perfect places, but there are lots of good people and good places. Once those realities sink in, amazing discoveries are possible.

Who says? E. Jon and Pat Chione, who owned a large townhouse on a nice lakeside property west of Chicago, and used to think “thumbs down” on “mobile home living.”  That was before they spent three days visiting at Highlands Mobile Home Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. Then, after three days of experiencing the reality of the lifestyle vs. the image in their minds, they were hooked.

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Minutes from Highlands are world class beaches, resorts and all that the St Pete-Tampa FL metro have to offer – for a fraction of the cost of other housing options. Photo credit – Sun Coast Estate Planning Council.

The Choine’s are just two of several people we interviewed recently at Highlands. We’ll let them paint the picture in their own words during this 5 minute video.  Those residents included successful, well educated singles and couples who learned from first hand experience how nice mobile home living actually can be.  Some had – or still enjoy – expensive hobbies.  What that means is, many could live in far more expensive housing.  But as one of the couples told me, “Why would we want to pay more for our home? This way, we have less stress and more left over for everything else that we really want to do.”

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Eric, a Canadian originally from England said living at Highlands “is a 9 out of 10,” and he’ll tell you why in this video.carvedWatermellonWesternDinnerDanceHighlandsMobileHomePark-StPetersburgFL-

There are other reasons besides Eric’s for that quality lifestyle shared in this first-in-a-periodic series of Inside MH Road Show videos we’ll be bringing you from sunny Florida.

Sure, we talked to people the managers introduced us to, but I also walked the streets and chatted with those who were out front, taking a walk or who went to that evening’s social event. The residents truly projected how they love their lifestyle.

Take five and you’ll begin to understand why Mari Blaquiere and her husband Fritz Wilder who own the community, and Richard and Sue McCoy, are so loved by their residents, and why they love their residents too. “We’re a family,” one said. “It’s like a good neighborhood from a 1950s era family TV show,” said another.

A heart warming, mind opening experience awaits.

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The Salvador Dali Museum is just one of many cultural, entertainment, sporting and other venues found in St Petersburg, FL – minutes from Highlands. Some of the residents there spoke about the shopping, dining, entertainment, museums, beaches and other attractions that make this a great place to live full time or seasonally. Photo credit, Carlow University Alumni.

As a footnote, most of the homes there truly are “mobile homes,” meaning they were built before the federal construction and safety standards went into effect on June 15, 1976 which legally created the modern manufactured home.  As you’ll see in future videos, dozens of those oldies but goodies have been dramatically updated. The result is a quality of life for a price that is very hard to beat in that area.

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The area attractions are among the topics that residents at Highlands spoke to Inside MH about. But they also talked about their hobbies and interests, and some of those ‘hobbies’ reflected the success of the people who live there. Auto racing is one of them, and the engineers, educators and other professionals we met mixed and mingled with adults from many walks of life and parts of the globe.

I love sharing the stories about manufactured and mobile home living – sharing the quality, affordable and appealing lifestyle found at Highlands and so many other MH places like it here in America. If you haven’t already watched it, check out the video, your Adventure awaits… ##

Editor’s Note: For a quick insight on the evolution of trailer houses, to mobile homes to today’s manufactured homes, click here.

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L. A. “Tony” Kovach at an MH educational session. Tony is one of the most recognized experts on MH today. Kovach will be presenting at the 2016 Tunica Manufactured Housing Show, a trade show for MH Professionals.

By L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach.

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