Lake Forest Mobile Home Park Literal RIPOFF in all ways!!!!! Sioux City, Iowa

First off. As of this writing, a two bedroom home can be rented for around $500-600 here in this town. An apartment can be rented for about $450-500. A house can be bought on a 30 year mortage for around $400 a month.

They advertise that you can get into the park for $1,000 down with a good credit check and a solid job history. Exactly what you need to purchase a home, simply save up $5,000-10,000 and cut back your standard of living so you can do it!

The lot rent is $347.50. That's what they say. Then they charge you for water and then sewer. That's usually around $20-30 per month. Then they charge you $8 a month for security. If you are so unlucky that you want a dog, they will charge you another $10 per month. So, if you buy your mobile home outright, you will pay an absolute minimum of $385.00 per month just to live there. $365.00 if you don't use ANY utilities. Then, you need to check the mobile home. Get an ACTUAL COPY of the gas AND electric bill, for an absolute minimum of the last 3 years, both through MidAmerican. You will be absolutely shocked at how expensive both of them will be. In January and February, my mobile home cost $200 per month for both electric and gas. That is outrageous. Then, you have your air conditioning bill in the summer, which I did not experience, but I am sure it was outrageous as well.

Qwest has horrible service at this location. I did not want to go with Cable One because I was not going to pay for disconnection fees or sign a contract for 2 years, or have a LIMIT on my internet. They offered 50 GB per month at a higher speed, but I prefer slower speeds and unlimited internet. Qwest service is for 1.5 GB... it was a rare day that I got 700MB.

I feel bad for everyone who rents from Lake Forest in a newer home. Most of the "deals" consist of $1,000-2,000 down, $700 for lot rent and mobile home payment on a 15 year note, your gas/electric, and your internet and cable. You would be spending well over $1,000 per month most months to pay for everything! That's more than I make in an entire year!!!!

Once you buy your mobile home and/or move into the park, your mobile home is YOUR PROBLEM. If the roof starts leaking, it's YOUR PROBLEM. If your pipes freeze and burst and start pouring water out all over the place, it is YOUR PROBLEM. Maintenance doesn't give a d**n and they are NOT RESPONSIVE to resident concerns. They want your MONEY and nothing more and so help them if they would dare do anything that would possibly hurt their bottom line.

Their responsibilities END at the METER that is OUTSIDE your home! You even have to use your electricity to pay for heat taping THEIR water lines!!! That's ridiculous!

If you are so unlucky to live next to someone who has loud music going day and night, good luck in getting someone to pay attention to it. If you think you need to get out in the winter, good luck, you'll have to shovel for an hour or two every time you want to get your car out. They do a horrible job of snow removal and simply don't care.

The roads never get cleared curb to curb as they do in the city residential areas, and snow ordinance parking is NOT ENFORCED. So, when it snows, there's cars all over the place that are plowed in. The hills get very icy because they don't sand or salt except for a minimum amount around the stop signs, just enough so they won't get cited for unsafe conditions.

Save your money, rent a house or an apartment where people might actually care about you and where you have the option to move on in six months to a year if it isn't working out. You'll be further ahead and be much happier in life than if you even think about renting from this hell hole.

I lived there for a few months and because I found someone to buy my trailer at a profit. I was NOT paying another $200 heating bill!!!!