A mobile home can look affordable until the monthly space rent enters the picture. The home may be yours, but the land beneath it often belongs to a park owner. That split ownership is what makes mobile home costs different from buying a traditional house or renting an apartment. Space rent affects the true monthly cost of living in a mobile home park. It also affects resale value, financing, long-term affordability, and how predictable the home feels as a housing choice. Und

Photo courtesy of AL Homes. A brand-new home in San Jose for approximately $300,000 sounds almost unbelievable. That is why The Kirk has attracted so much attention. The new East San Jose community contains 18 homes, and two of them are expected to be sold at deeply discounted below-market prices to income-qualified households. Local reporting places the anticipated price of those two homes at approximately $300,000, while the community’s market-rate homes generally begin abo

Photo courtesy of AL Homes. San Jose buyers are familiar with detached houses, condominiums and townhouses. But another term is beginning to appear in local real estate conversations: the duet home. The name sounds simple, but it creates several important questions. Is a duet home a single-family house? Is it another name for a duplex? Does the buyer own the land? Who takes care of the shared wall? Is there a homeowners association? How is it different from a townhouse or con

Housing prices in San Jose and the broader Bay Area are rising again because several strong forces are pressing on the market at the same time. The region has high-paying jobs, a limited supply of homes, strict land-use rules, and a buyer pool that often has more cash than in many other U.S. markets. When interest rates shift, these factors do not disappear. They change how buyers and sellers behave. That is what makes this market hard to read from the outside. A higher mortg

A home can pass inspection, appraise well, and still create a serious problem before closing if insurance is hard to get, too expensive, or limited in ways the buyer did not expect. That is especially true in the Bay Area, where wildfire exposure, older housing, steep terrain, dense neighborhoods, and high rebuilding costs can all affect homeowners insurance. Manufactured homes add another layer because some carriers underwrite them differently from site-built homes. Insuranc

San Jose can be hard to explain in one sentence. It is the largest city in the Bay Area, the civic center of Silicon Valley, and still a place where people argue about the best taco truck, compare commute routes, and spend Saturday mornings at a farmers market or a youth soccer field. By 2026, life in San Jose feels both familiar and changed. The tech economy still shapes the city, but remote work, artificial intelligence, rising housing costs, climate concerns, and a renewed

A mobile home can look affordable at first glance, especially when its sticker price is far below the cost of a site-built home. The real decision is bigger than the home itself. Buyers also need to understand land, space rent, utilities, park rules, financing, insurance, taxes, and resale value. That mix can make mobile homes a smart path to homeownership, but only when the monthly numbers work. A lower purchase price does not always mean a lower housing cost. The space rent