华盛顿邮报 美国住房危机冲击了移动房屋(3)

Can you tell me about some of the other conversations that you've had with people who have been experiencing this?

你能告诉我你与经历过这种情况的人进行过的其他对话吗？

I talked to a number of people around the country.

我与全国各地的一些人进行了交谈。

Many of them are retired¹, and they live in these 55-and-up retirement² communities, where, you know, maybe they used to own a condo or a house in the past, they sold it, they used up all their cash to buy a mobile home, thinking it would be a good way to save money, and, you know, they would just have to pay for the rent underneath³ their homes.

他们中的许多人都退休了，他们住在人们年龄为55人以上的退休社区里，也许他们过去拥有一套公寓或一所房子，他们卖掉了房产，他们花光了所有的现金买了一套活动房屋，认为这是一个省钱的好方法，他们只需要支付房子下面土地的租金。

But now that that rent underneath is skyrocketing, they're really struggling.

但现在土地的租金飞涨，他们真的在苦苦挣扎。

One woman I talked to, Virginia Rubio, in Washington state, has been living in the same mobile-home park for 30 years.

我采访了华盛顿州的弗吉尼亚·卢比奥，她已经在同一个移动房屋公园生活了30年。

She currently pays $350 a month to rent the land for her home. And now that's going up to $1,000 a month.

她目前每月支付350美元的租金为自己的房子租地。但现在涨到了每月1,000美元。

So for somebody who receives about $860 a month in Social Security, the math just doesn't work, and she's trying to figure out what on Earth she can do.

因此，对于每月领取约860美元社会保障金的人来说，这么多钱是行不通的，她正在试图弄清楚自己到底能做什么。

And what did she say about what it has been like to see the prices go up so quickly?

看到价格上涨如此之快她说这是什么感觉?

I mean, what's been her reaction?

也就是说，她有什么反应？

I mean, I think she's still processing it.

我觉得她还在处理这件事。

She recently got a notice saying that rents would be going up, and it sounds like the entire community is in shock.

她最近收到了一则通知，通知说租金将会上涨，听起来整个社区都很震惊。

I mean, $350 to $1,000 a month -- I don't know anybody who could absorb that in their housing budget without serious strain.

每月350到1000美元--我不知道有谁能在不造成严重压力的情况下，在住房预算中负担得起这笔钱。

And for a lot of these folks in particular, like Virginia, she owns the actual house that she lives in.

对于这些人中的许多人来说，特别是弗吉尼亚，她拥有她实际居住的房子。

And it's very difficult to move a mobile home, especially if it's older. It's next to impossible.

而且移动活动房屋是非常困难的，特别是如果房屋老旧的话。移动几乎是不可能的。

And even if you can move it, it costs, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars, up to about $15,000, just to move it.

即使你能移动房子，它也要花费成千上万美元，最高可达1.5万美元，仅仅移动房屋一次。

So that's not an option.

所以这不是一种选择。

The only option she sees is picking up and leaving, but that means leaving behind her biggest investment, which is her house.

她看到的唯一选择是收拾行李然后离开，但这意味着留下她最大的投资，那就是她的房子。

Hmm. And why is this happening?

嗯。为什么会发生这种情况？

Like, what are the factors at play here that are specifically affecting the mobile-home market?

有哪些因素在具体影响移动房屋市场？

Part of this is a continuation of what we've been seeing for the last decade, which is that private-equity firms have been swooping⁴ in and buying up these mobile-home parks.

这在一定程度上是我们过去十年来一直看到的情况的延续，即私募股权公司一直在涌入移动房屋市场，收购这些移动房屋公园。

Many mobile-home parks used to be owned by mom-and-pop operators or, you know, they were family-owned.

许多移动房屋公园过去由夫妻店所有，或者，由家族所有。

But as those owners age out, maybe the next generation isn't so keen on keeping it going.

但随着这些所有者年龄的增长，也许下一代人不会那么热衷于让其继续下去。

So they're selling to corporate⁵ owners, they're selling to private-equity firms who are suddenly, you know, very interested in using government-sponsored loans to buy up these properties.

所以他们卖给企业主，他们卖给私募股权公司，这些公司突然对使用政府支持的贷款购买这些房产非常感兴趣。

They will usually do some quick renovations, you know, improve the streets, maybe improve some of the plumbing⁶, and then jack⁷ up the rent.

他们通常会进行一些快速的翻修，改善街道，也许也会改善一些管道，然后提高租金。

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

4 swooping   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The wind were swooping down to tease the waves. 大风猛扑到海面上戏弄着浪涛。
• And she was talking so well-swooping with swift wing this way and that. 而她却是那样健谈--一下子谈到东，一下子谈到西。

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。