Carson City investor offers win-win situation in housing market

In a city where home prices are out of reach for many and residential land is scarce, Carson City developer Steve Pascal is carving out his own niche.

Pascal has found a way to buy old, beat-up mobile homes and replace them with newer, refurbished manufactured homes to sell at affordable prices. It cleans up the neighborhood, provides people with nearly new homes on their own lot for about $150,000 - and he wins, too.

"Everybody just comes out way ahead of where they were and I make a couple bucks out of it," Pascal said.

Inside his small office on South Carson Street, the mortgage broker and investor searches the Internet every day for manufactured homes being repossessed or up for sale. The homes are between 1,300 and 2,000 square feet built in the 1990s.

The search takes him to small mining towns that have boomed and busted in Nevada, local neighborhoods and Las Vegas. So far, he can only find about two a month worth buying and may expand his search to Oregon.

With his two dogs Rico Suave and Sherman milling around curiously at his feet, Pascal calls owners to offer a cash buyout at whatever price the home was appraised. Some owners are being forced to sell their homes after losing jobs and need to move but can't find a buyer, he said.

If interested, Pascal can get to remote areas in a matter of hours flying his small airplane to see the homes, allowing him to make a cash offer on the spot if the home can be saved.

Once purchased, the homes are trucked out to a storage yard in Mound House until he can find a suitable lot. Crews refurbish the interiors, adding new appliances, carpeting and paint and clean up the outside.

"They're brand new by the time we're done with them," Pascal said.

Although he is working lot by lot in Reno, Douglas County and Carson City, Pascal recently purchased enough land on Carmine Drive to create a 15-home development for the manufactured homes.

City Community Development Director Walt Sullivan said he likes the interesting idea.

"It's a neat way to provide affordable housing in this day and age," Sullivan said.

The Planning Commission will consider changing the allowable lot size on the parcel at the end of the month from 12,000 to 6,000 square feet to allow the development.

Pascal, who operates the developments through his company ABC Investments, also owns Trans-Western Investments, a mortgage company, since 1980. He provides financing for the homes that run owners about $830 a month at the current interest rate.

Starting out as a bill collector in Los Angeles making little more than $500 a month, Pascal said he feels fortunate to provide places for families to own and enjoy. The program also allows him to help the city by adding to the tax base, he said.

"We're into the win-win thing," Pascal said. "As the freeway comes through, the last thing we want is for people to come here to work and move to Dayton to spend their money."

Pascal also gives 10 percent of his profits to charity every year and finds ways to help out those who sell their homes to him if they can't immediately find another place to live.

Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.