Paradise Cove Homes for Sale in Malibu
A Gated Mobile Home Community Above Its Own Cove
- Where: on the bluff above Paradise Cove, off Pacific Coast Highway between Point Dume and Escondido Beach.
- What it is: a private, gated mobile home park on a hillside running down to the sand.
- Getting around: golf carts. The streets are laid out for them, and there are tennis courts up top.
- The beach: Paradise Cove Beach sits below the park, with a cafe and a pier on the sand, plus entry to it's own private beach.
The park opened in the early 1960s as a beach rental spot with 71 homes, and the Kissel family added roughly two hundred more spaces in the upper park before homes began selling individually in the 1970s.
Real Estate in Paradise Cove
- You own the home. You lease the land. The ground belongs to the Paradise Cove Land Company, held by the Kissel family since the 1960s.
- Space rent is monthly, paid to the park. Malibu's mobilehome rent control regulations cap how much it can rise in a year.
- Financing works differently. The loan is secured against the home rather than the land, so it is not a standard mortgage. Terms run shorter and rates run higher.
- Two tiers: the original lower park closest to the sand, and the upper park added later.
Title does not transfer here the way it does elsewhere in Malibu. A home in the park is registered with the California Department of Housing and Community Development rather than recorded with the County, closer to how a vehicle is titled than a house.
The original lower homes sit nearest the pier, along the seasonal Ramirez Creek. Above them the streets climb the bluff, some looking out over the water and some set back on their own loop with no through traffic. The rear of the park sits near Pacific Coast Highway above the community volleyball, basketball and tennis courts and the playground.
Living in Paradise Cove
- Paradise Cove Beach Cafe: founded by Bob Morris and arguably Malibu's most iconic location second to the Malibu Pier. Enjoy breakfast with your feet in the sand and fresh seafood as your order comes right to you're umbrella and beach chair.
- The pier: A small private pier you can fish from
- The Hut: the surf break off the point, small and friendly and busy when it is working.
- Walking the sand: east takes you toward Escondido Beach, west runs under the sandstone cliffs toward Little Dume.
- Golf carts: Great thing to have here since it makes getting around super easy!
Schools are in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The streets inside the gate are genuinely private, the pace is slow, and the beach is a two minute golf cart ride rather than a drive.
Buying in Paradise Cove with a Malibu Real Estate Agent
At Paradise Cove the question is not which street you are on, it is what you are buying. The home is yours. The ground is leased, the rent is regulated, and the lending works its own way. We have sold this coast for 25 years and grew up on it. Come see the park with us before you decide whether the trade is the right one for you.
Thinking about buying or selling in Paradise Cove? Get in touch with Shen Schulz.
Common Questions About Paradise Cove
Do I own the land under my home?
No. You own the home and lease the ground beneath it from the Paradise Cove Land Company. That is the defining feature of buying here and it shapes the price, the financing and the monthly cost.
What is space rent, and can it go up?
Space rent is the monthly payment to the park for the land. It can rise, but not freely. Malibu's mobilehome rent control regulations cap the annual increase, and larger adjustments have to go before the City's Mobilehome Park Rent Stabilization Commission.
Can I get a regular mortgage here?
Usually not. Because the land is leased, most buyers use a loan secured against the home itself rather than against the property, sometimes called a chattel loan. Terms are shorter and rates are higher than a standard mortgage, so line up financing early.
Is the beach private?
The park is. The sand is not. Paradise Cove Beach is reached through the cafe's lot, and as everywhere in California the wet sand below the mean high tide line stays public.