NZ surfer living American dream

David Carter is living the dream in Malibu. Photo / Supplied

A 61-year-old Kiwi surfer is living the American dream selling expensive mobile homes in one of California's hippest beachside resorts.

David Carter lives near Hollywood stars Pamela Anderson and Matthew McConaughey in Paradise Cove, 50km from Los Angeles, in possibly the least trashy trailer park in the United States.

He fits work around the Pacific Ocean tides, drives a golf cart to his office, and recently featured in American magazine Vanity Fair, where he was dubbed the "suntanned New Zealander with the uber-Waspy look".

The former Aucklander described the surrounding Malibu area as "a lot like Whangamata".

He said: "We have this total headland of perfect beaches, with surfing, snorkelling, diving. All the real known surfers come here. The Pacific Ocean is our swimming pool.

"It's a fun neighbourhood, it's a great place to live. The city is only 40 minutes away, you can go watch a Lakers game easily enough, but Malibu is far enough away from LA to be a quiet town," Carter said.

While neighbouring homes outside of the park are worth as much as $32 million, a 500sq m slice of Paradise Cove can be snatched up for as little as $260,000. This excludes the monthly ground rent of $1300 to $2600.

Sixty-five per cent of the mobile homes are occupied by full-time residents. "Outside of the park you couldn't find a place for less than a million and that would be nowhere near the beach. Malibu is Malibu, everything is so expensive."

The mobile homes at Paradise Cove might look humble from the outside, but many are pimped-out with luxury furnishings and fixtures. Marble floors, Italian-granite finishings, and top-of-the-range appliances are standard.

"There's building restrictions, but you can pretty much do whatever you want in terms of doing the place up. You wouldn't believe how luxurious some of these place are."

Carter grew up in Auckland and attended Selwyn College before moving to Hawaii at 20.

"I grew up surfing in NZ and then decided to go surfing elsewhere," he said.

He later went to Malibu, where he has sold Paradise Cove properties for the past 30 years. "I saw the niche I could create selling these homes."

Carter raised his three, now adult, children at the park and two have bought Paradise Cove homes for themselves. His wife Sandy teaches marine science at the local primary school.

The family returns to Whangamata every couple of years. "I love New Zealand, I still have great friends there. My daughter married a New Zealander who she met in Whangamata," Carter said.