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The HOA’s letter also detailed residents’ complaints about an anticipated 37% rent increase in less than three years, dating back to before Strive purchased the property. The usual 2-3% increases had suddenly jumped to double digits, potentially imperiling longtime older residents whose fixed incomes could absorb the lower rent bumps. Communities of mobile homes, also known as “manufactured homes,” are unique beasts in that residents normally own the physical homes they live in, but they don’t actually own the land on which their homes sit. Joyce Tanner is pictured in her home at the Golden Hills mobile home park in Golden on Sept. 28, 2021.
The homeowners own the land underneath our neighborhood as a resident-owned community . Our community is unique, and those of us who are lucky enough to be Members cherish the opportunity to live in a place where we can be free of worry about our space rents spiraling beyond what is affordable. Your donation will give homeowners the chance to improve their manufactured home communities where they see the most pressing need. Additional support and partnerships are often necessary to make the financing for resident-owned communities to work.
Shangri-La Mobile Home Park
State law requires approval of at least 51% of park residents to assign the right to purchase to a nonprofit on behalf of residents. Jimenez, 65, works in property management but spent most of his career running a landscaping business and specialized in building waterfalls for the luxury home market around Aspen. He has championed collective ownership for the park and is relieved to have Manaus coming in as an intermediary owner. That led Jimenez and the Kruegers to Manaus and Schalit, who in August pitched to them the idea of buying the park with the intent of transferring ownership to residents. Manaus leaders has just weeks earlier set a goal of attempting this intervention model to preserve smaller trailer parks that the ROC model can’t help. Lot rents will rise about 25% immediately, to $750 from $606, then increase to $800 next year and $856 the following year, before stabilizing with 1% annual increases for inflation.
Surrounded by sawdust and screws, Kirby MacLaurin and Doug Harris are voluntarily tearing up a duplex that the co-op hopes to renovate into a rental. “You would dread the piece of paper with the black electrical tape on your door,” she says. Animas View residents also complained of the previous owner’s lack of attention to their needs and delayed repairs.
Kimberly Hills Mobile Home Park
Manaus has attempted to organize a resident purchase at two other parks only to be outbid by private equity groups. The sellers are the four children of the late Ben Krueger, a longtime Vail Valley resident who had owned and maintained the park since the early 1980s. Krueger died in November 2021 and his children wanted to find a way to preserve the community he fostered at 3-Mile, which off of Colorado 82 on the way to Aspen. The co-op will continue to search for rental assistance that might help some residents bridge that gap. Meanwhile, Kadlec noted that the immediate shock of the rent increase would ultimately lead to a more stable future. A new Colorado law gave them an opportunity to buy their mobile home park.
In addition, Vero Beach offers the lush McKee Botanical Garden on 80 acres. This makes Vero Beach a great place for residents who love exploring the natural surroundings. Looking for that laid-back lake life and a resident-owned mobile home park in southwest Florida? The mobile home park is located along the Caloosahatchee River, right across from Fort Myers.
Kimberly Hills Manufactured Home Community
In Colorado, the state has awarded $3.4 million in grants or zero-interest cash flow loans in the five deals that have been successful. Local foundations and nonprofits have contributed as well, bringing funds to purchase as well as reduce the financing to help with down payments. The additional cost of capital improvement projects—beyond the acquisition price—accounts for some of the rent increase, however. And there is a chance, Peirce says, that with additional funding the Sans Souci co-op will be able to keep prices below $800. In early August, the co-op received a $1 million grant from the State Housing Board that should help, and perhaps allow the co-op to set up a rent relief fund for the lowest income residents. “We only work in communities where the owner is willing to sell to the homeowners, because if they’re not, there’s no opportunity, period,” he says.
They hope to purchase the park from its owners, but several barriers stand in the way. Sans Souci’s work toward park ownership predates the new provision in Colorado law, which Peirce figures may put his park in a better position than others that have launched their bids more recently. That said, he acknowledges that the state is still getting its bearings when it comes to managing the process. The majority of residents supported moving toward ownership in an initial poll in August.
There’s a crappy situation in Colorado’s backcountry: too many pooping hikers
We invite you find out firsthand how that difference makes living here so much better. At Park Plaza Cooperative in Fridley, Minnesota, the community raised funds to install a playground for the community children. This safe place to play also serves as a gathering spot for dozens of families, bringing even more value to this cooperative community.
Valleau, the housing attorney, said park owners are “gaming the system” by only sending notices once they’ve already got a deal in the works. In light of the nondisclosure, the state reset the 90-day purchasing clock for residents. But this time, Hickory Village couldn’t get majority support from homeowners on a second offer.
In Colorado, a state law that was passed in 2019 gives park residents the first right to purchase their park if it goes on sale. This is exactly how the Animas River View Park in Durango was purchased by its residents. Andy Kadlec, Thistle program director, said that while currently parks are in various stages of negotiation — and park owners can require that information surrounding offers remains confidential — no potential deals have yet fallen through. A string of new laws have aimed to make the process easier in recent years and kept Thistle ROC busy with ownership conversions across the state. But the Thistle financing model, using federal low-interest ROC loans, doesn’t generally work for parks with fewer than 30 homes, Fox-Rubin explained, in part because they require park residents to pay for technical services.
Purchasing the parks at market rate inevitably raises lot rents two or three years in advance to be competitive, Peirce says, at least for most parks. For Sans Souci, that means lot fees just went up to $750 from $605 in the beginning of September. In the coming months, they may increase again to $800 and then $856 before stabilizing to an average increase of about one percent a year to account for cost of living increases. “What we found is that within five years of resident ownership, all but one community was back down to market level rents or below,” he says. One community even had rents that were 22 percent below market rate, he adds. In a commercially owned community, the theory is that if you dont like how the park is being managed, you can move your home.
John Egan, former president of the interim board, and his wife, Cate Smock, sit in their home decked out for Christmas in Durango, Colorado, Dec. 6, 2021. “Ever since we made the co-op, we are meeting each other for the first time,” says resident Doug Harris, while working with fellow resident Kirby MacLaurin. Potential residents must be approved by our Board before they move in. Life at Colorado Lake Cooperative is truly different than in a commercially owned community.
Generally, residents need to absorb an initial increase to help afford the financing of the purchase. But the usual plan is for that increase to stabilize in a few years and then remain below market rates. Sans Souci, like River View and the other Colorado parks that have become resident-owned communities, relied primarily on ROC USA, the national nonprofit whose financing arm has facilitated purchases in 18 states since 2008. Monday’s twin closings marked the first two purchases that stemmed from Colorado’s new law — and brought ROC USA’s national sales total to 275 properties. The opportunity-to-purchase provision requires a park owner to notify the state if it intends to sell. That triggers a 90-day period when residents have a chance to organize, perform their due diligence and pull together an offer.
Additionally, there is a swimming pool and hot tub, a covered picnic area, shuffleboard and more. Get out for a night of eating and drinking in the nearby towns, spend a day enjoying the outdoors or just enjoy some of your neighbors’ company. Below is a partial list of Mobile Home Parks in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois and New Mexico currently or previously managed by Sierra Corporate Management , and owned by a Kort & Scott Financial Group company.
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