OUR GROUP BOUGHT OUR MH PARK — NOW WHAT?

OUR GROUP BOUGHT OUR MH PARK — NOW WHAT?

It takes a lot of effort, leadership, group support, time, and expectations for MH resident groups to buy their park. There is usually a lot of stress leading up to the closing of the purchase.

And then, all at once, they close the deal and that stress is released. It’s over! We’ve done it!

Not so fast.

AFTER you buy the park, you still have to operate the park, make changes for the betterment of the group, and improve your lives. THAT also takes effort, leadership, etc. etc. etc. in anticipation of a better future.

Does a better future happen?

YOU BET!

My most recent example is a park on the coast in Northern California (the names have been changed to protect everyone.)

This group had been locked in a death spiral with the park owner for over 10 years – lawsuits, municipal complaints, ‘retaliation’ – you name it.

But the owner’s staff convinced the owner that it was better to sell the park to eliminate the brain damage, and also that the resident group could pay him the most money. There was a couple of years of very (VERY) complex negotiations since neither party trusted the other party. But it got DONE.

So what happened after the closing?

The first example is home prices.

Prior to the closing, it was difficult to sell ANY home in the park (and often NO financing available for new buyers). A guy in the park was going to sell his home (for about $85,000) a couple of years prior to the resident purchase. The leadership, always having faith, advised him NOT to sell – that things would be better. And they were! The guy sold his home one month after the closing — for over $220,000.

And quality of life?

I grabbed a series of recent Facebook posts (from the park Facebook page):

POST 1:
“My wife and I wanted to inform everyone of our good news.
[Bank A] just approved us for a new manufactured home via [Company A] Homes in ________, CA.
We bought our 1967 in 2004 with the intention to trade it for a new home. After over a dozen plans submitted to [the park manager] and [the park owner] we were denied year after year. We also lost $500 deposit to [Company B] Homes. We were forced to remodel our home to make it habitable.
Today [Company A] Homes have been the best company we have worked with by far. The owners of [Company A] Homes have spent hours, days and now months working with us, [our park manager], and the Board to finally make our dream become a reality. I believe They had a upper hand in helping [Bank A] realize that Our Park is worthy of their investment.
[The Company A Owner] is helping us locate a farmer in the Central Valley who we can donate our home to and [the farmer] will pay the cost for the removal . We don’t want to see our home going to the dump. A loan officer at [Bank B] refused to even consider financing, despite the fact that we have a 50 amp lot.
Thank you and if you want a new home, [Company A] Homes is primo, number 1 in local home dealers and I have done my research for over 12 years. Thank you”

POST 2:
“My paperwork (114 pages) will be going to [Bank A] for a refi today. This is great news! This post brings me a smile as it represents everything we all have worked so hard for over the past few years. Progress is being made and chains broken. Let us all celebrate the freedom and progress to a better quality of life as we are now able to move things in a positive direction. Thank you for posting this; it makes the hundreds of hours of volunteer work all worth it. Screw [Bank B]!”

POST 3:
“Congratulations, that is such great news!! I cannot believe how much progress has been made in just one year. I’m so happy to see all the changes happening and celebrate our community and everyone’s individual success.”

BOTTOM LINE OF ALL THIS:
Buying your park is a lot of work, doesn’t happen often, but is WELL WORTH IT IN MANY WAYS.

If you want to talk about any of this stuff, contact me (Deane Sargent; deane.f.sargent@gmail.com; 415-271-3919