Residents of a mobile home park try to buy their community before someone else does

A version of this story first appeared on KUNC.

Across the country, corporate investors and private equity firms are buying up mobile home parks, spending around $9 billion in 2021 alone, according to government data. Since then, the trend has continued, including in Colorado, where one park is hoping to avoid that fate.

Residents of Sunset Park, a community of 164 double-wide homes, have a multimillion-dollar problem.

“We've talked to different lenders, and the big thing seems to be price, at $44.5 million,” resident Tim Fritch said.

That is what the 24-acre park is listed for. Fritch and his neighbors were notified of the sale in April. So far, he said, lenders are hesitant to move forward.

“So that's the issue,” Fritch said. “That's a lot of money for residents to come up with.”

Since then, a committee has been working toward an offer. They gathered their neighbors’ signatures — the state requires a majority of residents to sign on — and they’re trying to cobble together a loan.

At a recent meeting at Fritch’s house, residents gathered in his living room, many taking notes as he gave an update on lenders and outreach to government officials. It was somewhat of a pep talk about the financing process.

“My goal is to get us in here to be resident-owned, so we control everything that goes on,” Fritch said.

“We are still in the ballpark,” he added. “We haven't hit a home run, but we haven't hit three outs either. So we're still negotiating.”

Generally, mobile home residents can own their homes but not the land underneath them. The hope here is for Sunset Park to change that by becoming a resident-owned community. Colorado law gives mobile home park residents 120 days to make an offer when their property is put up for sale.

Most people who live here are seniors or retirees, like Ben McGuire.

“We have been here for 20 years,” McGuire said. “Our concern is, is if a developer takes this over, we will lose our house.”

McGuire is worried a developer could buy the land and turn it into something else. The park’s owner, Legacy Communities LLC, failed to respond to questions about Sunset’s future.

Resident Bonnie Berry attended the meeting still in her work uniform. She said she recently went back to work as a medical courier in order to afford her rent — the nearly $1,200 monthly fee for the land under her home.

“I'm 78 years old. I work. I have to,” Berry said. “I should be retired by now, but I can't.”

She feels sure rent would increase under a new owner.

There is some evidence to support this. Kelly Giraud, a professor of land economics at the University of New Hampshire, has researched resident-owned communities.

“The biggest striking thing is the monthly fees,” Giraud said.

Her research has found that fees — or rent — tend to be lower at resident-owned communities compared with investor-owned communities.

Giraud has also heard of growing pains when she surveyed residents about what happens when their neighbors become property managers. There can be drama.

“It's just like any association,” she said. “You think of a neighborhood association or a condominium association; you're going to have different personalities.”

Fritch said this group of residents at Sunset Park is willing to risk the downsides of ownership.

“I mean, our concern is we want to stay here,” he said. “We don't want to go anywhere. Everybody is too old to go anywhere.”

Since the meeting, the committee has gotten some good news: The state is considering a complaint that residents filed over what they see as an inflated listing price, which stops the 120-day countdown clock and gives residents more time to raise funds.