Preview:
now removal contracts. Broken sewer pipes. Insurance payments.
Owning a mobile home park is no easy business. The two dozen people packed into a small meeting room in Glenwood Springs, Colo. at least once per month are finding out just how difficult it will be as they train to become owners of the 3-Mile Mobile Home Park south of town.
Some of these owners-to-be have rented spaces in 3-Mile for nearly four decades. Their mobile homes are situated on 20 cottonwood-shaded lots snugged up against steep hillsides at the end of a precipitous one-lane drive. Over the years, the 90 or so residents have added extra rooms and covered porches....
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I’m not sure how their new “destiny” is any different under a corporate owner or their own. Will it actually lower the monthly lot rent? No. These programs sound exciting to residents on the front end, but the reality is that running parks is hard and they will not enjoy evicting neighbors for non-payment and enforcing rules, nor will they like worrying about maintaining infrastructure and budgeting for capital repairs. It would be interesting if someone went to those tenant groups that have purchased their parks – five years or so later – and conducted interviews to see if the reality lived up the hype. My bet is the answer is “no”.