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BANGOR, Maine — Residents of Cedar Falls Mobile Home Park in Bangor Monday celebrated successfully buying the land their homes sit on and revealed plans to develop more housing at the park.
The Cedar Falls Resident Cooperative bought the park for $8 million to prevent a corporate sale that could have led to steep rent increases.
They were able to buy the property with grants and loans from the state, the City of Bangor, and local lenders and help from the Cooperative Development Institute.
Ronnie Pinkham, president of the Cedar Falls Resident Cooperative, said the process brought residents closer together.
"We did it, and today...
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The Cedar Falls Resident Cooperative bought the park for $8 million to prevent a corporate sale that could have led to steep rent increases.
With the sale finalized, residents will see a $100 monthly rent increase, but they believe ownership will help keep costs stable in the long run.
"It's such a relief," she said. "I don’t have to worry about losing my home."
So let me get this straight: the residents deliberately bought the park and increased their rent immediately by $100 per month to fend off a professional investor from buying it and maybe raising the rent $50 or so. This is literally a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face. If the park had sold to a professional buyer, the residents would have received a smaller rent increase, capital poured into fixing aging infrastructure, and professional management with proper collections and rules enforcement. But instead the residents now have no money to make repairs, rent that is higher than what a professional owner would have charged, and a management that will never collect or enforce rules correctly.
And the residents are celebrating what exactly? That they blew it?