Homeowners in Edgewood Mobile Home Park in Newport purchased their 11-unit park on July 24, making it New Hampshire’s 126th resident-owned manufactured-home community.
Using training and technical assistance from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s ROC-NH™ program, residents organized and formed Edgewood Park Cooperative last January in order to convert their privately owned manufactured-home park into a resident-owned community (ROC).
Front row, Edgewood Park Cooperative President A.J. Perras and Vice President Joyce LaPorte. Behind them, l to r, are ROC-NH Housing Cooperative Specialists Tyler Labrie and Chris Monroe. |
The cooperative then negotiated with the park’s owners, Ronald and Carol Malone, and reached a purchase price of $215,000 before finalizing the deal July 24 with a mortgage from the Community Loan Fund.
The eight ROCs in Sullivan County contain 324 permanent affordable homes. Cooperative ownership of the land under their houses gives these homeowners control of their housing costs, now and in the future.
“I love living at Edgewood Park,” said co-op vice president Joyce LaPorte at the closing. “And with the Community Loan Fund walking us through the process of becoming resident owned, we'll make it even better.”
“Ours at last!” said co-op president Armand (A.J.) Perras Jr. “Thanks to ROC-NH, we now have control over what goes on in the park.”
Cooperative ownership means Edgewood homeowners are eligible for products and services, including real mortgages, that haven’t been available to them. Studies also show that the availability of home financing, when the land is secure, improves the home’s value, the owner’s ability to make improvements, and overall housing affordability.
The more-than-7,200 homeowners in New Hampshire’s ROCs, spread across every county, also have access to management guidance, technical assistance, and leadership trainings in which they earn college credit.
For 35 years, the Community Loan Fund has worked throughout N.H. to connect people and families with the loans, training, and advice that allow them to have affordable homes, secure jobs and quality child care, and become economically stable.
See a list of resident-owned communities in New Hampshire.
