Homeowners in Mt. Washington Valley Mobile Home Village in North Conway purchased their 32-unit park June 30, making it New Hampshire’s 147th resident-owned manufactured-home community (ROC).
With training and technical assistance from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s ROC-NH™ program, residents organized and formed Mt. Washington Valley Cooperative in January after being notified that park owners Sally Brassill and Odd-Aage Bersvendsen had received an offer to sell.
The cooperative matched the offer and bought their community for $1.8 million with financing from the Community Loan Fund. The co-op will use a separate $250,000 revolving line of credit to place new homes on seven vacant lots.
Mt. Washington Valley Cooperative's location makes it a prime spot for redevelopment. Its residents, many of whom have lived in this community for decades, have seen the booming hotel and short-term rental market dominate their town and knew purchasing their park was the only way to save their homes.
 From left, Mt. Washington Valley Cooperative Treasurer Diane Wharton, Martin Wharton, Tom Nelson and Secretary Tracy Nelson |
“The Community Loan Fund is proud of the Mt. Washington Valley Mobile Home Village residents for working together and making the important decision to protect their homes and community,” said Sarah Marchant, Vice President of ROC-NH.
Mt. Washington Valley Cooperative is Carroll County’s 8th ROC. Those communities contain 680 permanently affordable homes.
Affordable homeownership is a major problem for employers and families in N.H. A recent report highlighting the state’s housing crisis found N.H. currently needs an additional 60,000 homes before 2030, and the median rental rate for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,584 per month.
By helping homeowners convert their parks to ROCs, the Community Loan Fund is preserving what has become the state’s most-affordable source of housing. And by helping ROCs place new homes on their vacant lots, it is adding to N.H.’s most-needed housing stock.
For 40 years, the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund has worked in towns and cities across 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.
The nearly 9,000 homeowners in N.H.’s ROCs have access to fair home financing, as well as management guidance and a host of online and in-person trainings.
