Post by Poor Richard on Sept 5, 2022 11:42:08 GMT -7
Golden Age Village is Sold - Implications for Glastonbury
Golden Age Village (GAV), the mobile home park located off Sirius Drive in North Glastonbury, was recently sold. The Livingston Enterprise quoted local sources stating that the price was 1.5 million dollars. It was owned by Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) and falls under the jurisdiction of the Glastonbury Landowner's Association (GLA). GAV was originally named after the Golden Age of Aquarius which CUT was to usher in. It was to be the beginning of a new age for the earth and those that survived the apocalypse. Armageddon did not happen, the septic tanks developed problems, and the water supply system was aging quickly. Some repairs were made but CUT gradually decided that selling the park would be the best option.
Golden Age Village has 49 lots, a community septic system, and water works. CUT owned the land and rented lots for about $200.00 a month. Many of the residents were original settlers of Glastonbury and faithful to CUT. Rents were kept artificially low. The national average for mobile home lot rental was $583.00 in 2021. CUT also had to pay 49 assessments to the GLA which cost a little over $10,000.00 a year. When maintenance, taxes, and other costs were added in, little if any profit apparently was left for CUT.
But who would want to buy a trailer park where rents were artificially low and the infrastructure was old and in need of serious upgrades? CUT looked for several years but nobody wanted GAV. Then they discovered ROC USA. ROC USA altruistically helps residents buy their mobile home parks or "communities" as they prefer to call them. They offer financing and legal assistance to complete the deal. Early in 2022 ROC USA and CUT negotiated a deal. CUT did a boundary adjustment on their parcel containing GAV. Then they sold the land and business to a non-profit corporation called GAV INC which ROC USA helped set up and finance in February of 2022. CUT never spoke with the GLA Board or cooperated in any way with the sale of GAV until after the deal was done. The GLA was denied input and only learned of the deal when CUT recently mailed a copy of the land sale as required by the Covenants.
Golden Age Village has 49 lots, a community septic system, and water works. CUT owned the land and rented lots for about $200.00 a month. Many of the residents were original settlers of Glastonbury and faithful to CUT. Rents were kept artificially low. The national average for mobile home lot rental was $583.00 in 2021. CUT also had to pay 49 assessments to the GLA which cost a little over $10,000.00 a year. When maintenance, taxes, and other costs were added in, little if any profit apparently was left for CUT.
But who would want to buy a trailer park where rents were artificially low and the infrastructure was old and in need of serious upgrades? CUT looked for several years but nobody wanted GAV. Then they discovered ROC USA. ROC USA altruistically helps residents buy their mobile home parks or "communities" as they prefer to call them. They offer financing and legal assistance to complete the deal. Early in 2022 ROC USA and CUT negotiated a deal. CUT did a boundary adjustment on their parcel containing GAV. Then they sold the land and business to a non-profit corporation called GAV INC which ROC USA helped set up and finance in February of 2022. CUT never spoke with the GLA Board or cooperated in any way with the sale of GAV until after the deal was done. The GLA was denied input and only learned of the deal when CUT recently mailed a copy of the land sale as required by the Covenants.
For many years CUT refused to provide legal easements to the GLA for Sirius Drive that feeds into GAV. Yet the GLA continued to grade and provide gravel for the CUT privately owned road. Will that service continue?
Golden Age Village is now owned by GAV Inc and is required to operate much like a Homeowners Association (HOA). They will have an elected board of directors, governing documents, and lots of rules that all residents must abide by. Rents will go into the GAV treasury and be used to pay operating expenses like the mortgage that ROC USA helped to provide, GLA assessments, legal fees, septic repairs, water, and more. Rents will quickly escalate and may even exceed the national average of $583.00 a month. If GAV defaults on the mortgage ROC USA can foreclose.
All of the homes in GAV came in on wheels. Some are travel trailers while others are manufactured houses. It is possible to move a manufactured home but it can cost up to $10,000.00 to do so. Thus most of the residents in mobile home parks are held hostage to ever-increasing rents. GAV residents can leave but taking their house with them may not be financially possible. If they leave without their home, the house becomes abandoned property and in time can be legally seized by GAV Inc. The corporation would become the new owner and could tear it down or fix it up and rent it.
Ultimately economics rules in the marketplace. ROC USA talks endlessly about providing low-income housing via its model of benevolent corporate ownership. But land is a commodity and no more are being made. GAV offers stunning mountain views and is just 30 miles from Yellowstone National Park. The demand for land in Paradise Valley is at an all-time high. Yellowstone's Edge RV park is a few miles up Route 89 and has similar acreage as GAV. They have 85 trailer sites and charge $1,500.00 per month for a trailer parking spot. Single nights are more expensive at $83.00. Those prices are supported by the market and the park is thriving even though it is only open for warm weather months. Eventually, the best economic use of GAV may be to fill it with vacation rentals and camp trailer sites. Only government subsidies or laws can alter the force of economics. ROC USA openly advocates for both while building a nationwide corporate portfolio of mobile home park mortgages.
CUT had plans to build a GAV II on their land in North Glastonbury which is outside of GLA jurisdiction. They have experience with the tourist industry and vacation rentals via their hot springs complex in Corwin Springs. CUT owns 176 acres in the center of North Glastonbury. Eventually, they will develop or sell that property. Any new landowners would have to use at least a small 1/4 mile section of GLA-owned road from Murphy Lane to the corner of Sirius paved for access. That should provide some leverage for the GLA to collect fees or assessments.
All of the homes in GAV came in on wheels. Some are travel trailers while others are manufactured houses. It is possible to move a manufactured home but it can cost up to $10,000.00 to do so. Thus most of the residents in mobile home parks are held hostage to ever-increasing rents. GAV residents can leave but taking their house with them may not be financially possible. If they leave without their home, the house becomes abandoned property and in time can be legally seized by GAV Inc. The corporation would become the new owner and could tear it down or fix it up and rent it.
Ultimately economics rules in the marketplace. ROC USA talks endlessly about providing low-income housing via its model of benevolent corporate ownership. But land is a commodity and no more are being made. GAV offers stunning mountain views and is just 30 miles from Yellowstone National Park. The demand for land in Paradise Valley is at an all-time high. Yellowstone's Edge RV park is a few miles up Route 89 and has similar acreage as GAV. They have 85 trailer sites and charge $1,500.00 per month for a trailer parking spot. Single nights are more expensive at $83.00. Those prices are supported by the market and the park is thriving even though it is only open for warm weather months. Eventually, the best economic use of GAV may be to fill it with vacation rentals and camp trailer sites. Only government subsidies or laws can alter the force of economics. ROC USA openly advocates for both while building a nationwide corporate portfolio of mobile home park mortgages.
CUT had plans to build a GAV II on their land in North Glastonbury which is outside of GLA jurisdiction. They have experience with the tourist industry and vacation rentals via their hot springs complex in Corwin Springs. CUT owns 176 acres in the center of North Glastonbury. Eventually, they will develop or sell that property. Any new landowners would have to use at least a small 1/4 mile section of GLA-owned road from Murphy Lane to the corner of Sirius paved for access. That should provide some leverage for the GLA to collect fees or assessments.
GAV may soon tire of paying $10,000.00 in yearly assessments to the GLA. It would not be hard to argue that the money would be put to better use fixing their septic system or roads. Other Glastonbury landowners may be charged more if a CUT sympathetic GLA board votes to remove GAV from the GLA. A CUT-owned parcel was removed from South Glastonbury around 1999 and thus was no longer required to pay assessments.
As CUT profitably disengages from the Glastonbury community it created, many problems will surface. A permanent low-income mobile home park could depreciate adjoining property values. If GAV were removed from the jurisdiction of Glastonbury other landowners may see their assessments rise while their roads are used for free by non-landowners. Vacation rentals are thriving in Glastonbury and may become an ever larger segment of our community. What happens to the CUT-owned 176 acres in the center of North Glastonbury is the biggest question of all. It may become the next KOA in Paradise Valley.