Innovative CDFI Helps a Couple Stay Rooted
Client: Larry and Brenda Woods
Client Location: Swanzey, NH
CDFI: New Hampshire Community Loan Fund
CDFI Service Area: New Hampshire
Financing
Larry and Brenda Woods knew it was time to replace their aging mobile home when part of its kitchen ceiling collapsed.
The couple had lived in the same unit in Pine Grove Mobile Home Park in south-central New Hampshire since 1971, and they wanted to stay in the resident-owned community. Their bank wouldn’t finance a new unit in Pine Grove, however, so the Woods prepared for the difficult possibility of saying goodbye to their longtime friends and neighbors.
The good news: They stayed, thanks to a new home loan from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, which since 1984 has specialized in maintaining resident ownership in what are today often called “manufactured-housing” communities rather than mobile-home parks. The Woods are one of nearly 700 families who have benefitted from the program, which The Community Loan Fund describes bluntly as “real mortgages for people who want an affordable home.” It aims for an underserved market of buyers―like the Woods―who seek fixed-rate, long-term notes.
“Community Loan Fund has made our dreams come true in more ways than one, we own a gorgeous new home and our electricity and heat costs are much lower.” – Brenda Woods