Photo: Hannah Busing | Unsplash
A group of mobile home residents in western Massachusetts, U.S., will ring in the new year with a renewed sense of place after they banded together to purchase their park before outside investors could take over. Bissellville Estates, a park in Hinsdale with 29 mobile homes, sold for $600,000. Gary Bird, a resident leader who has lived at the park for 15 years, said he and his neighbors feel a sense of relief. “So now that we’re in control of the situation, it just feels good to know that there’s none of that lingering over our heads,” Bird said. Mobile home parks have become an attractive investment for firms across the country often leaving residents facing rent increases or even eviction. But in Massachusetts, park residents are able to match any bid that comes in – the so-called right of first refusal – and that’s what happened at Bissellville Estates. According to Nora Gosselin of the Cooperative Development Institute, an organization that helped residents put together their winning offer, this is the only mobile home park that was bought by residents in 2023.
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