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Park residents get jump on developer

They have until Nov. 15 to raise $60-million to buy a Largo mobile home park. For now, no other offers will be accepted.

By SHANNON TAN
Published October 4, 2005

[Times photos: Kathleen Flynn]

Dennis Marten puts a for sale sign Monday up in front of his doublewide home at Ranchero Village mobile home park in Largo. Park residents are trying to raise $60-million to buy the land under their homes, but Marten says that would be too expensive for him. Rent at the park average $425 a month. Marten, 65, said his girlfriend wanted one thing before moving into a mobile home: She wanted it to look like a cottage. So he put up a white fence and they both put a lot of work into the home.

	Mary Donovan, left, and Carol Strobeck relax in the pool at Ranchero Village in Largo last week. "I've only been here five weeks, so this is a shock to me," said Donovan, who moved to the Ulmerton Road park from Boston to avoid another blustery winter.

LARGO - A Palm Beach County real estate company tried last week to make an offer on Ranchero Village mobile home park.

But another group was already at the front of the line: the park residents.

It's a twist on the familiar tale of developers gobbling up mobile home parks to build townhomes and condominiums. This time, the park owners are giving residents first dibs on raising the $60-million needed to buy the land under their 946 homes. Other buyers are being rebuffed, for now.

"They refused to hear our offer," said Bill Mead, an associate at The Pier Group in Lake Worth. "They said it was a done deal, no need to bother."

Ranchero Village is just the latest park in the Tampa Bay area where residents have banded together to control their destiny. In Tarpon Springs, homeowners at the Chesapeake Pointe park this year bought their park for $4.15-million. Residents of Stella Del Mar in Largo will close on the purchase of their park for $26-million this week.

Two years ago, Ranchero Village residents began preparing for the sale of the park at 7100 Ulmerton Road. The homeowners association board put together an acquisition committee, met with attorneys and banks and tried to make an offer. But the 126.2-acre park wasn't for sale.

Not until two weeks ago.

"They've been trying for years and years to be the owners," said Herbert Kendall, one of the park owners who lives in California. "We're finally ceding to it because they've been so patient."

Residents have until Nov. 15 to decide if they can buy the park for $60-million.

If they don't pull through, the park will be sold to someone else.

"Will they be bad owners? Will they simply flip this property over to developers?" attorney David Bernstein warned residents at a meeting Saturday. "One hundred and twenty-seven acres in the center of Pinellas County is worth a fortune."

Some residents expressed sticker shock at the price. Others aren't taking any chances.

More than 50 people have already written $1,000 checks to secure their share of the park.

"I'm 70 years old. I'm not looking at whether it's a good investment or a bad investment," said Keith Dooley, past president of the homeowners association. "It's security for me over the next 10 to 20 years. I want to have more control over my life."

At least 360 of the homeowners need to come up with $52,000 for each lakefront lot or $49,000 each for the remaining lots.

The $17-million would cover the down payment and closing costs. Homeowners would get a $45-million bank loan to close the sale and form a cooperative, with each homeowner getting a share.

Each owner would pay $250 monthly to satisfy the park's mortgage and cover a maintenance fee. Those not buying into the cooperative can continue to rent their lots, but will pay more.

Ranchero Village is one of the nicest parks in the county. Lakes and gazebos dot the 55-plus community, which features three clubhouses, three pools, four tennis courts, a billiards room, shuffleboard courts, a sauna and whirlpool.

Residents mingle over Saturday morning coffee hour or activities like bowling and bingo.

If your newspaper sits in the driveway for too long, someone will knock on your door to make sure you're okay.

Neighbors become your family, because your family is elsewhere.

Some residents moved in more than 30 years ago when the park opened.

There's retired doctors, lawyers, even a former Radio City Rockette.

Others live off Social Security and can barely afford the average lot rent of $410 a month.

"You work hard all your life to have a down payment on a decent, respectable home, and a mobile home is all you can afford," said Bette Playter, 79.

Playter took out a mortgage on her $25,500 doublewide a decade ago. She still has four years of payments to make. Now she faces taking out a $49,000 loan.

"That's like buying the same property twice," says Playter, who lives off Social Security and a small pension.

Some have decided not to buy.

Dennis Marten put up a "For Sale" sign outside his doublewide Monday.

His girlfriend, who lives with him, found out that her cancer has returned, he said. He got a notice that his lot rent was going up $100 in January. He just put in a new carpet for $2,400.

Marten is still paying off the mortgage he took out two years ago to buy his home for $19,000.

If he buys the land under his home, he'll have to pay $651 a month on the loan, which includes the $250 fee for the park's mortgage payment and operating costs.

"I'm 65 years old," said the security officer. "What do I need another mortgage for?"

If residents don't buy the park, they can sell their homes or try moving them. Many would be forced to abandon mobile homes too old or too costly to move.

Nelson Guenther, 71, paid $13,500 for his 1973 doublewide two years ago. He remodeled his home and wouldn't take less than $35,000 for it today.

A state fund will pay him $6,000 if he moves his home. He gets $2,750 if he walks away.

"You have no protection unless you own this land," said Guenther, vice president of the homeowners association.

A growing number of parks are converting to co-ops.

There are 623 resident-owned parks statewide, including 85 in Pinellas, according to Don Hazelton, president of the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida. Because residents own the land, they are assured it will stay a mobile home park unless they decide otherwise.

Hazelton, who currently lives in a rental park, hopes to move into Ranchero Village after the residents buy it.

"It's a high price to pay," he said, "but it's a great deal."

--Shannon Tan can be reached at shtan@sptimes.com or 727 445-4174.

[Last modified October 4, 2005, 07:03:57]