We just put a park under contract and in the DD stage. 48 pad senior park that was only built a few years ago. Owner died and only 7 lots have been filled. They are all late model doubles with landscaping, porches, etc. The 7 homes are very nice.
To get this park filled, we feel it is essential to convert away from Senior Community and fill the back with late model singles. It seems to keep as a Senior Community would just slow down the process of getting it filled.
Any thoughts??
Once you eliminate the seniors status and start selling homes the value of the 7 residents home will drop considerably. As a courtesy to them give them plenty of lead time to sell before their homes drop in value.
You need to be careful converting this - there are many cases where state regulations that require a majority of the tenants to “vote” for this change, which is nearly impossible to achieve in a full Park. But if occupancy is low it may not be an issue. Check with your attorney on doing this right.
If you haven’t already, check with the local governing agencies to see if it is actually a senior park. I looked at a ‘senior’ park that wasn’t actually a senior park. It was designated ‘senior’ by the guy who built it however there was no record with the county or Fair Housing that it was senior. If it isn’t, you can do whatever you want.
Second @jhutson re: contacting an attorney. Presumably if it is legal, unanimous consent from the current residents is required. If not unanimous then some big majority.
With 7 homes, you should be asking yourself – can you get unanimous consent from these stakeholders to change the legal designation of the park (if it is really legally a “senior park”?)
If not, how much will you have to pay them to get your way? The problem is, as @Greg points out, the current residents lose some equity if you let in the riff-raff. They may want compensation in exchange for agreeing. Then there is the lone-holdout problem.
Brandon@Sandell
Has anyone heard of a recent case study related to this? I’ve had a tough time getting a straight answer from state agencies in regard to the requirements to release the 55+ HOPA exemption and convert to all ages. Seems there isn’t really a set of particular federal requirements from HUD, it’s more regulated at the state level in terms of liabilities towards existing tenants.