Kendra Payea was very excited to move into her own home at Birchwood Manor in Milton, but she was a little nervous.
“In our last place we didn't really have neighbors, so we weren't sure how the neighbors were gonna be at night. But so far, it's been very, very quiet.”
Very quiet and extremely satisfying.
After renting most of her life, even after spending time in a shelter, at 39-years old Kendra was able to actually buy this new home thanks to the Mobile Home Infill Program (MHIP).
Kendra stands in her new kitchen
“Like, I never, ever, ever thought I would ever have the opportunity of owning my own home, because I was always so pressed for money, pressed for money, pressed for money. And, this program, it opened up the biggest opportunity for me ever.”
Now Kendra, her fiancé, and their two-year old son have a brand new two-bedroom, one-bathroom home to call their own.
Since the program launched in November 2024, seven Vermont households have used MHIP to achieve their dream of homeownership. Another five are under contract and 21 more are on the market right now. An incredible feat in six short months.
MHIP does it by first identifying vacant lots in private, nonprofit, and cooperative mobile home parks. Then the team arranges for necessary site improvements, like pouring a new concrete pad. So far, MHIP has identified 102 lots in 25 communities in Bennington, Berlin, Braintree, Brattleboro, Burlington, Castleton, Colchester, Coventry, Derby, Hardwick, Lyndon, Milton, Putney, Rutland, St. Johnsbury, Springfield, Starksboro, Swanton, Vergennes, Westminster, Wilder, and Windsor.
Next, the Vermont State Housing Authority purchases a variety of energy-efficient manufactured homes (several models are available), identifies qualified buyers, and helps them through the homebuying process. In order to qualify, a buyer must be a Vermont resident and earn 140% or less of the Area Median Income in the county where they live now, not where they plan to buy a MHIP home.
Then MHIP homes are sold to buyers at-cost. There is even downpayment assistance available in some cases.
Kendra learned of MHIP last fall as she was awaiting her delayed tax refund. The program was first available to flood victims who lost their homes. Then it opened to all Vermonters in mid-November.
“It just so happened to be at the perfect time and reading it, I was just like, you know what? I'm not gonna spend any of my tax money. We're just gonna put all the tax money towards that.”
When Kendra did the math, she realized it was actually cheaper to buy a MHIP home than to continue renting her apartment using a Section 8 voucher.
The asking price on the two-bedroom, one-bath at Birchwood Manor was $89,831. After taking a homebuyer course at Chittenden Housing Trust, they gave Kendra $30,000 in downpayment assistance. That lowered the purchase price down to $59,831 and her monthly mortgage payment to $754.
Kendra's living room and kitchen
Meanwhile, Kendra and her family were renting an apartment in Essex Town that cost $1,850 per month. Even with a Section 8 voucher, they were still paying $1,574 out of pocket.
“So, it just kind of made a lot more sense. Hey, we could be saving an extra, you know, $300, $400 (per month), and it's ours,” she explains. “If something breaks, you gotta fix it yourself rather than call your landlord to fix it. But with that extra money you're saving every month, if you're putting it to the side, there's a fix and you're building equity.”
Life wasn’t as rosy when she was 21. Kendra was a new mother then, raising her first son all alone.
“Being a single mom, sometimes it's definitely very hard to, even if you work full time, it's very hard to be able to afford all the bills on your own.”
Kendra couldn’t afford an apartment for the two of them, so they temporarily lived at the COTS Family Shelter in Burlington before receiving a Section 8 voucher. She ended up using that voucher for 14 years, but now it’s been passed on to someone else.
“It feels good to know that it could possibly help another family that was in the same situation I was in,” she says. “It is a really wonderful feeling in the end.”
Kendra's son's bedroom
And now she is encouraging people who are renting to consider MHIP because being an owner might actually be cheaper than being a tenant.
“Take advantage of the program. That's all I can keep telling anybody. Try qualifying. You never know if you're gonna qualify or not. Like I said, I never thought I was gonna qualify. I didn't think I had good enough credit. So, take advantage of it. Take advantage of what they're trying to give you.”
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When this article was published on May 9, there were 21 MHIP homes for sale and more on the way. Visit this website to view current listings.