Del Prado Co

Fearing a new owner would raise rents in Shorecliffs Mobile Home Park, residents have asked the city for help in obtaining $1.4 million in state aid to purchase the park. "We're doing this for security, to try to stabilize our future," said Hilda Larson, a retired college administrator who serves on the board of the Shorecliffs Mobile Home Park Residents Assn. Most of the 281 residents, who are required to be at least 55 years old to live there, agreed to buy the park for $12.

Fearing a new owner would raise rents in Shorecliffs Mobile Home Park, residents have asked the city for help in obtaining $1.4 million in state aid to purchase the park. "We're doing this for security, to try to stabilize our future," said Hilda Larson, a retired college administrator who serves on the board of the Shorecliffs Mobile Home Park Residents Assn. Most of the 281 residents, who are required to be at least 55 years old to live there, agreed to buy the park for $12.

After six years of work, a group of senior citizens seeking security from rising rents have closed a deal to buy the 191-space Shorecliffs Mobile Country Club. The residents, a majority of whom are on fixed incomes, were aided by two state low-income homeownership loan programs worth about $1.2 million and a San Clemente Redevelopment Agency loan program worth $367,800 to help buy the space under their mobile homes. Before buying the ocean-view park from the Del Prado Co.

In 1990, Geri and Cary Marshall made a lifestyle decision. Cary Marshall, now 69, was a practicing accountant then. Like many seniors, the Marshalls didn't want to tie up all their money in a house. After researching the economic merits of different housing options, Marshall decided that for him and his wife a mobile home provided a high-quality lifestyle for a low price.