At a current rate of 8.75%,Eades admits that NHCLF's loans are not cheap.

"It's better than 14% or nothing," she says, "and it costs us to do this. We're a lender and an organizer. Most lenders don't want to organize, and most organizers don't know anything about lending. The fact that we're a lender helps pay for the organizing."

Three months ago, NHCLF began offering mortgages in New Hampshire to manufactured homeowners who also own their own land. This should make it easier for people to choose manufactured homes as a housing option, which may be necessary considering there’s an average wait for subsidized housing of one to three years.

"If you clicked your fingers and imagined that manufactured housing would disappear," McCarthy asks, "where would all these people live?"


Ellie Winninghoff is a writer and consultant specializing in impact investing. More of her writing is linked at her blog, www.DoGoodCapitalist.com, and she can be reached at: ellie.winninghoff (at) gmail (dot) com.