The greatest misconception about financing Mobile Home Parks is that the lender who finances the park will also finance the homes. The fact is that nothing could further from the truth since the value of the homes are of no value to the lending institutions. The reason is that the homes depreciate in value, people tend to trash them when they leave, and even if the tongues are cut off, they can always be welded back on and the home Read more »
By popular request of our friends from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and surrounding areas, we are taking the Boot Camp on the road to Dallas on April 30th to May 2nd.
If you have been waiting until the Boot Camp got closer to home to save on travel cost, here’s your opportunity. Read more »
Tags: mobile home investment, mobile home park and US Recession, mobile home park business, mobile home park investing, Mobile Home Park Loans, mobile home park opportunity, mobile home parks marketing, mobile home parks rules, seller finance trap mobile home park
mobile home advertising, mobile home park, mobile home park business operations, mobile home park investing, mobile home park news, mobile home park ratings, mobile home park selling | Dave Reynolds | 
February 11, 2010 5:44 pm | 
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By Frank Rolfe
When I got in the mobile home park business, many of the sellers I bought from called the mobile homes “coaches” and “trailers”. Roger Miller even wrote a hit song with the lyrics “trailers for sale or rent”. But manufacturers and dealers thought the business needed an upgrade, so they changed the name to “mobile home”. Of course, the name was misleading, because mobile homes are far from mobile. Some can’t survive any movement at all, and moving one can cost $3,000 or more. And I guess they stuck the word “home” on there to make it sound reassuing or folksy (as opposed to saying “mobile unit”), or to give you greater direction on what you were supposed to do with the thing. But I embraced the new moniker, and so did everybody else. Read more »
By Frank Rolfe
Some people invest in Google. Some buy shares of Berkshire Hathaway. Other invest in Apple. But sheer investment geniuses invest in bushes. And trees. Because if you own a manufactured home community, these are, dollar for dollar, the best investments you will ever make. How good are the returns? I would estimate that one well placed $20 bush might add $1,000 of value to a manufactured home community. That’s a 500% return on investment. And that’s a lot better than any of the aforementioned stocks have produced lately. In fact, compared to the current stock market, if the bush was worth $10, it would still be better than the market has produced. And, unlike the market, at least the bush creates oxygen and has other productive uses. Read more »
Am I supposed to take the roof off and smell manufactured homes to see if they’ve spoiled like milk? Do they have an expiration date stamped on the frame? Can you fit one in a curbside polycart?
If not, then why, as a community owner, do I get asked all the time by banks, buyers, residents – even at cocktail parties – how long a manufactured home is expected to last? Is the correct answer “forever”, or are manufactured homes truly temporary and disposable? Read more »
When considering the purchase of a mobile home park as compared to an RV park there are many factors to consider. While mobile home parks and RV parks are often sold by the same brokers and are combined in one facility, they are not the same and both require different amounts and types of management. The following comparisons are for Overnight/Destination RV parks as compared to the typical mobile home park in which the lots are rented out on a monthly basis. In many cases, the seasonal or extended stay RV parks will have more of the qualities of the typical mobile home park rather than those of the Overnight/Destination type RV parks.
Length of Stay: Mobile Home owners are in the park permanently or at least until they sell their home and move somewhere else. RVer’s are in the park for usually a week or less. The longer a home or resident stays in the park, Read more »
