What makes this event so exciting is that almost half of it is held in the field – in actual mobile home parks. You will walk around everything from no-star to 5-star parks and learn how they work and learn the difference between a good deal and a bad deal.

“We really like doing this event in Dallas, as Frank and I have owned so many mobile home parks over the years here and really know this market well” said Dave Reynolds. Some of the parks that will be toured are ones they have formerly owned, as well as ones that they currently own.

For more information go to www.mobilehomeparkstore.com, or call (800) 950-1364.
Frank & Dave’s Opinion of This Story:

If you buy a mobile home park without attending this Boot Camp, you have made a serious mistake. This event will pay for itself many, many times over. We have actually had people who took the Boot Camp and turned around and dropped the deal they had under contract before they showed up, in order to pursue better deals that we showed them how to find. Others have found great deals immediately following the boot camp, using the principals we taught them.

The dog has been euthanized and is being tested for rabies.  Police said that charges against the dog’s owners will come shortly. 

Frank & Dave’s Analysis of This Story:

Do you think the lawsuit will end with just the tenant, who probably has no insurance or assets? No, the park owner is in trouble here.  We cannot emphasize enough that you cannot allow pit bulls and other dangerous breeds in your park, and certainly never in any circumstance that can allow them to roam free or attack through a fence.

If you have a small dog roaming the park, you call animal control. If you have a pit bull or similar breed roaming the park, you call 911. These animals are on par with a 5 year old roaming the park with a loaded shotgun.

Charles Podany, a resident of the mobile home park, approached a vehicle that contained Casey Landes, and asked the vehicle to slow down while driving through the park due to children at play. Landes became enraged and knocked Podany off this bike and started beating him. Podany, who has a license to carry a concealed handgun, pulled out a .40 caliber automatic and shot Landes twice, killing him. Toxicology tests showed that Landes had a .28 blood alcohol reading, while a reading of 08 is considered intoxicated

A judge ruled that the shooting was justifiable self-defense. The lawsuit has left almost everyone involved baffled.

Frank & Dave’s analysis of this story:

Mobile home park tenants never fail to amaze us. But what’s even more amazing is a legal system that allows this kind of blatantly frivolous suit to be filed without being immediately struck down by a judge. The park will have to spend thousands in legal fees to defend against a suit so pathetic that not one person interviewed for the article could even come up with a rational argument that could be used in court.

The moral is to carry plenty of insurance on your park, plus have solid asset formation strategies for liability protection. And it wouldn’t hurt to mention lawsuit reform if you are ever asked at a town forum as to what’s wrong with America.

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 30^th to May 2^nd.

If you have been waiting until the Boot Camp got closer to home to save on travel cost, here’s your opportunity.

We’ve also made the Boot Camp more affordable than ever. We’ve changed some things around, and got the price down to $1997 for one person. And you can put that on a 0% payment plan spread over five months.

The Boot Camp is the best learning experience we have at the site, and attendees have the highest historical track-record of successfully buying mobile home parks.

My friend introduced me to the idea of Mobile Home Parks about 13 months ago. I read every book on the subject and every internet site I could find. Nothing compares to the information I got from Dave and Franks courses. I read every book they have and listened to every audio program. I attended the bootcamp in July 09. Now just 8 months after I attended Dave and Franks bootcamp I closed on my first park. Using the information I received I bought a fantastic park with great cash flow and tremendous upside.  

The day AFTER we closed a tenant had a sewer issue. I got a few bids to get it fixed. From $4500 to $6500. I was thinking this was a crappy first day. BUT I remembered a few things I learned from the bootcamp. One was not to panic when this kind of stuff happens. So I thought about it overnight and by the morning had another plan. We rerouted a line and just bypassed that old pipe. Total cost. Less than $450

So my bootcamp price and all my books paid off on the first day. I can’t imagine doing this without Dave and Franks info. They arm you with the knowledge you need to go in confident that you will succeed.  Every dime I spent I saved my FIRST day owning the park. I’m confident that the other skills I learned will save me many headaches and thousands of dollars and literally increase the value of the park.

T Conlin

If you are serious about buying a mobile home park, then you do not want to miss this event.

Seats are limited, so don’t procrastinate to avoid disappointment. We may not be back to Dallas for a while (it’s been almost two years since we did the last event in Dallas).

You can sign up on line at www.mobilehomeparkstore.com or call (800) 950-1364. ]]> http://www.mhweekly.com/the-mobilehomepark-investors-boot-camp-is-coming-to-dallas/feed/ 0 http://www.mhweekly.com/dont-hold-park-residents-to-a-higher-standard-than-their-subdivision-neighbors/ http://www.mhweekly.com/dont-hold-park-residents-to-a-higher-standard-than-their-subdivision-neighbors/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:44:48 +0000 Dave Reynolds http://www.mhweekly.com/?p=37 IT’S NOT GOOD FOR YOU OR THEM!

Written by Frank Rolfe and Dave Reynolds, MobileHomeParkStore.com, LLC

Most every mobile home park owner in the U.S. has a list of rules attached to their lease which is longer than the lease itself. While it’s always a good idea to cover your bases and address every possible behavior concern, it’s another to expect people to follow more rules than the local prison.

More importantly, what’s in it for the park owner?

It’s my theory that you should not expect to hold mobile home park residents to a higher standard than those of the folks who live in brick houses in the nearest subdivision. It would make sense that someone who lives in a mobile home is less likely to obey the rules than these stick built home occupants, so why are their park rules ten times longer?

Take a drive around the subdivisions nearest your park. What do you see? I’m betting you see the same things you do in your park. High grass, junk in the yards, non running vehicles and the like. They are just better at hiding it because you can’t see into their back yards as easily, and the non running vehicle is up on blocks behind the house. Still, the general quality of violation looks a lot like your park.

My point is that humans, regardless of demographics, violate certain rules as a regular part of their existence. It may not be aesthetic, or morally right, but trying to fight it is like trying to stop the Mississippi River, basically impossible.

Does that mean that you should reduce the number of rules attached to your lease? No, you want to have every contingency covered. However, you may want to think again about what you enforce, and how hard you enforce it. For guidance on this concept, let’s look at a typical city government and what it asks of its residents and how they force compliance.

ïHigh grass: In most cities, having grass over a certain height, normally 8″ is a violation of code. As a result, violators will generally get a warning and a deadline to comply and, if not completed, will get a fine and/or someone from the city will mow it and bill you for it. They don’t threaten to evict you, and they don’t set the rule at some ridiculously low level like 4″.

ïNon running vehicles: If you don’t get rid of them, after receiving a warning, you will get a significant fine. If you don’t pay the fine, you will get arrested. Perhaps we can substitute “arrested” for “evicted” in the park rules theology.

ïJunk in yards: Again, if you don’t clean out your yard, they will fine you and force you to pay. However, you have to have a lot of junk to trigger a code officer writing you up.

ïAesthetic issues: Painting your house for example. This is hardly even covered in most city ordinances, because they only deal with the absolute worst, most community damaging offenders. They don’t get involved in the small stuff, and maybe you shouldn’t either.

ïJust about everything else: Loose dogs, loud music, etc. This is a police matter. It should be for your tenants too. You should not get involved in being the enforcer. That is what police are for.

I think that this is really about all you need to follow on rules enforcement. Some owners have built a career on rules. They spend every waking hour harassing tenants and sending threatening letters, but does it make them any money?

Some might argue that it does in the form of making the park more desirable looking for new tenants, or park buyers or lenders. I would agree, but you can always “doll up” the park right before putting it on the market or refinancing it. As for new tenants coming in, let’s get serious, how many new homes are being sold and moved into parks in your area? That’s what I thought.

As for resident retention, you are just as likely or more so to scare off existing tenants with a lot of rules and tough enforcement. If they wanted a beautiful, problem free environment, they shouldn’t have moved into a mobile home park in the first place. Further, I have found such demanding tenants never stick anyway, since they are always unhappy and end up moving out no matter what you do.

In conclusion, try taking a more mellow, practical view to rules and their enforcement. Your life will improve, and so will your tenants. You can devote those “rule enforcer” hours to more productive uses, like making money.