Starting a Mobile Home Park

[Taneika Melton]

My dad, who is deceased, left me some property in Hale County,Al area. It's 7.5 acers. I was looking into starting a Mobile Home park on the property and wanted some ideas on getting it started and if it was a good idea during this time. I have no clue on how to get this up and running. This was the only thing I could think of to invest into it. I was thinking about doing this to help with those thats located in Margeno county and surrounding areas. Most of these people aren't able to afford an actual home but are looking more into buying Mobile homes but dont have the ability to purchase land or have trouble finding land to place their homes. 

[Brenden Mitchum]

Hi @Taneika Melton, welcome to the BP community!

It sounds like you've started the first step, which is to analyze your market and make sure there is a demand for MH living. Call other parks in the area and see what their occupancy is, but also be sure to drive out to those parks so you don't get discouraged when a dumpy park tells you they have 50% vacancy. 

The next step would be to determine if the county will allow you to even build the park. If it's not already zoned MHP (or whatever designation your county uses for parks), you'll have to get it rezoned. In most counties in the U.S. your deal will die right here so this is an important step to take before you waste anymore of your time. 

If you get county approval, you'll want to really dive into the numbers. I recall the price being about $30k/lot to build the infrastructure but cannot remember if this includes paved roads. So you will definitely want to connect with someone who has either developed or done a major turnaround park in your state. Once you have the build costs you can figure out market lot rent and also how much it'll cost to bring in homes. 

I'm sure you are quickly realizing that this will be an incredibly capital-intensive project. Start thinking about where you'll get this. 

Hopefully this helps your get started. Please, feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat!