Common Capital Repair Expenses For Older MHP

[Chester Transo]

As a long time lurker, but first time poster, I have to tell you all that I am really impressed with the quality of the posts and all the awesome cooperation shown in this forum.

In an older post Jim Johnson said "In older parks, like the ones built in the 50s, 60s and 70s you can expect many more issues because of the materials used to build the parks. Sewer, water, electric and gas lines were held to a entirely different standard then. So do your due diligence well, understand the common problems and have a short list of contractors and fixes for the most common problems. Older parks are a far more complicated dance..." (http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/30/topics/41955-water-and-sewer-under-pads-)

So that raises some questions:

1. What would be some of the common problems and capital expenses that would need to be budgeted for with an older park, assuming that it is on city water/sewer?

2. What would be a good short list of fixes for the most common problems?

3. How often could we expect to see these expenses over the long term?

4. What are some of the most common areas where sellers try to hide deferred maintenance?

5. What signs can we look for that would indicate that a park has a lot of deferred maintenance?

[Jim Johnson]

Hey- I know who said that stuff! Good guy, and handsome... jk

first let me clarify... city water and sewer is saying your water lines and your sewer lins are being fed raw water from the city, and your waste heads out of your park into the city's sewer system. That said- you own the lines in the park.

1. What would be some of the common problems and capital expenses that would need to be budgeted for with an older park, assuming that it is on city water/sewer?

So here you need to know what your materials are. Older parks use galvanized water lines. It is not a matter of if they will fail- it is when will they fail. They get weak and twist off at the shutoffs, normally under a home, on Christmas eve. Sewer lines are tile which have bad, bad root problems, or Orangeburg. That is like roofing felt that was rolled into pipes. The Orangeburg becomes oblong - like a cross section of a football as it ages. It is very tricky to replace a section, and pulling new lines in can be costly. Streets need to be repaired as trash trucks are much larger now than when the roads were built.  

2. What would be a good short list of fixes for the most common problems?

The answer to this depends on what your infrastructure is. You need to look at what you have, and figure out what might go wrong. Then you best know where to get materials, and some stuff you better have on site just in case. Water meters, water risers, soil cutters, clay tile, sewer clean outs... all the tools you need to fix these issues- like pipe threaders, shovels etc... 

3. How often could we expect to see these expenses over the long term?

This depends on other factors. Soil conditions, weather conditions, trees, are the utilities marked, vacant lots, materials etc... Sometimes you have to clean a sewer line twice in a few weeks, and we just replace the line and bam- no more issues. Many times your better off replacing over repairing- that statement right there is a gold nugget. Write it on a sticky note and filter everything through it. It might cost a bit more up front- maybe... and save thousands down the road. 

4. What are some of the most common areas where sellers try to hide deferred maintenance?

They do not hide it- they just do not do it. Are they repair or replace people. Do lots not have homes because something is shot? Look down in the sewer lines to see if water is flowing, fill the lines to see if it flows. Turn on all the water lines to make sure you ahve clean water flowing. Look at trees, roads, patching, fresh dug soil, electric line sizing. If you can walk a park in the fall, or winter look for green grass where everything should be dead. Back to trees- these can cost tens of thousands to trim or remove- so know your trees and what it takes to care for them, above ground and under ground. 

5. What signs can we look for that would indicate that a park has a lot of deferred maintenance?

read #4 again- check everything that turns, runs water, drains waste, grows etc... you get a feel pretty quick if things are overgrown. 

The best thing you can do if you do not really know what your looking for is hire someone to meet you on site and do your due diligence walk with you. I could post everything I can think of to look for, but I can not tell you how to look for it- or if you combine a few things together how things might be really, really bad. It is like telling a mechanic your car is not running and asking them what might be wrong. The real trick is when you see a sweet deal, and you can see through the dollar signs to the disaster that sits just on the other side. There is a country song... you gotta know when to hole um... know when to fold um... know when to walk away and know when to run... 

great questions-