55+ mafia or dentist nightmare, take your pick

[Mark Higgins]

I am a newbie mobile home investor.  i have been building my buyer list and working on calls to sellers about units for sale and practicing my questions to sellers.  Here in Clearwater St Pete area there are many 55+ communities that i am trying to avoid due to a limited demographic to sell to.  The all ages park in the area are not what i would want my family to live in, i am working on finding quality in those parks but having little to no luck.  

So last night found a great looking home, floors redone, roof, central air, park owned listed $3000.  Being cautions i called the park and spoke with the manager regarding the park and me not living in the property.  No problem, just fill out application and credit check.

arrived to the park today for an application and to put a face to the name. i got there around lunch and spoke with the manager who listed the property.  Asked a list of questions and also explained how i would be purchasing the MH not to live in but use as an investment to receive payments from a "park qualified" tenant.  

Next thing i know a guy from the back comes storming out and says "listen, we dont do any rent to own tenant investor things.  Its bad news.  we have had them in the past and we get shafted every time, so get out of here!" said grumpy owner to me as if i was pan handling in a department store.

I know that all parks are not like this one but the rejection defiantly put me in a funk.  i am terrible when it comes to sales and i get real down on myself with rejection.  The perception in the area is that the nice newer homes in this area are in established 55+ parks and the owners and managers are not interested in talking with a 30 year old.  its a 55+ mafia that you have to know someone to talk to someone from what i feel.   That once you are fine with driving by all the no trespassing signs you will be prosecuted and no soliciting signs that are so abundantly posted im sure Helen Keller could even see.

 however the all ages parks that i have visited seem to be open to selling trailers as long as you dont mind talking to home owners with missing teeth from possible past drug use and that you make sure your car is locked before you go inside.  I have been finding extreme sides of the scale of super nice worth investing parks that are way out of price range to the all ages with riffraff.   i work in st pete, and live in clearwater.  I am limited on driving distance due to family obligations and i typically drive for dollars during my lunch hour and that's about it.  im working the IFTT alerts which are great but still see the extreme sides of the spectrum of homes, and everything is a 55+ too.

so here is my question,

how do i find the all ages family parks that are good quality other than driving around.  all the directory's i have seen list only 1 or 2 parks.  Other parks don't even have a website.  Are these parks worth investing in?  The homes are mostly 1960-1970 single wides and the area makes me want to lock my doors.  i feel investing in these parks will scare good tenants away, on the other hand the units are going from 1000 to 3000.   

I am going to keep at it so the encouragement is thanked in advance.  any secret sources to find quality all age parks?

mark

[Adam Johnson]

I will offer perspective from a park owner.  We specifically exclude investor-owned units in our community.  From the owner's perspective, it is or can be a nightmare if the home is not properly maintained.  Evictions for any reason are an even bigger problem.  What happens if the occupant pays the rent to the investor, but the investor doesn't pay the lot rent to us?  Who do we evict?  For what reason?  Evictions in NY and I assume in other states for mobile homes are already more complex and take much more time (6 months plus in some cases), I don't need this aggravation as an owner.  I assume the owner you ran into doesn't either.

I offer this not to be discouraging, only to offer perspective.  Knowing this may also give you a couple talking points when you speak with owners/managers in the future.  Knowing what is important to the person on the other side of the negotiating table and knowing about THEIR business will make you a better-equipped negotiator and will make for more success.

Don't give up, learn what you need to know.  Don't be afraid to ask why somebody told you no.  Turn rejection into education.

Best of luck, happy investing!