Wanting to learn more about Property Management with Mobile Homes

Mobile Home Park Investing
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Wanting to learn more about Property Management with Mobile Homes

Andrew Olsen
Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 16 posts · 16 votes

So I saw this add for Property Manager on craigslist and wanted to get some feedback on the challenges of managing a Mobile Home Park. What is the upside and downside.  If someone is good how do they structure profit sharing with owners? What is a good % of occupancy in mobile parks?

My end game is purchasing, managing, and profiting with Mobile Home Parks and thought this could be a good learning opportunity.  

Here is the add: 

MOBILE HOME PARK MANAGER


We are a well established real estate management company looking for an experienced Manager to help us upgrade, lease and fill vacant lots at the Avon Village Mobile Home Park. This property is in an excellent location across from Walmart and has great potential with the right management in place.

The successful candidate will need the following skills:

1. Property mgmt and leasing experience.
2. Apartment/mobile home upgrading and repair experience.
3. Possess an understanding of home mechanical systems.
4. Experience managing maintenance staff.
5. Experience adhering to budgets.
6. Experience preparing leases and related documents.
7. Able to work with minimal supervision.
8. Possess excellent communication skills.
9. Be very organized, detail-oriented and proactive.
10. Experience collecting delinquent accounts.
11. Experience with computers and email.
12. Professional appearance and attitude.

Responsibilities of the Position include:

1. Managing the property and onsite maintenance people.
2. Communicating and cooperating with main office administrative staff.
3. Locating occupied/unoccupied homes to move into the Park.
4. Showing homes to prospective Tenants.
5. Adhering to budgets and approving property expenses.
6. Processing prospective tenant applications.
7. Collecting rent and delinquent accounts.
8. Overseeing property, home repairs and home move-ins.
9. Handling tenant evictions and legal proceedings.
10. Preparing leases.
11. Implementing property marketing programs.

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Ken Rishel
Specialist · Springfield, IL · Member since 2011 · 700 posts · 479 votes
10y
Originally posted by @Andrew Olsen:

So I saw this add for Property Manager on craigslist and wanted to get some feedback on the challenges of managing a Mobile Home Park. What is the upside and downside.  If someone is good how do they structure profit sharing with owners? What is a good % of occupancy in mobile parks?

My end game is purchasing, managing, and profiting with Mobile Home Parks and thought this could be a good learning opportunity.  

Here is an opposing view to what some have suggested:

I got into this business by working with (not as a community manager) a community group for a year before I developed my first community.

I have a major client where the two principals (already multi millionaires) took positions for a year with a community operation as community managers. At the end of the year they started buying their own communities and are in five states now and adding an average of 6-8 communities a year. They are one of the new major players in the industry with thousands of sites.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with smartly chosen apprenticeships.

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  • Marshall M.
    Washington, DC · Member since 2015 · 81 posts · 49 votes
    10y

    You're probably overqualified for this position, given that you're asking on a site that is all about investing in real estate, however it's experience nonetheless and what better way to cut your teeth in real estate than to manage a mobile home park? As someone who underwrites a lot of these deals I can tell you that there is a ceiling in mobile home park management even if you're really good. A good question to ask is if the company/investor is acquiring more properties in the area. Also, a park manager does not make much money if they don't own the park (eg less than $40k). 

    0Reply
  • Andrew Olsen
    OP
    Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 16 posts · 16 votes
    10y

    Thanks for the info - are the kickers tied to occupancy or pure profitability? @Marshall M.

    0Reply
  • Jacqueline Gardiner
    Engineer · Genoa, NV · Member since 2016 · 88 posts · 59 votes
    10y

    I've been reading a lot about mobile home parks and have never seen mention of profit sharing with the property manager. I think they generally provide you with a place to live (a trailer or house on the site - that you may not want) plus about $10/month per unit. 

    It does seem like a great learning opportunity, but it looks like you have a full-time job, so this may not be for you.

    Nevertheless, it seems like it would be worth reaching out to these folks - perhaps taking on a piece of the job to augment what is being done by their current property manager (I'm assuming she isn't up to the full task or they wouldn't be looking to replace her).

    1Reply
  • Marshall M.
    Washington, DC · Member since 2015 · 81 posts · 49 votes
    10y

    @Andrew Olsen the manager position affects the value of the property directly, as it's an expense. The higher your salary is as a manager, the lower the property will be worth for the investor. There is little incentive to pay you a lot.

     If you want to own one of these, reach out to brokers on Loop net and ask for the OM for whatever deal they're working on. Model it out. Ask the broker questions. Tell them you're new and want to learn more about the industry. Many of these guys are good people and they'll help you learn. Also check out the articles all over the Internet by Frank Rolfe and Dave Reynolds. Great info. 

    0Reply
  • Rachel H.
    San Antonio, TX · Member since 2009 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    10y

    Most property managers are merely employees of the park. Usually, they get paid by the hour. It's a very demanding job. Property managers who get an assistant are lucky. Those who do not get burnt out and eventually quit, if overworked. I've seen it time and time again. 

    Regarding profit sharing, I've never seen this model come into play. 

    Good luck on your search! 

    0Reply
  • Neal Collins
    Developer · Portland, OR · Member since 2014 · 732 posts · 490 votes
    10y
    I didn't see any profit sharing in their ad...? If you're looking for a life experience then this would certainly fall into that category. A great description of real estate in general is a "garage sale of humanity". I almost couldn't even imagine what it'd be like to on-site manage a MHP across from a Wal-Mart. Make no mistake, this would be a crash course in management. I actually think you could make a killing just off of marketing (i.e. Storytelling) everything that you experience in that role. That may be where the silver lining is that can catapult your investing career.
    1Reply
  • Ken Rishel
    Specialist · Springfield, IL · Member since 2011 · 700 posts · 479 votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Andrew Olsen:

    So I saw this add for Property Manager on craigslist and wanted to get some feedback on the challenges of managing a Mobile Home Park. What is the upside and downside.  If someone is good how do they structure profit sharing with owners? What is a good % of occupancy in mobile parks?

    My end game is purchasing, managing, and profiting with Mobile Home Parks and thought this could be a good learning opportunity.  

    Here is an opposing view to what some have suggested:

    I got into this business by working with (not as a community manager) a community group for a year before I developed my first community.

    I have a major client where the two principals (already multi millionaires) took positions for a year with a community operation as community managers. At the end of the year they started buying their own communities and are in five states now and adding an average of 6-8 communities a year. They are one of the new major players in the industry with thousands of sites.

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with smartly chosen apprenticeships.

    2Reply
  • Andrew Olsen
    OP
    Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 16 posts · 16 votes
    10y

    @Ken Rishel thnaks for the suggestion.  Will have to look into that idea ....way out the pros and cons. 

    1Reply
  • Robert Blanchard
    Littleton, CO · Member since 2014 · 195 posts · 72 votes
    10y

    @Andrew Olsen Do you know if this is a privately owned or corporately own MHP?  If not a Corporate Park, you might be able to negotiate a bonus if you maintain a certain occupancy rate with a lower number of evictions or late pays. 

    Also find out if they allow investors to put MH into their parks?   If they have more than a few empty lots, you and a partner could move MH's into the park and sell them which should net you a tidy profit if lower cost housing is in short supply in your area.

    Please let us know if you do interview for the job.

    0Reply
  • Mark A.
    Investor · Madison, WI · Member since 2015 · 47 posts · 16 votes
    10y

    With your interest, I assume you've been listing to these podcasts already but if not you should check it out. I am not affiliated but find them very valuable. 

    - Real Estate Investing for Cash Flow (hosted by Kevin Bupp)

    - The Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast (hosted by Kevin Bupp & Charles Dehart)

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Oldsmar, FL · Member since 2014 · 140 posts · 152 votes
    10y

    Thanks for the plug Mark!

    Andrew, I would advise you to look into property management on the apartment side of multifamily.  Mobile home parks are great to own, but I personally think you'll learn more from the apartment side of the business.  For example:

     - You will be exposed to much more sophisticated marketing (We usually only do bandit signs and craigslist)

     - You'll be better trained on leasing and fair housing.  Most of the managers we've inherited didn't even know what fair housing was before we came into their lives.

     - You'll be better trained on sales.  I should say that you'll actually be trained on sales.  Most of our managers have zero sales experience or ability.  Kevin and I usually handle most of the sales ourselves and we are going to be creating a central sales position soon in our company to handle it going forward.

    A management company specializing in apartments will typically be able to train you much better and pay you a lot more than being a manager at a park.  If you are looking for an education, go to the most sophisticated management company you can go to.  Start wherever they put you and show up everyday to learn as much as you can from as many people who will teach you.  That would be how I would do it if that were my goal.  If given the option, start as a leasing agent.

    0Reply
  • Jim JohnsonPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2008 · 355 posts · 324 votes
    10y

    I will add a twist to this post... I can see a very clear path to profit sharing with the right manager. But- at this point we would call them a partner. From here we split into two differing roads- a 'Managing Partner' and a 'Partner who is the Manager'. The first is an offsite role, and that person manages the entire investment. The second would be a 'rockstar' manager, onsite. These managers are few and far between, but once you have one- man you know it. If I were purchasing a park that needed a turn around, or had a park go belly up and needed someone to jump in and be the onsite 'rockstar' I would give them a % of the LLC and not think twice about it. I try to instill on my managers they are not just employees, but they are the most important team member. In football terms, I am the coach, and they are the quarterback. I call out the strategy, they run the plays. There are several ways of structuring that partnership- and one needs to remember a true partner shares in the upside, and puts money in when capital needs to be invested. There are ways of modifying this with preferred partners or special classes of partners. Parks that are being brought back from the dead are not very profitable on the uptick, and you will probably want a way to pay back any partners that kick in more capital on the front end, so they have capital to move into other ventures. Most of the pop on these parks happens when they sell, and you will need to figure in a exit plan if a partner moves on, where their share can be purchased for a discount.

    In any event, if you come tot he game with a very strong skill set, having a share of the prize is not too much to ask. 

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