Managing Mobile Home Deals Remotely

[Phil Petite]

I invest in SFHs and manage my deals remotely (I work from NYC, but buy/sell foreclosures in Atlanta), and I was wondering if the same can be done with Mobile Homes?

Is it more common to go and physically see/examine mobile homes?

Any feedback would be great!

[Bill Gulley]

Hi, good answer Marc! Over my many years in real estate I have have owned 2 MHs, neither by choice! Both were given as additional collateral. One was not bad, the other, well that's a story, but I got out of those at least without losing money! I would never get into a MH that was sitting in a pasture or one in a park where rent was due.

Now, an entire MH park is a different story, that is a headache and it can be profitable, that you could run from afar. A site manager that you trusted could take care of that.

MHs are not homes in my book, they are cans on wheels that people live in. I had the opportunity at Ft. Rucker, Al., in the summer by the way, of staying in a MH during some training there. That was years ago. Now, some are very nice, but it's still a can on wheels. Maintenance is not the same for a MH as it is for a stick built home. 1/4 inch PVC water lines that will freeze, plastic bathtubs crack, electrical lines run through the walls without staples, well, there is nothing to staple them to! Flooring runs under interior walls, try to replace that! I had a hotwater unit that was worse than the one in the RV, and that's bad!

If a MH has been gutted and rebuilt, with real appliances, tubs, faucets and sheetrock on the ceiling, you'll probably have less problems, at least that's what a guy told me that owned a fairly large park. Due to his rehabs, he made a good business out of it.

It's your money, instead of buying a MH, I'd use that money for the closing costs on a real house. Good Luck, Bill