Scouting the parks in my area trip report. (long)

[Jonathan V.]

Went through some parks a couple of nights ago with my wife. Was very interesting seeing the different levels of parks in my area. First park has about 35 lots, and 7 homes for sale, all cash. But the park is owned by a broker, so he wants waaaay too much for the homes. The good thing about that park is that it's right next to the community baseball park, a lake, and a walking trail, there were probably about fifty people walking around or fishing, great area. There was a lot of deferred maintenance in the park, crappy skirting on most of the homes. Small lots, but not a bad area to live in.

We then went to a couple real clunker parks with about 20 lots, that honestly I'm not interested in, as they are out of the way and very ran down. (Some homes had burnt halfway down and were not moved)

Next, we went to a park that was awesome! Small area with a lot of homes, but all the homes were kept very well, people hanging out talking in lawn chairs. Really great area. Definitely going to visit the park manager after tax season. (Remember I'm a CPA so not much time during business hours to go visit pm's)

Pass a couple clunker parks again, then we went to dinner and came to the last park. This is one of the few parks that I had talked to before that is going to be more than happy to work with me.

The park manager hasn't called me about any homes for sale, but we spotted a for sale sign, and a few what looked to be abandoned homes, there was a mustard colored mobile home on a corner lot that looked great and was for sale. It was late and the lights were on, so we didn't want to scare anyone by getting out to see the # on the signs. I check mobile home sales everyday in our area, these are not listed anywhere!

Anyways, that last park is amazing, some of the homes and porches were stunning to say the least. About 3-400 homes in the park, so it's huge.

So the next day I call the park manager, and tell her I'm still interested in working in her park. This is about the 3rd or 4th time I've spoke with her in the last 6 months. I ask her if she has any homes for sale, and she says they have three that they've repossessed from evictions or abandonment, and are currently rehabbing. Then asks the price I'm willing to pay, I say, "It depends, but typically around 3-5k." She flat out tells me that they never have homes that are that cheap. She says that she has 2-3 brokers that work with her as well that bring in homes to put in the park, and they pay for them to move the home, or give them 6 months free lot rent. I ask her about the mustard colored house I saw, and she says, "Oh that one is for sale by owner, we don't buy from individuals if we don't have to." So, I still have an avenue to get into the park at least! I thank her and tell her I'm going to come and meet her as soon as tax season is over, she seems genuinely happy about that.

So we go back out there last night while it's still light out, find the for sale by owner sign on the mustard house, and actually find two more for sale by owner signs.

First house (mustard one), I call, owner says it's already sold.

Second house, no answer.

Third house, this one had a sign on it w/ a price saying $24,900. 4 bed/2 ba. I figured I'd no chance in hell, but might as well try. It looked empty.

Turns out it was one of the broker's homes. And he, the entire time, is pretty much trying to bluff me. After I say that I work for a small finance company, he quietly says, "Oh so your an investor too" and then immediately pretends like he didn't say that. I told him what I'm doing, trying to help people out by financing to worthy people, etc etc. Helping people sell there homes quickly etc etc. He tries to convince me it is his home, etc. I keep talking to him, picking his brain, and I already told him my price range. He says, you won't ever find a deal for that cheap unless your really lucky. I told him about me financing for people and he says that for the home I'm calling about, he would finance for 10k down, because that is what he has in the home. Now this is a 2004 16x80 4 bed, 2 ba, with, according to him, brand new carpet, AC, and appliances.

How the hell does he only have 10k into a home w/ all that additional stuff, and NOT get a deal around the price range I was talking about? LOL, well anyways. He talks some more random gibberish and I thank him and be cordial and everything and hang up, he says he'll call if he finds anything that might help me out for that price range. Which, again, doesn't make sense, I know exactly what he's going to do, he's going to find someone to sell for 1k and try to flip it to me for 4k. Again, not making any sense because if there were no 4k deals, he wouldn't have told me he'd help me find a deal. He also says he has his own crew of contractors to do work on the homes.

By the way, I'm a former semi-pro poker player, so I'm pretty decent at telling when someone is lying/stretching the truth to me.

So, no leads yet on good sales. I feel like the best avenue for me is to scout parks, find my target markets, and post a lot of "SELL your home FAST" signs, so that I can hopefully get the people who are thinking of abandoning their homes to sell the home quickly to me.

So of the 13 homes I knew of for sale, 8 were from a broker/owner of park, 3 were from the owner of a park, 1 was sold, and 1 hasn't called back. (which probably means they aren't desperate)