Mobile home parks.... when to say no?

[Michael Guzik]

Hey guys I am just starting out and have been looking at mobile home parks recently. I have seen some here in San Antonio, but they don't seem like they are in the best of areas and look pretty trashy. My question is are these the mobile home parks to avoid? Is it worth going in and fixing things up and kicking out the bad tenants? How do you even evict someone from a mobile home park? I know this is a lot but I am really trying to get a good idea of whether or not I should even entertain these?

[Ryan Groene]

I wasn't sure how much experience you have in at looking at parks.  mainly you want to be looking for pride of ownership in both the community and the actual homes and their yards.  an example of something that would be an opportunity is a park hat has unkempt lawns, cars just sitting on blocks, trash everywhere, is there skirting missing on the homes, is there a sign at the entrance of the park, is there a phone number, is there stuff everywhere in peoples lawns.  these are easy things to fix and rather cheap to do as well and drive a lot of appreciation just by fixing all these things.

some things that are harder/cost more money to fix is are the roads so bad that a small car would get stuck in the potholes, are there a ton of empty lots with no homes.

at the end of the day its all about location and how your test ad does when trying to pull potential tenants.  that is the true test of a location.  look for about 20 calls in a week.  

also just call or go to the police station and ask them about that park and what they think of it.  theyll tell you if its drug/gangs. or just domestic violence or drinking.  

most of the time there is only one or two bad apples in the park, once you get rid of them and set the tone that you don't mess around...meaning you inforce the rules and need rent paid on time...then most people will clean up their yards and pay on time.