Mobile Home Park Expertise in St. Louis

[Kenton Coffman]

Hey BP!  

I live in St. Louis and am recently full time in real estate with wholesale, wholetail, rehab, and retail.  In addition I'm looking to pick up a rental every year or two to add to the 4 I currently have.

My question is about mobile home parks and specifically parks in and around St. Louis.  I'm obviously intrigued with the even more passive income model once the park is strictly renting out pads and all homes are owner owned.  BUT it seems a bit daunting to get started.

The main concern I have is that the big appeal comes from the fact that there are fewer and fewer parks every year from those that are sold and converted to some other use.  The pro of that is that they're in limited supply and they should be scooped up before they're too hard to find.  The con would be that it's a dying method of residency. I'm worried about buying  a park and not achieving high occupancy due to a lack of interest in the market.

Any thoughts?  And if anyone has experience in or around St. Louis, that's a huge bonus.

Thanks!!!

[Bill F.]

@Kenton Coffman who says its a dying method of residence? 

Most of the academic research I've seen suggests that its becoming more and more of an option as a "starter home" that gets people out of apartment buildings.

I'd be curious if you have heard/read something else.

[Chris Ebert]

@Kenton Coffman I could write pages outlining the benefits of mobile home park investing, however, there are plenty of blogs, articles and podcasts out there to answer that for you. What I will address is the "lack of interest" and "not achieving high occupancy" because I have never heard of this concern before regarding MHPs. Manufactured housing (aka mobile homes aka trailers) is a form of affordable housing and affordable housing isn't determined by "interest".

Owning a mobile home is the cheapest form of safe, private housing available in the United States. The average manufactured home costs  ~50% less on a per sq ft basis than a stick-built home while lot rents are generally at least 50% less than a 2-bed apartment in the same market. The best way for you to see for yourself is to run a test ad on Craigslist in an area you're considering buying and watch the response. Happy to discuss further. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

[Max Householder]

I've read/listened a lot about MH parks and it definitely seems like a great investment for the reasons you outlined. As far as the limited supply, I think eventually cities will come back around to allowing MH or tiny home type communities because the demand is growing already and the shortage of affordable/starter housing will need to be addressed at some point in the near future. As far as St. Louis, I'm sure there are many parks "hiding in plain sight", but most I have noticed are on the outskirts of the metro area, like communities along I-70, I-55 or I-44. That might make management more difficult depending on where you live in STL.

[Kenton Coffman]

@Bill F. no one has said it's a dying method of living.  That's a thought in the back of my mind that I was reaching out to everyone about because it's not in my current knowledge base

@Chris Ebert I've listened to some and it's peaked my interest.  I'll be diving in on more literature, podcasts, etc.  I am being greedy and hoping to find a local investor who has done it here to bounce ideas back and forth

@Max Householder there definitely are more than you initially realize once you start keeping your eye out for them.  There is one in South county that caught my eye and made me want to start doing serious research on how I would purchase and manage it

Thanks for all the responses!  

[Brent Murphy]

Well if you're looking to expand into northern Jefferson County there is certainly no shortage of mobile home parks. Like others have mentioned, mobile homes are low income housing and as long as people live on welfare, minimum wage, social security, etc. There will be a demand for mobile homes. While I didn't grow up in Jeffco I've spent about 5 years living there and have family that lives in Jefferson County. I've considered wanting to invest in mobile home parks, however I need to work towards my first house hack before I consider branching out my investments.

[Kenton Coffman]

@Brent Murphy I'm not all that familiar with JeffCo, so that's definitely something I need to dive more into. I work with the guys that host the JeffCo REIA. You should definitely connect with them and go to their meeting sometime. They're having really good turnouts

[Brent Murphy]

@Kenton Coffman do you know where I could find more information about who hosts it or how to get in contact with them? It would be greatly appreciated!

[Kenton Coffman]

@Brent Murphy Yeah his name is Jason LiCavoli.  It might be easiest to look him up on facebook and shoot him a message or you can also go to Jeffcore.com for more info

[Brent Murphy]

Thanks @Kenton Coffman! I'll be sure to get in contact with him.

[Mike G.]

@Brent Murphy im interested in mobile home parks in the greater St. Louis metro area. What else could you tell me about JeffCo. You mentioned that there are alot of parks in that area. Are there other areas like it as well? Do you know some names of some parks that i could reach out too? Are you open to working together and pulling resources to obtain a park(s) in that area?