Empty Mobile Home park

[Collin Smith]

My business partner and I have an opportunity to get into mobile home park investing with a (possibly) unique option.  It is a 7.8 acre property with 41 spaces, paved roads, individual lot sewer, power, and water hookups.  The downside is that there are no homes in place yet.  It will be split from an additional 30 lots from the same park that the owners have been slowly filling since they do not have the time to commit to the full project (they are older and have very time consuming full time jobs).

This property is less than 2 miles from I-95, a Honda plant, 8 miles from the rest of the major employers in the area, and is on the "poorer" side of town where people (doctors) are buying property for cheap and building their big homes in the country.  I feel the area has great upside.  There is a grocery store nearby, a Dollar General, and a couple restaurants and fast food places within 1/4 mile.

In the area (the other side of the park) they are getting $750 for a 2/br single wide and it is common to see $200/$250 a month for lot rent.  I ran a test ad for $750 2/1 mh on craigslist and had 12 responses in a couple of days interested.

What is the experience in getting mobile homes into parks?  We want to do a mix of lot rent, POH, and rent to own. I would really like to get as much input as I can from those that have done this.  Thanks!!