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!! 

[Charles Faul]

@Collin Smith. Hello , I started several mobile home parks and it is hard work , but it is probably the best money maker I have. I have a small park of 13 that I put used mobile homes 16x80 only , completely remodeled them , added a deck on front and concrete driveway. I am debt free and I net nearly $120,000 per year. Our service calls are less that .05% , we have more tenant repairs as we do charge them , as our rules are if you break , you pay (actually extra income per year) . The reason we do the remodeling is that we make is very easy to work on and we fix them like a stick house and put quality products on them . We also add all appliances. I also own houses , but mobile home parks are more profitable even with the extra expense I put in the mobile homes. Good luck