Best option for mobile home on private land?

[Corey Meyer]

I live in a town that has a large number of mobile homes on city lots very close to an iconic/touristy western main street. It is a small town about an hour away from a larger affluent/growing community; Bozeman, Montana.  I would deem it a frontier town as there are still dirt streets pretty much right in town.  I believe this place will soon gentrify as Bozeman continues to grow and families are pushed onto its fringe communities like where I live in Ennis, Montana. 

The amount of mobile homes on city lots is astounding here.  There are a couple mobile home parks but I don't know much about them. Overall, this is an aging community and the majority of these mobile homes are owned by seniors.  My question is what is the best strategy for investing in mobile homes on private lots?

My "Big Picture" idea is to buy up these mobile homes on city lots and sit on them.  Get quality tenants in and get them cash flowing as quickly as possible.  As the town appreciates in value and gentrification takes place, at some point these city lots very close to the main street will become too valuable for a mobile home.  At this point, maybe five years down the road, I move these mobile homes to a Mobile Home Park I have since acquired and either build a single-family home on the lot and rent/sell or sell the lot with no structure standing on it. 

My concerns are:

1) Renter mentality versus owner mentality -  I understand that finding quality renters for a mobile home can be difficult and I really like that selling provides the buyer with a owner's mentality and pride of ownership.  The fact that all maintenace related items within the mobile home are on the occupant is very appealing. Thus why owning a mobile home park with owner-occupied mobile homes is coveted.  However, I don't have the budget right now to buy a mobile home park.  

2)  The lack of power of scale - My other concern is having 2,3,4 of these investments and running around with my head chopped off in terms of management as they are scattered willy-nilly throughout this small town, each investment needing yard maintenance and mobile home maintenance, that's a fair amount of management and TIME.  

Maybe I sell/finance the mobile home to a potential buyer on a lot and have them pay a lot fee?  They don't own the land but they own their mobile home?  I collect rents off the city lot...  At some point, I have to get them to move their mobile home off my lot?  At which time I have acquired a mobile home park and can advise them to move their mobile home there?

Or do I just fix up the mobile home nice, put a little extra cash into it and find quality tenants to rent?  All of these properties have very nice yards, I could make these lots with mobile homes very nice.  It is just figuring out how much time and management I want to put in versus return on investment.  

Thoughts?

[Rachel H.]

@Corey Meyer You may need to do more market research in the area. You can do this by networking with others in the industry such as mobile home park managers and/or owners, mobile home dealerships, local mobile home supply stores, contractors who specialize in working on mobile homes, talking to other investors who invest in mobile homes in your area, and talking to residents who own and rent mobile homes in the area. 

Most of this requires you to go into the field. Take the time to meet people. Get as much information as you can. Once you have more information about the market (supply and demand), then you'll be in a better position to assess the market and make a detailed plan towards your goals. 

Hope that helps!