Mobile Home Park with Waste Water Treatment Plant

[Cory H.]

Hello!

I'm looking at a potential offer on a mobile home park that has its sewer serviced by a private (park owned) waste water treatment plant.  Has anyone dealt with this before?  I don't know what I don't know and am trying to get educated.  

This would be my 5th MHP purchase, but the first to not be on city sewer. It's a 50 unit park with 2019 gross income $276k and 2019 NOI of $170k.

The system is 8 years old, and there is a WWTP technician on the park's payroll at ~$26k per year.  The technician supposedly has 30 years experience working for the county WWTP.  

Questions:

1. How long do these systems usually last? How much do they cost to replace?  
   • I want to make sure I budget appropriate capex for eventual replacement.
2. How much expertise does the technician require?  How hard is it to find someone to service this? Is this like a septic system where there are many companies who can service it, or is this a very specialized skill?
   • If the current guy ever decides to quit I'm worried about it being difficult to replace him
3. Does anyone know of any good resources to learn about these systems? 
4. What questions am I not asking that I should be?  What else should I be watching out for?

Thanks for any advice!

Cheers!