Can I put a mobile home on an empty lot?

[Lei L.]

I purchased a rental property (Indianapolis) coming with an empty lot nearby. The neighbor who lives there told me that there was a house before on the lot and was fully damaged by fire and the house was demolished leaving only the lot. I am thinking what's the best use of that lot. The rent of SFH is $900 and the houses nearby are worth around 60k to 80k. I think it's not worth building a new house on the lot to collect rent. So I am thinking if I can put on a used mobile/manufactured home on the lot for rental because it should be much cheaper. Is this allowed and a reasonable solution? Need a permit? Expensive?

I guess the original empty lot should still have the place to connect electricity, gas, and water. But I have not checked out yet. Not sure if it's costly to reconnect the utilities. Or I can split the current rental property's utility into the mobile home?

A lot of questions, any suggestions are welcome! Thanks.

[Nathan Gesner]

The first thing you need to do is check the zoning to see if mobile homes are allowed. In most cities, mobile home lots are rare outside of trailer parks.

If it is allowed, then you will need to hire someone to investigate the utility situation and see what it would cost to get connected. If a home existed there before, the utilities also exist. However, you have no idea what condition they are in and what it would cost to reconnect.