All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@April Crossley

It could be irrelevant what you think the parks look like . More important will be the numbers , park specifics, markets, potential etc. 

If they are great deals in a market where we are looking, we can pay assignment fees once we figure out the merit of the deal. 

Here is pretty much the run down of what you will need to know for each one:

• How many spaces is the park currently permitted for?
• How many of those spaces are currently occupied?
• Does the park own any homes, if yes, how many?
• What is the current lot rent for the lots that are owned by tenants?
• Is the water city water or well water? If city, do the tenants pay for it , or the park?
• Is the sewer city sewer or private ( i.e. Septic/Treatment Plant/ Lagoon)?
• Do the tenants pay for the own electric and gas directly to the utility company?

 You can share most of those details to the questions I posted without worry of someone locating your deals (unless you are just looking locally then maybe don't share.  The market will be of upmost importance as well.  We want to know such things as the vacant rate , average home price, metro size, average metro unemployment, average 2 bed apartment rent.  All of that can be found using bestplaces.net

If you want to post all of the details here on the forum, we can pick them apart and look at why  they are /are not worth looking into further.  As @Account Closed mentioned, MHU is the go to resource but I know there is a lot of interest in parks on BP so I think its great to continue to build the info here as well.   Usually if you post a deal over there Frank will respond pretty quick. 

Let us know how things progress and good luck.  Parks are something that you need a lot of education about so use these as your case studies even if the deals don't work out.  Good luck. 

Some info that would helpful as a start

Is it 55 units total? If so , how many of those are occupied.

Does the park own the homes or the tenants? 

If the tenants, what is the current lot rent?

What kind of sewer system?

Also , on the laundromat is that currently rented or is the current owner operating the business ( i.e., will you be getting the business as well....)

Market will be extremely important as well but better not to post that publicly.  You say the rents might be low, what would comparable rent amounts be? 

Are the tenants paying for their own gas and electric to their respective providers? 

Lot of land mines to avoid.  You might find homes with notes values much higher than what the actual home might be worth.  There is a lot of Dodd Frank Regulation that pertains to this.  You have to be sure the notes are compliant as I believe that is what real note investors would want to see and give you the possibility of some liquidity. 

Though it sounds like a good spot to start (due to the "low" entry cost) , in theory, unless you had a lot of resources at your disposal to ensure compliance , servicing etc. I would not start here.  The fixed costs that are needed to do this the "right" way , I think are going to need a large volume of homes to spread the cost over. 

Just some thoughts you might consider . While I think there may be opportunity , you would have to go about it the right way. 

Good luck 

If you are searching on market properties , watch loopnet and mobilehomeparkstore real close.  Learn to identify good deals and bad deals.  Good deals to periodically make their way on those sites but they go quick so be sure to be signed up for your alerts. 

@Craig Chappell  There is lots of bad data out there.  In my experience , trying to buy parks from one of the guys like list source is not an outcome that you would want.  Your best bet is to get the info yourself. If you are looking at a particular spot, the county can be a good start. Some may have specific disclosures preventing solicitation. This will all be relevant on where you are trying to target.  Good luck 

 Agreed, just do this and it will pay for itself many times over. I think you will answer a lot of your own questions and really end up with a better deal anyhow with it. 

Jon, Feel free to share the deal specifics for a bit better valuation. Number of spaces, utilities,  (Market would be good but probably better not to post but will have significant bearing on price) .  Number of POH, Number of spaces, utilities, who pays them etc etc. This way we can get a good grasp on what this thing looks like along with pricing/ terms to see if it has merit of further pursuit.  Market rents relative to your park rents would be good to know as well for any potential upside ,

@Celeste Fackrell

First , unless I'm missing it, you said 17 pad site with 10 POH ( of which 2 are vacant) .  Then you say there are 9 pad rentals.  The 9 pad rentals plus 10 POH make this a 19 space park instead of 17 right?  Please clarify. 

A huge red flag you mentioned is that 8 of the POH have been completely remodeled int the last 6 months.  Thats extreme turn over right there.  Did this just get filled up to get sold? 

Really the park is too small for you and what you are trying to do with it, and with the number of POH, your plan to convert tenants to home owners, you can not really afford to pay anyone decent ( and you will need someone decent it sounds like) to help you at the property. 

How long has this person owned the park?  

What about gas/electric , are those billed to tenants by utility co?  What are the ages of the POHs?  

What do the market metrics look like? Market lot rents? 

I didn't run your financing numbers to see if that makes sense on the DSCR but unless you get a really great deal , those short amortizations can really prevent positive cash flow. You might do a 15 year loan on a 25 or 30 year ammo but you have a slew of other issues that need answers . Remember, 0 down carry can be great but don't let that cloud your vision for what you are buying . Also, if your market lot rent is 300 and you know you can increase lot rents, then you might take a low DSCR day 1 but it can be increased shortly after taking ownership.

Really, you need to get more info together on this in order to make an educated decision. 

 This is really a small park. Is this local to you?  What kind go homes are they.  At the prices you mentioned relative to the lot rents, the park is priced to high.  But if the market is really a much higher lot rent, that can make a difference.  You have not mentioned anything about the utilities and who pays for them as well.  That will be very relevant especially being that the park is so small. The numbers you are describing looks like they give a density of 10.6 per acre ( and that includes the vacant pad). I believe the standard frank uses is 7 as perfect , 10 as fine so that should not be a hinderance. 

Yes you will have to do thorough DD and make sure it is a legal non conforming park etc. Buy the MHU due diligence guide if you get serious about the park, there is no substitute for that. 

Post some more info on when you can . 

Looks like a goodt deal on the surface. Good luck on due diligence.  Buy the formal guide it will give you thorough info ( as opposed to a general checklist online) .