All Forum Posts by: Belinda Lopez

Hi Sarah and Happy New Year! I just saw your post about being in the Houston area and definitely want to invite you to check out the Realty Investment Community of Houston, the largest, oldest and (IMHO) best REIA in the country!

We're kicking off a program this year that shows folks how to buy Ten Houses in Ten months using just $10k.  All your goals are very reasonable and achievable!

Great job!  John Fedro is the best!

You just missed a great event teaching how to make the transition from SFH to commercial. Next one won't be until March but you can start networking now and get started with several great books and other resources. I'll send you the ones they gave us. Also, join your loacl Real estate investors association to make contacts.

Unfortunately, they've changed the process for buying Struck off properties in Galveston County.  You used to be able to contact the attorney handling them for the county but now he says that they are all being sent through the resale auctions. 

It is definitely a Sellers market but day s on market are getting longer.  Galveston is a very specific market and you need to know good/bad areas.  Everyone advertises properties as being "blocks from the beach" which are very dangerous areas and not resort or tourist areas. Comps are also difficult b/c the type of neighborhood can change from one street to the next as well.

There are a few good wholesalers who can help you find some good deals with plenty of meat on the bone but be wary of those who don't specialize on the Island.  Also,  insurance can be ridiculous as you'll need flood and windstorm coverage not just homeowners.  Those premiums can double your mortgage.  Always get an elevation certificate.

What sort of properties are you looking for? more multifamily? short-term rentals? those are the two best types for the Island as for the cost you can get SFH on the mainland much cheaper and without the extra insurance costs.

3-2 homes will always your best bet.  what is your target market for this park?  Is it a senior community? The wear and tear only matters if you're renting the homes; which is not recommended.  You might try running some test ads in your local papers and facebook groups to see what folks are responding to:  down payment, terms, etc.  do some market testing to get a feel for demand.

Why are there only 14 homes in a 100 space park?  Do you know how hard it is to fill vacant parks?

Look up John Fedro, a contributor here on BP and the Mobile Home University with Frank Rolfe & Dave Reynolds. John has a program on homes but the model is to owner finance them out not rent. Frank & Dave only do parks and again, do not rent homes but owner finance them out if the park they buy has park owned homes. The reason they owner finance rather than rent is that this segment can be very difficult to manage compared to apartments or SFH. The type of renter for mobile homes is simply not as stable and with the high turnover and make ready costs it can really eat into your profits.

Owner financing lets you recover almost all your costs upfront and then you get a nice return in monthly payments with no maintenance.  The first part of the year is a great time for this business model as folks will have their tax returns and can usually put several thousand dollars down.

"the numbers presented on LoopNet looked amazing!"  well there's the start of the problem right there.  you're better off looking for off-market or for sale by owner leads.  If a property is being actively marketed on loopnet, it's probably already been passed over for a reason. 

There was another thread on this topic a few days ago.  Yes, they can stop you from replacing any old homes in parks; even "gradfathered" parks if the local government wants no more parks.  This is how they kill older parks. It can backfire, however.

After Hurricane Ike, some small towns said the homes couldn't be replaced so instead the owners patched up some of the worst looking homes you'd ever seen.  Legal, yes. It's called the law of unintended consequences and law makers do this all the time trying to regulate businesses they don't understand. If they allowed new windstorm approved manufactured homes to replace the old ones the tax basis would go some $60 - $100k on each home.  Instead they have worthless, patched, barely livable trailers, complete eyesores.

You need to call your local building permit office and see what their requirements are for homes. Do it anonymously and don't tell them the name of the property, just ask general questions and you will quickly get a feel for how they regard Parks.

Yes, they can.  We've seen this in several small jurisdictions in the Houston area so it will vary by jurisdiction.  Remember there are multiple levels of government oversight so local laws/ordinances my be trumped by state or federal laws as well.  I would love to challenge this and similar laws as being against the Fair Housing Act.  There is no doubt these sunset laws discriminate against minorities and low income folks who need the housing the most.

We also saw the "law of unintended consequences" occur in these Parks.  That is, folks patched up the older homes and kept them "livable" knowing they couldn't bring in new homes.  Think about it;  new homes $40k - $80k, heck some even over $100k could be brought in but instead the laws made that illegal and instead worthless homes are kept on the tax rolls. It really makes no sense.