All Forum Posts by: Dan V.

We put an offer on an 8,500 square feet warehouse with 1,800 office space(s). The property can be rented as a whole or can be subdivided into maybe 3 tenants (each has its own office and warehouse). I'm wondering if anybody here is familiar with the space and see how's the demand for it in the area or in the region. We own another flex space but it's 3x smaller and it's doing well. The property is located in the Hampton Roads area in Virginia. 

Investment Info:

Mobile home buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $360,000
Cash invested: $60,000

18-Lots mobile home park

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We purchase a mobile home park last year and the return was extremely good so we invested in another one.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Online MH store

How did you finance this deal?

We took cash out refi from our first park and used the proceeds to pay for the downpayment. Bank financed 52% as 1st position and seller financed 40% as 2nd position at 1.5% interest with balloon payment in 5 years.

How did you add value to the deal?

Combination of creative financing to lower the cash upfront. Slowly raise the rent and reduced the cost by passing utility expenses to the tenants. Also rehabbing vacant homes and either renting them out or selling them. We are also planning to talk to city for potential expansion or full utilization of the park.

What was the outcome?

So far, things are going according to plan. Most tenants are staying despite the increase in rent and expense reimbursements. 2 tenants are moving out but we are confident we can rent or sell those units quickly. Two units are currently rehabbed that will bring in additional $2000+ of rent.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Park is in well water and septic therefore we are only limited to a number of units that the well can support. Zoning is also an issue since the city has changed the zoning and we are currently grandfathered. Adding more units or setting up RV parking might be a challenge due to these restrictions.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Worked with local attorney and local credit union.

Quote from @Patrick Sears:

Hello, 

I was wondering if anyone has had experience with getting a loan on a very small MHP (<20 pads) by just asking for a land loan for a 5 acre parcel (that just happens to have some "old, tenant-owned mobile homes on it") from a bank vs. an actual commercial loan for an income-producing small MHP?  Just wondering which would be a better way to approach a bank with this.  The deal I'm looking at right now is 7 tenant-owned homes on 5 acres, supposedly producing ~$2600/mo in lot rent; well & septic in a rural, but growing area.   Asking price around ~$250K; I figure the land itself is probably worth at least a third to half of that.  What angle do you think a bank would give me better terms on?  780+ credit score.

 Try local credit union, commercial lending department.

Quote from @Jacob Ray:

I am trying to better myself on Quickbooks Online for bookkeeping etc. What is the best class to learn. It seems people who invest into RE do their books a bit different. Any suggestions?

Thank you

 I am an accountant and QBO Pro and thought of creating some videos about utilizing QBO for RE investors. While researching I came across Nick, I think he has some good products. Here is his company profile as well. 

Quote from @Ethan Wilson:

Wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations for lenders for a mobile home park for a new investor, thanks!

 Depending on the size of the park, if it's under a million, local banks or credit union is your best bet. 

@Clayton Elliott Sorry to hear about your situation. There is a facebook group called Mobile Home Investing Full time where most members are mobile home wholesalers/investors. Then another group called MHP Tribe where most members are park owners. You can join both groups to see if someone might be able to help you sell/move the homes. Another good site to post is Mobile Home University forum, to see if there are nearby park owners that looking for infill.

@Heinrih Linares I agree with Mobile Home University, at least listen to the podcasts, pretty much covered most of the things you need to know about mobile home park investing. BP is also a great source but you have to search for them Mobile home park was my first buy & hold property and I like the space so I'm looking to buy more. The challenge I had when buying our first one is funding, so I would recommend you start researching or talking to local banks/lenders who can fund the mobile home park. Or learn how to structure seller finance or any other form of creative financing. Good luck!

@Keegan Uderitz In addition to what Scott said, find out how much are the current expenses, how many are vacancies, who owns the homes, who pays utilities, any room for expansion, and verify the zoning (and find out any restrictions). Find out the seller finance terms how much, what rate, for how long, and any balloon payment options. 

I agree with Scott, look into FB groups and you will find people wholesaling or flipping mobile homes. We bought a park and have to sell the homes that need repairs, I posted in FB marketplace and I'm surprised how many people reached out to me saying they are investing in mobile homes. 

How much is the lot rent and how much is the asking price? Who pays for utilities? Who owns the homes? The park should be evaluated as multi-family so if you can get the NOI and market cap rate in the area, that will help a lot in determining the reasonable price.