All Forum Posts by: C J

these videos are really great. I am glad to have seen the conversation with the Realtor go well, as my patience would surely have been broken. great people skills and great content. thanks and look forward to more.

great info. I will definitely start sending photo cd's to myself before/after the move.

vacancies are still pretty high so as I get closer to lease end in a few months I will be looking in the free papers, craigslist etc to make sure I am getting a decent deal. Its plenty of work for sure, but since I dont have to option to buy right now, its worth it to find a place that suits me well.

right now I am in an in-law suite in a single family home and it has worked out very nicely. very good price with all utilities included, safe neighborhood, and the landlords bring me dinner sometimes.

thanks to all for your input!

That was a really good, informative post. I think your last line sums up your point of view though. You are just trying to filter out the dregs from living in your properties.

What I would like to see is the point of view of someone who already possesses these qualities and darn well knows it. I want to see the pro renters who know what they're doing and use whatever information and resources at their disposal to find a desireable place and negotiate a better contract.

I know I'm a star tenant, and I'm only renting because I'm in a temporary position ( I just left the service and need to finish school) I don't need to be reminded to clean up after myself or to be on-time at appointments. I'm just new at renting and wondered if there was any informative experiences out there to be shared from the tenant point of view.

Didn't anyone here ever start out renting before becoming a bigshot investor?

Hello all,

Noob real estate scholar here. I am inexperienced as a tenant and would like to see how the pros conduct their due diligence when renting.

I like to drive to a candidate rental neighborhood at night, preferably on the weekend and park, to observe what goes on. This helps me assess potential crime risk.

Also, at one place I was sure I wanted, I paid the entire lease (12 mos) up front in order to get a 10% discount, after haggling them down from the initial asking price of course!

Any and all apartment/rental hunting tips are appreciated.

Here's another +1 on appreciating the generosity. I am still very new in this business and it is refreshing to encounter someone who so readily shares knowledge--with no fuss involved. If you ever layover in ATL Jim, I have a homebrew (or 5) with your name on it. I have an organic red ale that is maturing nicely and already tastes incredible . . .

No prob J Scott . . . be sure and give us all a briefing when all is said and done, to report how the deal panned out.

I noticed one other thing when looking at the information I found in other threads. The poster who supported paying lot rent directly to the park manager referred to his "tenants", indicating that he is maybe a bit more intensive in screening buyers and managing them once they have moved in. By contrast, the fellow who didnt want to bother with the "extra responsibility" mentioned that the advantage comes from being the bank rather than being the landlord.

So we have two schools of thought: the landlord and the banker. If you are paying some of the bills for your "tenant", are you no longer merely a banker?

One other issue: if you are structuring the deal as a lease/option, wouldn't it be absolutely the right thing to pay lot rent directly to PM (at least before the option is exercised)? After all, you technically do have a tenant now. How do lease options fare against the more common "lonnie deals" in resident owned parks?

Hope i'm not taking this thread too far off topic . . .

I found some relevant info in another thread:

I guess it really depends on the park manager, but if it were my decision, I would opt to collect one payment from my mortgagor and pay lot rent to the park myself. J Scott already listed a few advantages, and the one disadvantage I think could be negated by a $20 monthly "note servicing" fee.

This is one I have been wondering about also. If you are doing deals in a resident owned community, (thus you only finance deals and do not rent to tenants) doesnt your status kinda change if you start paying the lot rent for your mortgagors?

This would obviously change the note structure, indicating that an agreement should be made with the park owner beforehand.

So are park owners going for this type of arrangement? Why?

thanks to all for the replies. I see the point about the importance of mentorship. I am guessing that the best place to start looking for a mentor is at the local REIA? I'm in ATL, GA by the way.

Hi all,

I know enough about the MH business from reading these forums that I am having trouble sleeping from all the excitement about making this "dream" happen.

Basically I'm a full time student, GI Bill scholarship after an 8 year stint on active duty. I have a couple CD's that are earning squat--prime fodder for MH investment. I am absolutely convinced that I can make this happen.

So . . . can you recommend some reference material? This forum has already proven to be quite a resource. I am pretty sure I need to get DOW by Scruggs, but is MMWMH by Scruggs also necessary? Additionally, does anyone know much about the MH rehabbing course by Scarborough? The price is a bit steep but I am never against spending money on education.

Thanks in advance . . .

cj