All Forum Posts by: Harold Anderson

@Mike Gennaro 

We were regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission.  I suspect that your state has similar regulation.  I would start with them to find out what your state requires.  

Obviously, the state has an interest in protecting it's citizens from water born illness.  I suspect that the same regulator handles sewage as well.  

As to finding a rural tract with a well.  I can't say for your state or number of sites what's required.  I can only speak to Arizona and the 550 homes we serviced.  We had to have wells that met the state (and industry) standards as to size and configuration.  They are much more involved than residential wells.  I've no idea what they would cost to do from scratch as they were on the land we invested in.  I suspect other investors/developers here have better information on that.

The regular testing isn't real expensive nor is the simplest water treatment.  However, if you have a problem with your water, treatment costs could skyrocket.  In AZ, arsenic can be a problem and maximum ppms were recently dropped causing private water companies a lot of pain.

@Mike Gennaro ,  

We haven't owned RV or MH parks but have owned a water utility for a community of 550 homes in northern Arizona.  While we don't have much experience with sewage other than residents whose septic systems were bad and threatening the water system, you do need to be concerned about water as well.  The simplest thing would be to tie into your city system if you can.

I don't know if this is applicable but just to get a rate increase required $15-20K to hire a negotiator to negotiate with the state.  We had private wells and storage tanks but had to do daily tests and submit monthly reports.  Like others have said, we had to have a water operator on staff.  And a water system requires constant attention.  They tend to leak;-)

As a city planning commissioner, I would add that you should have open communication with any planning dept and, if you go before a planning commission, go with an open mind.  If a park is in need as you suggest, the planning department and commissioners will do what they can to help you.  We've helped new business owners to get around roadblocks in ways that benefit both the city and the business.

Harold

I also have not owned in a MHP but we have a double wide on 6 acres which attracts renters who tend to keep things very neat. Maybe we've just been lucky;-). I've gone through many MHPs and MHs in them. Almost all of them require lots of work. Seems to me that the MHP owner would get the bigger share of profits than an investor owning on a rented space.

Mike,

Like others here, I see you doing very well to have paid off as much as you have in only 3 years. It took my wife and I 10 years each.

There are different avenues you could take. A mobile home could be a good option. Others here have great advice for you about that. Another option would be to purchase a duplex, rent out half and, if your lifestyle allows it, get one or more roommates.

As for being loan free, there have been a lot of good people over my lifetime who've advocated a loan free life. But, to do so, unless you're already wealthy, would require a lot more sacrifices than living in a mobile home. How about using a bicycle for transportation, building your own home using stone from your land ala Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, "Your Money or Your Life". I don't think there's anything wrong with that kind of life. And the younger you are when you start, the better off you'll be later in life. Building security that way is a slow process.

You can certainly get yourself in a lot of trouble borrowing money. IMO borrowing money for things that lose value is foolish. However, most of us have to do it anyway (ie to get a car). To borrow money to invest can be foolish if you don't know what you're doing. Many people have lost everything by doing so. However, Many people have lost everything but learned from the experience and gotten everything and more back (including myself). The important thing is to take everything in stride and confidence that you'll be okay. When you lose your shirt by borrowing money, is your inclination to give up? If it isn't then I wouldn't be so quick to say you'll never borrow money again.

Harold

We rent some rooms out and, when we advertise, half our responses are scams. We learned that if it's a young woman in her early 20s whose uncle or other benefactor will be sending us a check, we don't respond. We did, once, accept an out of state man who was a travelling PT and needed a place quickly. Wonderful guy but after being there for a month, decided it was too far from his work place.

I was originally taken in by the young professional women. They would send messages trying to gain my trust. But I always insisted they see the place first. That stopped the messages.

James,

Another thing to look into is if Washington has a state VA loan program. When I lived in Wisconsin, I bought my first house with the federal VA loan, then got a state loan to renovate it. Later, we bought a farm and got a state loan to create a farm B&B.

James,

I'm also a veteran and have used my VA loan to buy two houses. You can't directly use these loans to invest in housing. However, you can use it indirectly.

Your VA loan broker will guide you into what you can or can't do.

On our current home, we not only didn't put anything down on it, we received a check for $1500. We didn't even have closing costs.

We are living in the home (required by VA), rent part of it out, and started a business. Our income exceeds our mortgage and has the potential for at least double what it is now.

There are a number of ways of doing this that the VA will allow. The first thing to do is to talk to your VA broker.

Dawn,

I see you invest in an area I used to live. In 1980, I bought a small cottage on Fond du Lac just north of Hampton for $23,000, put a second floor on it, and sold it for $35,000 just breaking even. It was my first RE investment. The areas you are in used to be pretty good areas. I'm surprised you can get such deals there today. I'll have to pay another visit.

Jeffrey,

Though most of my experience is with B&Bs, I do have some experience with VRs as well. Both are hospitality businesses with similar marketing techniques. We turned one B&B into longer term rentals with optional breakfast.

The way to look at marketing is how would you find a VR and how would you like to be treated. When you do a search for VRs, what comes up? In our market, VRBO comes up high on the list. Also high on the list are local associations and airbnb.

Most of our guests appreciated our own website and we got the vast majority of referrals off of that. However, we know that many of those referrals got to our site from some other source such as bnbonline. So I believe that having your own website can make a big difference. It doesn't need to be fancy but it does need to show off your place and why someone would want to stay there instead of the next place down the road. We found that keeping a guest book available and placing the best comments throughout the website increased interest. Use your best photos and keep it up to date.

Erin,

I don't know if Indiana is any different from Oregon where I live. I was laid off from my job here and collected unemployment with UI knowing that I had rental income. They only count income from working for someone else and even encouraged us to start a business. We have both rental and business income which is not included in our income for Oregon's UE