All Forum Posts by: John Arendsen

Jim Johnson's answer is spot on. Most MH park owner/managers don't want that extra layer separating them from their primary tenant because they have no direct control over the sub lessee. 

That stated, however, there are Park owners that will entertain this policy if the owner of the home is an investor who intends to help gentrify the park over the long haul. We own several MH's in various MH parks that we rent because we've been in this industry for almost 3 decades and the park owners trust our judgement in selecting good tenants and we always keep the homes up.

My suggestion is to interview some park owners, not managers unless they are the owner, tell them what your plans are and see if they'll play ball with you. But do be careful because most park owners will still require that you continue paying the rent. 

There are some owners, however, that want investors to upgrade their park and will cut some slack for a few months while the upgrades are taking place. However, that is usually the exeption and not the rule unless you are a dealer removing an ole home and replacing it with a new one.

In California it depends an a few variables. Under the California Housing and Community Development Department's (HCD) Mobilehome Park Residency Law's relocation requirements it's very difficult to change the venue once it has been cast in stone. 

Adittionally, eviction is very challenging at best and should the owner or perspective buyer of a MH park ever want to rezone it it could and usually does take years if not decades to achieve not to mention the added cost of legal fees to do so and the relocation or purchasing at fair market value of all the homes from the existing tenant/resident/owners.

To me an RV park is a lot less complcated and doens't have all the resident protection parameters and considerations that a MH Park does. Plus there are no rent control issues to deal with and frankly having been involved with each over the years I find RV parks a little easier to manage. Just my 3 cents worth (adjusted for inflation) LOL!

If the MH park is clearly in the path of progress and there appears to be upward mobility (pun intended) then it might be worth exploring further. However, there are literally thousands of MH rent/lease parks that are in socio economic areas that are not desirable to live in let along invest in.

Unfortuantely many if not most of these parks will only continue to deteriorate until eventual economic eviction strangles the entire park and there's no choice but to close it and try to rezone it for a higher and better use more conducive to the area. 

If the area is in a geographically undesireable area or blighted neighborhood that is slowly declining which many communities in the Country are it may not be a very good investment. I'd proceed with extreme caution.

Mold issues are a very important consideration and can be a deal breaker unless you are willing to just about redo the entire home in oder to erradicate the problem. We've worked with insurance companies for decades with claims like this and it can get pretty ugly not to mention costly. 

Mold can and will creep upward from the bottom and eventually impact a huge part of the structure. The mold issue in this photo started underneath the home as a result of a drainage issue. 

We were hired by the attorney representing this multi home class action lawsuit to perform destructive inspection on over 30 homes that had similar issues. By the time we were finished the framing (floor joists, rim joists, blocking, etc),sub floor insulation, particle board sub flooring, sill plate, wall paneling, insulation, wall framing and all the electrical wiring had been severly exposed to black mold which is very carcinogenic and all these homes ended up being a total loss costing the park owners 10's of millions of dollars in settlement and legal costs.

Be very careful and do get a thorough mold remediaton expert involved even if it costs you a few bucks.

I'm not an attorney, however, we specialize in title, escrow and lending on MH's and my best advice is that you consult with an attorney on this matter. As the leinholder you will be stuck holding the bag one way or the other.

You may want to check with the local building jurisdiction. In most states an installation permit is required which means it would have to have an installation permit on file  and that the installation would have to follow some sort of set up and installation protocol. 

Depending on the age of the home and when it was installed I would think that it's been done properly but not knowing the building codes in that area I would stronly suggest you start there.

Not totally sure how you would go about this in Washington as I'm in California. Do you know if anyone handling the estate has a power of attorney? If so I would think they might have the ability to release it via a bill of sale.

[Edited - solicitation removed] 

Good luck.

Just be careful should you ever want to refi an MH on a resident owned lot/parcel. If the home was built before June 15, 1976 or if it doesn't have a foundation and engineered certification  you will have a tough time getting a conventional FHA guaranteed loan.

If you're paying cash and plan to just use it as a rental then you're probably OK. But if and when you go to sell it and the buyer wants an FHA loan that's where you'll run into a stumbling block.

Also if the home has been moved from its original situs and relocated to a private lot/parcel you will not be able to obtain an FHA guaranteed loan. Again, it may not matter to you but it could impact your ability to resell it down the road unless you're dealing with a cash buyer or plan to carry the paper instead of revisiting your capital which isn't a bad way to go if you have Bigger Pockets (pun intended)

One thing you should do before you spend a dime is to make sure the Park Owner/manager will allow you to move the home in. If it was built before June 15, 1976 it's a Pre HUD home and most park owners don't want then moved in. In fact in California they're trying like crazy to get them out and replcaced with new ones. Gentrification is the name of the game in Cali with the proviso that the park community is in the path of progress.

Interesting stuff here. I think a lot depends on where the MH is located. Is it in the path of progress where you could realize a positive ROI? Or is it in a run down old part of town that has little home of realizing any gentrification anytime soon.

I own several MH's but thier all in the beach communities in San Diego County West of PCH 101 which is definitely in the path of progress. Even though there's no rent control it's all about location and for folks who have the discretionary income price is not an issue.