All Forum Posts by: Joshua Diaz

@Elizabeth Hernandez

Sounds like buyers remorse to me. I’m no lawyer but it looks like your mom covered all her bases. I’d still double check but I don’t see what this other person can do. The deal is done.

Awesome story!  And you are right.  You never know.

@Nathan Gesner

while many agree not to get too friendly with your tenants or neighbors and I feel the same, it’s always good to keep a good relationship with them. Glad no one was hurt.

I had a similar issue last year but it was with a tree that got blown over by the wind and it landed on my tenant’s car.   My insurance called it aN act of god and wouldn’t cover their car.  Luckily that person’s insurance covered it. I was transparent and kept communication open the entire time and we are still on good terms to this day.

I’m sure this will be another awesome event.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it despite really wanting to.  I hope everyone has a great time!

@Brandon Thibodeaux

There is actually a lot to make sure of and things do change in a case by case basis, but here are some of the General things you should ask about (IMO)

1) check with the town/city if the park is legal or legal nonconforming and if so how many spaces .

If the park is straight up illegal, you can stop your questioning here. Don’t even go forward. You can be shut down as soon as you sign the paperwork to take control. Not a risk I want to take.

2) Does it run on public or private utilities?

City water and sewer, or wells and septic tanks?

Or even lagoons and waste water treatment plants? (I would avoid these personally due to expense and other issues that can come up)

3) is the park in a floodplain?

A very good thing to know especially if the area is prone to rain.

4) how many homes are owned by the park or the residents?

The model that is preferred here is to not own the homes but instead the land under the homes only.

5) a phase 1 environmental survey.

The other steps can mostly be done by some legwork and asking the right people but this one will cost you money. I think it’s better to do your own from an unrelated third party since there are some sellers out there that are less than honest.

If the phase 1 comes back as a failure, I’d say stop your due diligence here and Mose on to another deal. Environmental cleans up can be MASSIVELY expensive.

There are many other things to check like the metro area, crime rate, average rent of the area, etc. but these are the basic things I think you should know.

There are investors here who know a ton more than I do so they can probably fill in some more details. I hope this helps you a little. Good luck!

Hopefully others with more experience can chime in but I personally wouldn’t.  Multiple investors from different sources I’ve read and heard say to avoid those if possible.

if you do go forward, definitely get flood insurance.  And also research the state of the park during the rainy seasons in the past few years.

Hey there! Good on you for making the decision to go for it.  

To answer your question, it really depends on the park.  Banks will usually finance parks that are stabilized and have a certain occupancy (I believe around 70% or so but I could be wrong).  It also depends on the bank.   national banks like chase or Wells Fargo will definitely be more strict about it but local banks that can give portfolio loans will be able to work with you more if you build a relationship with them.

One thing to keep in mind about banks is that they will only really consider the lot rent as income into how much the park is worth.   mobile hone rent is not considered because of the expenses that go along with it.


if the bank financing doesn’t work, the next popular strategy is seller financing where the seller becomes the bank.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Well I would say, as part of the due diligence process, definitely take a close look at that septic and get a process opinion on how much it can really support.  I have a property with a septic tank and I have had no issues with it so I wouldn’t call it a deal breaker, but I would make darn sure it can handle the loads it’s taking in.

That first park seems overpriced for something that brings in no income.  Also it seems too small to me personally.  I would focus my attention on number two and seeing what the numbers really look like.

To my understand, mobile homes are personal property and are dealt with as such according to the states rules.

Further than that, I am not knowledgeable enough to answer.  This is definitely a question I would ask an attorney as I wouldn’t want to risk doing anything that can bite me in the behind later.