All Forum Posts by: Mark Gruetzmacher

@Natalie Kolodij Yeah I know exactly what you mean.  I have one mobile home in one of the nicest parks by me and that remodel is going to be almost completely the whole place.  I have another that the outside doesn't look too good now but I am redoing the inside leaving alot of the walls and just texturing to cover up some stuff and go for a different look.  The 2nd park is one I would prefer not to buy in but ended up with it from a partner deal so I am dealing with it.    I think alot of the really nice parks are owner occupied only parks as well.  Probably the reason those are so nice because they are owner occupied which doesn't help people like you and me.  

Im glad we don't have areas around me that you might need a carry permit. :)  

@Rachel Townsend Curious how the tenants like the vinyl floor throughout the rental.  I was planning on doing that with one of the ones I have but went for carpet.  

@Natalie Kolodij I agrees about your remodel comments. Lots of times remodel is just simple stuff and stuff done real quick to spruce it up some.  Lots of guys around here do that.  Not really my kind of "remodel" I guess.  I have one in the process that going to be all new inside but I got it for a song and it is a mid 90's model.  You kinda have to work with what you buy as well.  

But Lonnie Deals are not legal to do anymore, correct?

@Michael Baradell I think for the value of the mobile home you are going to have to look at the local area and see what others are going for.  Im not 100% sure but being that it is only 5 yrs old you should be able to have a bank or credit union get you a NADA value.  That should get you some general idea.  Check the area for any mobile home brokers or places that sell mobile homes and see if they can value it somewhat.  I think value varies so much manufacturer to manufacturer plus condition, size, etc.  Probably didn't help too much but that might give you a start and hopefully come up with a decent idea on price.

Hello everyone, I have been slowly getting back in buying some REI's but had a question concerning an LLC. Or some advice what would be the best thing to do in my situation. My father came into some money when his dad pasted away and he is putting up some cash for some investments for myself and maybe my sister. It is great that he wants to put up the cash but my concern is with his past history so to speak. He has never been the kind of guy that crosses the "T's" and dots the "I's" especially when it comes to taxes. So naturally that concerns me because I am the total opposite. At this point he doesn't plan to be on title for the purchase of this property. He has mentioned that maybe we all 3 should start an LLC for investments with him just being the person supplying the cash. My concerns with that are, can a persons personal debts be a concern of an LLC they are apart of? What should I be concerned with?

I am also planning so start an LLC for just my properties. If you have an LLC then do you have to have commercial loans for the LLC or can they be personal bank loans as well? IF you have properties now then can they be changed to be under the LLC? What would you do?????

@Thad Miller I am sure other people will chime in here but here are my concerns.  If this guy wants you to partner with him and has actually done 50+ deals then I would think he should have some sort of proof showing what deals he has done and what the outcome of each deal was.  Not saying he should have all his deals on paper but at least a few deals to show the details would help.  If he has done all these deals then he should have some money as well to put into the deal.  Is he planning to put up money as well? What year mobile home is it and size?  Are you in a really expensive market?  Sounds weird to me to buy a mobile home for $30K and plan to sell it for $90-100K and the kicker for me is it is on a rented lot for $780 a month.  The rented lot for that kind of money sounds insane but like I said maybe that is what your market is whereas my market is the $200-350 range for lot rents.  Hope some other people comment as well but for my it doesn't sound too appealing.  Hopefully that will give you some food for thought. 

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. Sorry I forgot the price , it is 229,000. They also have approx $200/month from the coin op laundry machines. Does CAP vary for the class of property? If so by how much? And yeah I figure class C. I think it was self managed as well. They advertise it as 90% occupancy. Might have one unit vacant.

Hey guys, just was looking for your thoughts on this property.  It is outside of my local area about 50 miles.

8 Unit Apartment Project constructed in 1979. The Building consists of 7-2 bedroom units and one ADA accessible 1 bedroom unit. 

Multiple units are offered fully furnished to seasonal tenants. Others are long term. Primary rental sources are National Park Service School District, and USDA Forrest Service. 

1) $400/mo 1 bdrm unit partially furnished, this lease expires at the end of October, will raise rent to $450/mo.
2) $500/mo 2 bdrm fully furnished, new lease at $550/mo started Oct 1.
3) $450/mo 2 bdrm not furnished
4) $425/mo 2 bdrm, tenant receives reduced rent to clean commons area
5) Vacant 2 bdrm
6) $450/mo 2 bdrm partially furnished, new lease at $500/mo started Sept 26th.
7) $450/mo 2 bdrm not furnished

8) $450/mo not furnished, tenant is leaving this month, will rent at $550/mo

They sent me the last 2 years taxes and the total yearly income was 19K in 2012 and 21K in 2013.

They these expenses for 2013

Advertising $74, Insurance $1824, Repairs $2234, Taxes $4457, Utilities $6848, Depreciation $1850

Rents received was $39095

This is in a very small tourist town as well.  It is all new to me so I am not sure what cap rates are normal and even if the price is good or way out of line.  You input is appreciated.

@Jason Evans For the money you have invested and the amount of money you can make, I would consider selling.  Get the money while you can.  Back about 8 yrs ago I had such hard time getting a loan and also insurance for my doublewide.  Granted mine was older than yours as well but most places told me that they would loan on them until about 15 yrs old or newer.  Insurance was somewhat weird as well.  Sometimes after a cetain age the insurance is either actual cash value or will change over to actual cash if they get too old.  Alot of headaches.  Not if it was something you only had 25K into and didn't have the chance to make the amount of money you can make if you sold it, then I would keep and rent out.  The double wide I had I bought for 13K, added a garage, mudroom, family room and another bedroom.  Split the land it was on then sold it.  I lived there for 9 yrs.  Figured I had maybe $40-50K into it when I was done and sold it for $115K.  It was such a relief to sell it.  I deal in single wides for rentals now but my invest is smaller as well.  What ever you decide, just make it work for your situation.

@Mike Gennaro Yeah I think there are some people out there doing it but maybe you don't here about them. I am just getting into mobile homes as well. Mainly because the numbers for SFR just don't come close to making it really and we actually have tons of mobile homes in this little town Im in. Finding a decent park that accepts rentals is another challenge as well. My thought was also the lower investment involved in the mobile homes and the rental returns are way more that SFR around here. My lots rents are in the low 200's and rents on the 16x80's should be in the 700-800 range. I think another downside is the renters you get can be more of a challenge as well in mobile homes. The one mobile home I bought was a steal granted it needed alot of work but in the end it will be well worth it. I think I could flip it and make $15K easy but if I rent it I could make that in a 1.5-2yrs and then the years after are even better. So we will see how it goes. I think the key is to not invest a ton into them, under 15-20K, sometimes under 5K as well.