All Forum Posts by: Paul Stout

I work in the field of the travelling craftsman. I am a Pipefitter by profession and I work in the oil refining business.  I have worked with thousands of "travelers" in my 18 year career and I have travelled myself so I can tell you that many of them are not hard to please.  Many of them are looking for the cheapest rent available and many have their own trailers.  I have known quite a few who have lived for years on primitive lots and pulled their trailer to a nearby station for emptying/filling.  If there is a nearby station this may be an option.  Or it may be worth investing in a central emptying/filling station.  The development expenses and permitting lead times should be drastically reduced.  The municipality may be more open to a primative camping spaces than mobile home or RV spaces.  Your lot rents will be much lower than others in the area and will attract many travelers.  Most travelers are given a per diem.  The more they can save on housing the more per diem they have to drink and party with.  Just remember that you will be chasing these people for money constantly so no management is risky.  I have spoken to mobile home park owners who have rented to a large number of travelers and they tend to be the worst paying tenants they have.  They typically paid but it was hard to get them to remember to pay and pay on time.  On the plus side they did pay the late fees.  They often work odd and long hours so they can be hard to track down.  Its not that they don't have the money its just that paying rent is not their primary thought. Many work 12-14 hours a day 6-7 days a week and want to eat, drink and have fun when they are not working. This is counter intuitive since your credit check will show that they almost always will have better credit and higher wages than anyone else in the park.  The average traveler will make 6 figures.  Most of them are travelers because they chase the highest pay and most overtime.  They are used to meager accommodations.    It can be a lucrative business if you know your dangers and make a plan to deal with them.  Don't get me wrong, they are not all bad at paying and party animals.  Many are good, responsible and hard working people.  The money you can generate from late fees and from the good paying tenants should more than make up for the maniacs.  If the work in the area is at chemical plants then I would say the majority will be Pipefitters.  They are a little crazy but most are good people.  You probably wont get any business from Electricians since they will stay at the swankiest hotels in town and will be in the spa getting manicures and having their work clothes cleaned and pressed when they are off work.  Its the Boiler Makers and Millwrights you really have to watch out for ;)

Thank you @Jeffrey H. I actually intended to list credit cards as another option and I would like to hear others experience with credit cards.  

Thank you @Account Closed you added another one I didn't list, online pay.  Keep them coming I would like to hear what has and hasn't worked for everyone and why.

How do you gain access to this @Ken Rishel

I know this question will bring a vast array of ideas and supporting stories but I want to know what you park owners and operators out there do for collections.  If you own or manage a mobile home park and collect rent I would like to hear about it.  Do you pay a manager to collect the rent?  Do you collect yourself?  Do you accept cash?  Do you invoice your tenants or do you tell them upfront what to pay and when then wait for the money?  Do you have your tenants send the money to a PO Box?  Do you have your tenants deposit the money into a local bank?  Do you have an on-site drop box?  There are a lot of different ways and ideas and I would like to hear yours.  I would like to keep this discussion to actual owners or managers that are doing this now or have done it in the past.  I would also like to keep it to mobile home parks.  Please explain how you invoice and collect and why you think it is the best way for you.  Please feel free to share systems that you have used in the past that have not worked and why they did not work.  I look forward to all of your input! 

The fact that this park is empty makes it very difficult to put a price to it.  Mobile home parks are not normally priced on the comparable method.  Most parks are unique in one or more ways making this method nearly impossible to use.  The replacement value method is also very unreliable although it may be worth a look in the case of an empty park.  They are typically evaluated on an income basis which in this case is zero.  If the area were red hot for low income housing, the homes were repairable as the owner claims and the lot rent justified the cost of renovation, maybe this park would be worth it.  You may not be able to fix the homes at all and it may cost you thousands of dollars to remove the junk that is there.  You do not want to pay based on what the park could bring in.  If it were that simple the current owner would have done that.  My personal feeling is walk away.  There is nothing there to work with.  The park is small, the homes are not inhabitable and the market is probably questionable since there is nobody living there now.  If the commercial value of the land is above the asking price and the market wants mobile homes it may be worth a shot but probably not.

Joseph Curosh III Attorney in Downtown Witing

219659 1151

That's good to hear @Account Closed  Sometimes you need one.  I'm still searching for mine.

@Adrien C.

If you don't ask the answer is always "no".

Most municipalities list their codes and ordinances online.  Many of them are very helpful over the phone as well.  As stated before, nothing is true unless you have it in writing.