I didn't quite catch it, but is this just vacant/bare land with a shed on it, or is there a building or any improvements on it?

Wouldn't this be considered a capital improvement?

I'm glad you're realizing that you need to think about what you were doing wrong and improve, but simply heading for Jacksonville isn't the magic bullet - if you can't find good deals and buyers on your home turf, what makes you think you can find them elsewhere?

We lent $525,000, the borrower put down $100,000 plus an additional $125,000 to improve the park, the seller carried back the rest in a second.

Then do whatever you need to, to get it to it's highest potential (without over-improving) and cash out refinance and you should get most if not all of your cash out to do that again as many times as your lender will allow.

I guess the question is, how much value do I put on the improved MH lots?

Make no promises but let them know you are interested in keeping the place up and and may consider improvements.

I wasted some time, but fortunately I still got a new renter for the vacancy without costing me any money.Also, I know I've been over-improving my SFRs for rental purposes.

The golden rule is, purchase price plus improvements (hard costs) or the appraised value, which ever is less, then from that value the loan is made under the loan to value requirements.

I have looked at a few properties, but want to really improve myself in identifying potential problems in the first walk through so that i can avoid paying for inspections on properties i can rule out.also, this is a rookie question, but what do you guys typically bring with you to a first look?