What I Have Learned From Living In a Trailer Park With My Tenants

Last month, my company closed a mobile home park. We partnered with an experienced operator in order to secure financing and execute on the turnaround. We negotiated to be the onsite managers for an extended period of time. 

We want this experience for several reasons: 

First, we want to be competent operators. In the short time we have been in the industry, we have come across several players that don't operate their properties. In other words, they are in the business of purchasing assets but not operating them. Mobile home parks aren't like apartment complexes where you can hire third party management. Active investors need to understand the mechanics of the operation. 

Second, we want to appease any future investor that might question our age and deal experience. Living in a double-wide on a blow-up mattress should mollify any objections. 

Lastly, we want to better understand our tenant base. We want to be cognizant of their biggest fears and interests to better serve our tenants. At the end of the day, we are delivering a service, and we aspire to be better than our competition. 

In the past month, I've learned a few things: 

- Everyone, regardless of income level or ethnicity, wants a clean and safe place to live. Safety is one of the most frequently asked questions. 

- Not all complaints are real issues. Certain people are never happy or work off false information. One woman swore her home was infested with mold. Her nurses advised she get the issue resolved immediately. Upon inspection, there was no mold to be found, only a paranoid old woman that rearranged her home for something that didn't exist. 

- Word of mouth marketing among your tenants attracts better quality prospects than Craigslist. Mobility among the working class is limited so proximity to family is important. It is not uncommon to have several generations living in one household.

- People need to be disciplined or they will flirt with the boundaries. If someone knows they can avoid cutting their grass for three weeks, soon more residents follow suit. 

- Mobile homes have very thin walls with little insulation that make it extraordinary difficult for a HVAC to cool a home in the blistering Southern heat. This maintenance expense alone has materially changed my view on park-owned homes. 

As we continue to work through this turn around, I will share more insights on the mobile home park industry and client base. Stay tuned!