Mobile Homes in California
Jonathon MoorePro Member
Member since 2019 · 12 posts · 3 votesHi all. I am looking into potentially purchasing mobile homes and renting them out in California. I have a lot of questions, so I am wondering if anyone can direct me to some good resources for this? My biggest question is whether or not a tenant can be charged the cost of space rent in their monthly payments?
For example:
Mortgage = $500
Space rent = $500
Can the tenant be charged $1,000?
Thanks all!
Hi Jonathon,
This is a topic that interests me, as well. In my opinion, if you can find a mobile home park where you either own the individual parcel of land on which the home sits, or a mobile home park that has converted into a Coop ownership model (where you buy the mobile home and a share of ownership of the land, with rights to your space), then you are better off. Of course, these parks are rare and more expensive to get into, but potentially still less than a townhouse of similar size.
The coop mobile home park where I own did not used to allow for rentals (or subleasing, depending on who you ask), but with CA's passage of Assembly Bill 3182 last year, that changed. AB 3182 mandates that coops, HoA's and other similar organizations allow for at least 25% of the total number of homes to be permitted for rental (or subleasing). With this change, we decided to rent out our manufactured/ mobile home, and it's going well so far. I'm considering similar future investments, but still researching our options. Of course we are responsible for the monthly assessment whether or not we have tenants.
I'm not sure how a park with space rent may or may not be impacted by AB 3182, but I would be curious to find out if anyone here knows! If subleasing is allowed in parks with space rent, then of course you would still need to pay the space rent, with or without a tenant, but you could price your rent to factor in that expense. Put another way, I think the answer to your question is "yes", but the challenge is finding a park where you can pull this off (not to mention limited financing options, so hopefully you have cash).
Nick
Hi Jonathon,
This is a topic that interests me, as well. In my opinion, if you can find a mobile home park where you either own the individual parcel of land on which the home sits, or a mobile home park that has converted into a Coop ownership model (where you buy the mobile home and a share of ownership of the land, with rights to your space), then you are better off. Of course, these parks are rare and more expensive to get into, but potentially still less than a townhouse of similar size.
The coop mobile home park where I own did not used to allow for rentals (or subleasing, depending on who you ask), but with CA's passage of Assembly Bill 3182 last year, that changed. AB 3182 mandates that coops, HoA's and other similar organizations allow for at least 25% of the total number of homes to be permitted for rental (or subleasing). With this change, we decided to rent out our manufactured/ mobile home, and it's going well so far. I'm considering similar future investments, but still researching our options. Of course we are responsible for the monthly assessment whether or not we have tenants.
I'm not sure how a park with space rent may or may not be impacted by AB 3182, but I would be curious to find out if anyone here knows! If subleasing is allowed in parks with space rent, then of course you would still need to pay the space rent, with or without a tenant, but you could price your rent to factor in that expense. Put another way, I think the answer to your question is "yes", but the challenge is finding a park where you can pull this off (not to mention limited financing options, so hopefully you have cash).
Nick
@Jonathon Moore It will depend on the paperwork and how you set things up. You may want to check with the park(s) you plan to do business with to see how they prefer to do it. Personally, I've done it both ways. Though, I prefer the tenants to pay the park directly (versus me paying the lot rent and collecting it from the tenants with the monthly payment).
Hope that helps!
Hi Jonathon,
This is a topic that interests me, as well. In my opinion, if you can find a mobile home park where you either own the individual parcel of land on which the home sits, or a mobile home park that has converted into a Coop ownership model (where you buy the mobile home and a share of ownership of the land, with rights to your space), then you are better off. Of course, these parks are rare and more expensive to get into, but potentially still less than a townhouse of similar size.
The coop mobile home park where I own did not used to allow for rentals (or subleasing, depending on who you ask), but with CA's passage of Assembly Bill 3182 last year, that changed. AB 3182 mandates that coops, HoA's and other similar organizations allow for at least 25% of the total number of homes to be permitted for rental (or subleasing). With this change, we decided to rent out our manufactured/ mobile home, and it's going well so far. I'm considering similar future investments, but still researching our options. Of course we are responsible for the monthly assessment whether or not we have tenants.
I'm not sure how a park with space rent may or may not be impacted by AB 3182, but I would be curious to find out if anyone here knows! If subleasing is allowed in parks with space rent, then of course you would still need to pay the space rent, with or without a tenant, but you could price your rent to factor in that expense. Put another way, I think the answer to your question is "yes", but the challenge is finding a park where you can pull this off (not to mention limited financing options, so hopefully you have cash).
Nick
Hello Nick, thanks for your replay on this matter, I would like to invest in Mobile Home as rentals, however most of the manager don't allow tenants, however i found one in Indio where they do with restrictions like 9 months only, don't know what restriction is for?
@Karim Manuel Almandos That's very interesting to hear about the 9 months only restriction in a park you found. I've never heard of that. Will be interesting to hear what others have to say about this and if they've ever encountered it with the parks they work with.
I'm also very curious to know the reason for the restriction. Good question!
@Jonathon Moore I would first start by going to your local city/county to see if there are any rent restrictions on rent prices and if the property even allows for LTR/STR. Unlike CA, rent costs are not restricted so really, any landlord can charge whatever they want for their property. As others may have varying opinion, I personally would stay out of mobile homes as an investment based on cost of repairs, future financing and ability to resale.
Hi all. I am looking into potentially purchasing mobile homes and renting them out in California. I have a lot of questions, so I am wondering if anyone can direct me to some good resources for this? My biggest question is whether or not a tenant can be charged the cost of space rent in their monthly payments?
For example:
Mortgage = $500
Space rent = $500
Can the tenant be charged $1,000?
Thanks all!
You need to talk to Andy Teasley, send me a message and I'll find his contact info.