I've love to hear from mobile home park owners or managers!  On the broader scale in general Midwest markets, how did mobile home parks fair during Covid (LAST 12 MONTHS)?  Were occupancy numbers up/down?  Was rental income steady/better/worse?  

Hey Grant, I own 5 parks in Indiana and the market during Covid was great. Our collections were normal (this I attribute to clear communication to residents up front) and demand is through the roof for good, clean homes. Happy to chat further if you have any additional questions.

@Grant R. I am not in the midwest, but we own about 550 mobile home pads right now in Arizona and our experience was the same.  Proper communication and management of the situation was pivotal as mentioned above, but the demand for home sales remained high and the pad rent was collected at essentially the same rate as pre-covid.  We worked with a handful of residents that truly did have a covid related hardship, and created a rent deferral program in those cases, which they caught up on once their hardship was resolved.  

The key here is tenant ownership. We assumed one single home that was a POH rental on an acquisition we made a few months prior to COVID and that single tenant had no vested interest in paying the rent. Not bad to only have 1 out of 550, but it just goes to show how important tenant ownership is. 

I also network hundreds of park owners and the feedback I have heard from those conversations would echo the above.  POH rentals and RV spaces can present potential for issues in a covid environment, but traditional mobile home park spaces are rock solid in our experience. 

I own 2 parks in Indiana and my experience is the same, with good communications and working with our residents, our collections have not been impacted, nor have I seen a taper in demand.

@Jeff Wallenius @Jack Martin @Mark Smith

Thank you all so much for your feedback. It's great to hear. I'm looking at a very small park to diversify from my site-built portfolio (Duplexes, SFH). A few of the homes are park-owned. Based on your advice here, and if the deal goes through, I will seek to sell those homes to tenants ASAP. Thanks again!!

@Grant R.

I don't own a park yet, but am in the market to buy one. Based on everything I have seen from other owners, the COVID impact has been minimal, as mentioned by the gentlemen above.

I think part of it is due to the nature of their work. Most residents have jobs that are considered "essential". In large part, they are the stereotypical blue-collar workforce. Much of their work is stable, hands-on, and in-person. Trades like truck drivers, EMTs, welders, and so forth cannot yet be shipped overseas or done over a Zoom meeting.  

@Andrew Thomas   Thanks for the feedback, sir!  I appreciate it.