This is one chapter from the book I am writing and will be included in my mentoring program in the future. Give me your input or ideas please.



There are several reasons why I believe that park managers are the fastest road to success with finding good deals on mobile homes. Every mobile home that I have purchased was from a referral from a park manger and they were great prices. I have spent many thousands of dollars trying to find mobile homes in other ways and all I did was lose dollars pursing over priced deals.. I even acquired a TX Retail Brokers License and wasted time with the Repos. I have let my license expire as of the moment and I will renew before I wish to sell. All the license did was change my mindset for the negative.

Many of the individuals are just to lazy to do the footwork required to find a good deal on a mobile home. Or to timid to go though the mobile home parks and speak to the people that live their, due to stereotype which are all to often true.

You have no choice but speak with the park manager, so you should do it first off this is a good approach for the timid. If you spend some time with a park manager they will very often bring the deals to you.

The best method is to approach a park manager is as an investor. When I go to the park office and ask for a few minutes of their time. I will simply sit down and tell them I am an investor looking to acquire and possible move a few mobile homes into their park. Generally they will not question you. I then ask them a few questions about the park.

There are many things you must know from the manager.

1) Do they allow Investors in their park?

This simply lets you know if rental homes are allowed. If they do not, find out if they are interested in buying some of your mobile homes in the future as they most likely own a large percentage of the homes in the park and owner finance or rent to own these homes themselves.

2) What are the current lot rents?

When you find out the lot rents, make sure the manager knows that you will be paying the lot rents directly to her and not your tenants making the payments. This lets her know there is less headaches for her and the payments will always be on time. You are renting the lot space, they are renting a mobile home from you.

3) When is payment due?

This is obvious; also find out what day payment is late? This should never be a problem as you are paying the lot rents yourself, not the tenant.

4.) Find out if your tenants can drop off their rent checks at her onsite office if they have one and you can pick them up there when you bring your monthly lot rents?

If you give him/her park manager a little money every month, she can often start the eviction process for you if tenants are late by posted your states required X day vacate notice. In Houston Texas it is 3 days before you set the court date for the eviction if they do not bring their account current and pay all the glorious late fees. Again make sure you pay her for any fees that were occurred while beginning the eviction process.

4) What is the maximum age of a home allowed in the park?

This is very important as it will give you a good idea of the quality and value of the park. I also believe it is much easier to sell in a nicer park. From personal pains I have learned that a park that allows homes over 20 years of age to be moved into it, is going to be a headache when it come time to sell. Many of these parks are truly trailer parks and they have the reputations that we have all come to fear. High drug, gangs and prostitution problems often accompany these park. Well at least in the Houston TX area. Things could be very different where you reside.

I have learned that older homes have too many repairs for their worth and it is difficult to get a tenant buyer in them. If you find a home that is just to sweet of a deal to pass up and you buy it for VERY cheap, you can try and market it as a handy man special and still sell for 2 times what you purchased it for with great financing rates. Please check state laws for how they define “Habitable†before you sell. If you do buy an older home, do not move the home if you can avoid it. It may fall apart while it is being moved.

6) Do the homes require skirting? And does the tongue have to be removed?

You need to know these things, as tongue removal and skirting are extra money you must add to your moving and installation fees. I prefer homes in nicer parks that require such skirting. Homes with no skirting are often used as storage areas for the MH owners junk. This drops the appearance of the whole park. Thus resulting in it becoming more difficult for you to locate your tenant/buyer. We have also seen cats and other animals tear into the ac duct work and make a nice air conditioned house for themselves and their litter. You don’t want to see the electricity bill when this happen to you. Put on the skirting.

7) What services does the park offer? Such as Lawn Maintenance, Trash Dumpster, Water, Laundry Swimming pool, recreation area?

What is paid for by the park and what is paid for by the tenants? Water and sewage are two of the greatest monthly expenses that a park owner must pay. In return they can make quite a difference in the monthly lot rent if they are paid by the park.

8) Do they have a maintenance man that will set up the electricity, AC, water etc after the home is moved into the park, and does he work on the side and does he have the current license?

I try to keep all of my money spent in the same park where my homes are located as it builds a loyalty base. Also you are seen as a friend and not just an investor. A friend is a great thing to be with the park employees.. Do not be a friend with your tenants unless you like losing money and experiencing a ton of drama every month.

9) Find out what they offer you to motivate you to move your homes into their park. My favorite park allows us to move our homes into them and they do not charge us lot rent until we have a tenant in the home. This saves use several hundreds of dollars each time. This process amazes me, How many homes can you place in one park. This is truly a wonderful thing for an investor. Let’s suppose over a few years you move 15 - 20 homes into a 60 unit park. How much control do you now have over that park 33% I am sure you are an asset to the park owners. now and your actions and the actions of your tenants can make quite a difference In the value of their park.

Allow the manager the chance to work for you.

After you have this basic conversation mentioned above and build some rapport. Find out if they know of any mobile homes that are for sale in their park by personal owners. You will be pleased to find out that when individuals in the park chose to sell their home, the first person they often contact is the park manager and see if the park would like to buy their home. Even if the park buys mobile home in their parks be sure to find out and check with them often.

The second mobile home I ever purchased was through this manner, This home was in a park that generally buys all the newer home for sale by individual owners with clear title. Lucky for me this park had too many empty homes on their books at the previous time and they were not buying any more until their inventory was sold.

This home was less than 10 years of age, I purchased it from a man whos job sent him out of state. Obviously he was not going to pay several thousands of dollars to move it across state lines and then it may not have been the correct wind zone for his new location. Long story short, I purchased this home for $7,000.00 I put in new carpet and paint $1,500.00. The home was sold within 1 month for $16,000 cash. This really excited me as many people told me you can never sell a home for that much cash. Remember people to weak to follow their own dreams will always do their best to discourage yours. I would have never found this home without following up and offering a referral fee to the park manager. I think I paid her $150.00. That is cheap. How much advertising can you do in the local papers for $150.00? Not much.

Let the Manager sell the home for you.

As of today I have never found a manager in an investor friendly park that was not more than happy to sell the home for you.

If possible, the phone # I put on all advertisement to sell the home will be the park managers number. Offer her what you both agree is a fair amount. This is particularly effective if you are planning on financing the sale of this home. I would never allow anyone other than a cash buyer to move my home, so the home will remain in the park.

When the manager finds a buyer that meets your qualifications he/she has to be involved anyway as it is her job to make sure they meet the requirements to live in the park. They will handle the background check, credit check and rental history for your tenant buyer. Remember just because they have cash does not mean the park rules will allow them to reside there. If your buyer can not live in a mobile home park, they are probably a piece of trash you don’t want in your home anyhow.

Once again, when the papers are signed, immediately give the manager her referral fees in cash. The more money you put in her hands when buying or selling a mobile home, the better birddog she will become.