Website for industry trends

[Bryan H.]

So I'm working on my business plan for a mobile home park. Looking for sources that provide statistics and industry trends. I found a couple but not sure about how reliable the data actually is.

http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/default.aspx?indid=1352
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/industries/Finance-Insurance-Real-Estate/Operators-Residential-Mobile-Home-Sites.html

Anyone have a reliable source that I can reference?

[Bill W.]

Originally posted by Bryan Hennen:

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/industries/Finance-Insurance-Real-Estate/Operators-Residential-Mobile-Home-Sites.html

The second article seems like a relatively accurate portrayal of the mobile home park industry in 1996, when it was written. You could focus on getting current numbers to data provided and use the information to determine trends.

One item that I would take exception to is the manner in which they dismiss the expense of developing a park. They call the expense negligible to bring in water, sewer, electric and gas but in actuality it is around $5k per lot in my area. Often times, that expense is more than the cost of the land per lot. If you 're trying to develop a 50 or 100 unit park, that is a lot of cash on hand you need in order to fuel the development.

If you're looking for a consultant to come in provide this analysis, there are a handful of people who do that on a regular basis.