Mobile Homes in the Tampa Bay region
Clearwater, FL · Member since 2019 · 4 posts · 2 votes
My wife and I are interested in investing in mobile homes in the Tampa Bay region, unfortunately for us we’ve run into a bunch of homes for sale in 55+ communities. This is unfortunate because we are both in our 30’s and none of the communities will allow anyone under the age of 40 to apply for the community. We’ve missed on great opportunities because of this. Can anyone provide advise on how to get around this roadblock, if possible?
Hello Jesse Gaytan, My friend started out 30 years ago as Rental Manager for a businessman who owned 500 rental properties in Tampa. He learned the business and started buying single and double wides and manufactured homes on single lots with their own wells and septic. Richard would look for cheap, single lots, mostly in Lutz and move on a doublewide trailer that he could buy for cheap...like $3000 and dig a well to put in septic and set up another rental. You could find some homes that were going for $3000 and put $3000 in them, trim the trees, build a front porch, new insides throughout and rent for $1000 a month. He found a couple of cheap trailer parks in New Tampa and Holiday to buy. My handyman did a lot of the work and one trailer even had an oak tree growing up through the livingroom. Richard would prop up the box and strip out all the wallboard, flooring and install PVC water pipes, new wire and everything just like a renovated house. New septic field if needed and pump for the well or drill a new well to get them going. Richard ended up with 90 separate trailer lots around Hillsborough County. He manages everything on his own, driving around 24 hours a day collecting the rents etc. You start out with your own Cash and get one lot going. When that is producing Free Cash Flow, it helps to Finance the next one. As things got going Richard would Bundle single mortgages into Jumbo loans at better rates for more Cash back and buy more lots. Richard is the only Investor I know who survived the 2008 Economic Collapse without losing any properties. His business is a huge Cash Cow. The problem at the moment is finding single lots with manufactured homes For Sale. My roofer is wanting to move from Thonotosassa near to Brandon and I did a Search last week for him for single lots with manufactured homes and there are none. I did find a good one in a small Community where you own the lot and it has a really nice manufactured home, ready to go. There is an HOA fee as there are facilities in the Community with pool and they can Finance the property if you need. To start out, this one is really close to a Turn Key that would work for a rental that I have found. I have a booklet from an old timer from the Investors Club in Clearwater that shows you "How to make a Million with Trailer Rentals." Do your Search online for youtube videos to show you the way. The problem with the Parks and Land Lease without owning the Lot is that it is the Land that Appreciates over time and not the home. The other problem is your clientele...
@Jesse Gaytan How has your Tampa bay mobile home investing gone so far? I am very interested in that space, how can we connect?
@Jesse Gaytan You can always find a partner to work with. Another option is to look at other parks without those restrictions. Best of luck!
Hello Jesse Gaytan, My friend started out 30 years ago as Rental Manager for a businessman who owned 500 rental properties in Tampa. He learned the business and started buying single and double wides and manufactured homes on single lots with their own wells and septic. Richard would look for cheap, single lots, mostly in Lutz and move on a doublewide trailer that he could buy for cheap...like $3000 and dig a well to put in septic and set up another rental. You could find some homes that were going for $3000 and put $3000 in them, trim the trees, build a front porch, new insides throughout and rent for $1000 a month. He found a couple of cheap trailer parks in New Tampa and Holiday to buy. My handyman did a lot of the work and one trailer even had an oak tree growing up through the livingroom. Richard would prop up the box and strip out all the wallboard, flooring and install PVC water pipes, new wire and everything just like a renovated house. New septic field if needed and pump for the well or drill a new well to get them going. Richard ended up with 90 separate trailer lots around Hillsborough County. He manages everything on his own, driving around 24 hours a day collecting the rents etc. You start out with your own Cash and get one lot going. When that is producing Free Cash Flow, it helps to Finance the next one. As things got going Richard would Bundle single mortgages into Jumbo loans at better rates for more Cash back and buy more lots. Richard is the only Investor I know who survived the 2008 Economic Collapse without losing any properties. His business is a huge Cash Cow. The problem at the moment is finding single lots with manufactured homes For Sale. My roofer is wanting to move from Thonotosassa near to Brandon and I did a Search last week for him for single lots with manufactured homes and there are none. I did find a good one in a small Community where you own the lot and it has a really nice manufactured home, ready to go. There is an HOA fee as there are facilities in the Community with pool and they can Finance the property if you need. To start out, this one is really close to a Turn Key that would work for a rental that I have found. I have a booklet from an old timer from the Investors Club in Clearwater that shows you "How to make a Million with Trailer Rentals." Do your Search online for youtube videos to show you the way. The problem with the Parks and Land Lease without owning the Lot is that it is the Land that Appreciates over time and not the home. The other problem is your clientele...
@Don Draper So far we’ve got one deal under our belt and currently actively looking for the next. Since it was our first there were many things we learned from the deal. Fortunately we were able to get into an age restricted park by having someone within age apply for the park. How’s your journey gone so far? I am always down to link up with like minded individuals.
@Michael Haynes I appreciate the post. This will help greatly for future endeavors.
Hello Jesse Gaytan, Your a local in Clearwater. I had rentals in S. Tampa for 30 years. I don't know much about the other side of the Bay, but, if you are looking at investing in mobile and manufactured homes, St. Petersburg is full of them. The problem is the Communities and that is why my friend would find a lot and moved a used double-wide onto the lot with well and septic tank to rent, individually. When he got enough of those going in Lutz, then, he did Jumbo Loans to keep getting more of Other People's Money to buy a couple, distressed, Trailer Parks etc. There used to be an "Inventors" Club and an "Investors Exchange" Club in Clearwater. They were the ones who did Big Deals around town and the Clubs were private. One of their members was Lonnie Scruggs who is the Author of "Deals on Wheels." I have his book, "Making Money with Mobile Homes." He was the one to study for that type of investing. The Florida guy to go to for Buying and Selling Notes, was Jimmie Napier and I saw Lonnie at one of his meetings. Jimmie's book is, "Invest in Debt," the "how to" book on buying Paper for Cash Flow. When anyone tells you that, "Knowledge is Power..." I think of Jimmie Napier. He's like a horse trader and a used car salesman with the "good ole boy" attitude about anything Financial. I never met another guy who knew how to make more Deals and make them seem easy. Hope that helps.