Deal I Didn’t Do #1: 12-Pad Mobile Home Park + House

[Shuff Mauldin]

I’ve started documenting some of the deals I didn’t do. It’s a healthy exercise for me to look back and question my evaluations with the benefit of hindsight, and I think it can also be useful to others. 

The setup:
This was one of the first deals I looked at right after BiggerPockets Conference 2018. Honestly, I never would’ve even approached it if I hadn’t walked out of that event with confidence.

• 12-pad mobile home park with a brick house in the middle

• Family-owned by an older lady who had done an ok job keeping it up

• Located just outside the city so great taxes, good schools, with the benefit of city utilities. 

• Asking price: $200k, contracted at $175k

At the time, I had no clue how to underwrite a mobile home park. I just plugged numbers into the BP Buy & Hold calculator which I dont recommend.  Here are my numbers and thoughts on the after the fact:

• Taxes: $1,560 (those were her taxes... mine would have been double)

• Estimated ARV: $250k (I had zero clue how to calculate ARV for a MHP... complete guess)

• Closing: $3,500

• Rehab: $22,500 (way way off which ill get into)

• Gross rent: $2,850mo.  $750 for the house + 12 pads at $175.  (both were pretty accurate in 2018)

• Garbage: $500/mo (accurate if not a little high)

• Insurance: $130/mo (way low... it would have been closer to $400)

• Vacancy 5%, repairs 1%, CapEx 5%, management 0% — all way too low

Red flags I ignored at first:

During the house walk-through, we were a little drunk with excitement (don’t do that).  Windows in random rooms were covered in condensation with no clear explanation.  It was odd and still has me scratching my head.  The house had been added onto multiple times by non-pros. It looked good from the street, but wonky and just felt… off.

That odd feeling sobered me up enough to dig deeper.  Once I started digging and adding up the real costs that needed to happen I knew the seller wasn't going to come off that much.  I also knew someone else was going to ignore these items and pay her what she wanted.  She was disappointed but we exited on good terms (and someone paid what she wanted). 

Issues with the park itself:

• Beautiful but way too many large trees — removal would cost a fortune.

• Roots were wrecking the utilities.  Several pads were basically unusable because of trees.

• What would have happened:

• If I had moved forward, the entire project would have unraveled quickly. The $22,500 rehab estimate I had in my spreadsheet would have ballooned just on the house alone — likely $40–50k or more once the structural and moisture issues were uncovered. On top of that, tree removal and utility repair would have eaten through tens of thousands of dollars I hadn’t planned for.

  And then there were the blind spots I hadn’t even considered. Because the park was using city utilities, annexation was always a possibility. Sure enough, the city eventually annexed the park, and overnight the property taxes quadrupled while the schools went from some of the best in the county to some of the worst in the city. That one factor alone would have crushed my entire investment thesis.

  I also never budgeted a dime for the condition of the drive. It was a dirt road, and there’s no way you can command top rents when residents are driving through mud to get home. Maintaining and upgrading roads in a park is not optional, but because I didn’t yet understand what makes a good mobile home park, I ignored it completely.

  Looking back, this deal wasn’t just a potential money pit — it was the kind of deal that could have set me back years. One bad purchase like this would have undone the progress from three good ones.

Lessons learned:

• Don’t pretend you can underwrite a different asset class with the wrong calculator & if BP

  has book on said asset class buy it, read it, and do what it says. 

• Be brutally honest with yourself about repairs and expenses.

• Don’t get drunk on the idea of a deal working.  You will overlook what you shouldn't. 

• Ask the seller but always, always, always confirm/validate.

When was a time you got an odd "feelin" about a deal — and did it prove you right?