All Forum Posts by: Chris Ebert

@David Hedges, if you are looking at following the rules to a T and auctioned off the home, at the end of the day, you can outbid everyone

@Sara Hopson, posting a notice on the door is valid in the state of NC under statute 42-3 ("there shall be implied a forfeiture of the term upon failure to pay the rent within 10 days after a demand is made by the lessor or his agent on said lessee for all past-due rent"). Check with your local magistrate to confirm this applies for you. Then file for eviction immediately to get the clock started. Otherwise the tenant has no motivation to leave. To help in the future, you should check your state landlord/tenant statutes. NC has manufactured home specific statutes. I hope this helps.

@Reid Hanley, as always, please confirm with a local attorney, however, I don't see how giving a home away would fall under DF or SAFE as there is no mortgage involved. If you were to sell the home you would need to check with state regulations for licensing as a mobile home dealer. Giving it away appears to be the same as gifting so maybe check for rules around that? I hope this helps. 

@Mike Blackwood, Craigslist is your best bet for used homes. Also, network in the area. I have "a guy" who lets me know of used homes he can get in a certain market. 

@Reid Hanley , I assume you are local giving you the ability to accept cash? If you're leaving rent collections in the hands of a manager, then that's a no-go. If you are local, do you really want to go around personally collecting rents? Your time is spent better elsewhere (like buying more parks). 

When I first started, I had tenants deposit directly into our bank account. You can either preprint deposit slips for the year with the unit # and hand them out, or tell the tenants to write the unit # on the deposit slips at the bank. Depending on your bank, when deposits are made you can view deposit images online and update rent roll accordingly.

If you do feel the need to go around and collect I would recommend money orders and even have a secured drop box on site to cut down on the # of rounds you make. Also, I have never had a complaint about money orders.

@Kenton Coffman I could write pages outlining the benefits of mobile home park investing, however, there are plenty of blogs, articles and podcasts out there to answer that for you. What I will address is the "lack of interest" and "not achieving high occupancy" because I have never heard of this concern before regarding MHPs. Manufactured housing (aka mobile homes aka trailers) is a form of affordable housing and affordable housing isn't determined by "interest".

Owning a mobile home is the cheapest form of safe, private housing available in the United States. The average manufactured home costs  ~50% less on a per sq ft basis than a stick-built home while lot rents are generally at least 50% less than a 2-bed apartment in the same market. The best way for you to see for yourself is to run a test ad on Craigslist in an area you're considering buying and watch the response. Happy to discuss further. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

I wouldn't want to lead you astray. I know owners have been sued before over these types of arrangements. I use a lease-purchase option that was provided to me by my attorney.

Perfect scenario aka "parking lot" is a park with all tenant-owned homes with direct billed city sewer/water. This setup minimizes variable costs and capex needs so you can focus on the most important aspect of owning parks - rent collection.

This isn't to say that the other arrangements are bad, I own parks with septic systems, master-metered water, etc. I enjoy minimizing the volatility of my expenses so I can project out my cash flows with confidence. The volatility is the main reason I tested park-owned homes and am now selling them off. I hope this helps.

Check VMF Homes - https://vmfhomes.com/ or Craigslist

Many people swear by rent credits or lease-purchase options but there are myriad rules and nuisances to it. Definitely check with a local real estate attorney.