All Forum Posts by: Dmitri K.

Roger, We have a 55+ RV park that's mostly occupied by "snow birds". So it's really what this park is all about. 

All, I wanted to see if any owners of RV parks could share some recommendations for RV listing/advertising sites.
We are specifically trying to attract more snowbirds and wanted to solicit any opinion on such sites as: https://rvlife.com or www.goodsam.com
As they worth the trouble/money? How do you attract new seasonal tenants?

Thank you.

Evaluated many. Ended up using cozy. Very simple for both landlord and tenants. Best for smaller owners that self-manage. And Its free!!!

@Garrett Tucker, i think you also need to look at it from the Park Owner/ Manager perspective. They have to be firm and enforce the park rules for everyone equally. Otherwise they are running the risk of getting fined by the city and/or people taking it lightly and starting to keep junk or non-working items on their premises and eventually turning the park into a car junk yard.

With that said, i don't think any reasonable manager  would refuse a request to postpone this by a couple of weeks (if that's what we are talking about). Just approach them, explain when your would be in a position to address the issue and why. In the mean time promise to put a car-cover over. I don't see why they would refuse it. Being upfront and polite about this is your best weapon.

I can't speak to the legal aspects of this, but i would assume they have the right to tow. Most likely this is outlined in the park rules. 

Good luck

Yes, if it fails - you park will not generate enough income to build up reserves to replace the system. 

If it fails and you can't repair it - you might also be responsible for clean up. I am not an expert on lagoon systems, but i would not consider anything else till i am sure that this lagoon will not kill my park and me financially. 

@Dan Palumbo, even at full occupancy  i don't this park will be able to support a lagoon system. (unless there is a cheap option to connect to city)

It would cost you at least $15k to get a new MH online.  Again, might be capital intensive to get this to full occupancy. 

Is this in California?  

Can you raise rents significantly? Is there any other upside aside from brining new homes?

@Dan Palumbo, sorry for being blunt, but this sounds like a terrible deal. I would not take it even it was free.

This park will die as soon as the lagoon system fails. I don't know exactly how much a new lagoon would cost, but in the hundreds of thousands. 

Why would you want to have 8 tenants on your hand to just make $200 a month?

Total lot income: 54*450*12*0.5 (50% expense ratio as you have 2 private utilities) = $145,800

You also have 28 POH - say at $5000 each?  = $140,000

If you deduct POH price from asking price you are at 2.6mil - 140,000 = $2,460,000 asking price for lots only.

That gives you a cap rate of ~6%? 

Maybe more seasoned MHP investors can chime in but this looks expensive. Unless you are in California.

The rent is high, so there might be some reason to take that into account when evaluating this park, but i would still not cap the rent income and just pay a fair value on homes.

If they are good homes - maybe the $5k per home is low - but still, this is way high in my opinion.

Plus, he is running a park with so many rentals and 2 private utilities at a 25% expense ratio - also does not look right to me.

@David Marsceau , if it were me, i would look into buying a SFH or a Duplex rental leveraging your 30k as a downpayment. Mobile homes don't appreciate and are not RE asset. You will most likely not be able to cover the cost of mobile home depreciation + lot rent + repairs with that $700 a month income. 

I also doubt that someone will give a HELOC loan on a MH. 

In my mind - it's a headache not worth taking.

@Dustin DeSmith, (disclosure) i don't own any MHP, but on the surface this looks like a viable investment.

It's a smaller park, so it would not be as liquid, as many investors are looking for larger parks.

You might have a hard time finding a bank to finance a deal of such size. So i would make sure you can secure financing either via a local bank or seller finance.

I would definitely check on the area statistics and make sure there is a demand for the park by placing a test ad on craigslist. I've head a lot of times when all these renters are nothing but bodies that were placed on the lease just to sell the park.

Do a good diligence before you buy. Check bank statements to make sure that collections are solid, check leases to make sure that not all 21 of your tenants just signed a lease 2 weeks ago. Check that there are no major issues with the infrastructure or environment, as it would be hard to address those from a cash flow of a park of this size.

There are quite a few good things about the  park - city water and sewer! Good occupancy and just 1 park owned home. And as i mentioned - the price looks reasonable.

Good luck.