All Forum Posts by: James Dickens

@Zak Dahl first off congrats at finding this deal. If you haven't already I would suggest reading the Mobile Home Park Manifesto by Glenn Esterson. You may also want to get a broker involved on your side of a deal as they could help assess the park for you. Glenn actually gives his number out freely so it may be worth picking up the phone and talking to him. $600 per month lot rent is quite high especially for being on dirt. What other types of infrastructure does it have? That will make a big difference in what you should offer. 

Not sure what you are referring to in attracting owner financing but there are some articles you can find here and on the web about approaching an owner about their willingness to owner finance. If you are looking for investors/partners to bring money to a deal that is something else. 

I hope it works out for you and I look forward to the success story if you do move forward with it. 

Working my way through the MHP Manifesto and it is giving me great insight into how to value an MHP. I highly recommend it. Thanks @Kaiser J. and @Jack Martin for your responses. 

I have been researching MHP strategy for lack of a better term and I have come across 3 primary operational methods and am wondering which is best (if any?) in your opinion.

1. Rent the pads and don’t have any POH’s (Pad Rent Only)
2. Rent the pads and convert some or all of the park into Lease/Purchases POH’s (Pad Rent, Monthly Lease until Purchase)
3. Rent the pads and fill with POH’s (Pad Rent and POH Rent)

I know that these can a bit subjective and also can be mixed and matched as needed. I guess where I am getting a bit off in my thinking is the value of the park is different in each scenario or is it?

If I’m making 10K per month pad only but if filled with POH’s maybe it brings in 30K per month. That’s quite a bit of difference. So how do you balance that out when looking at a park to purchase or putting together your Pro Forma so you an set your targets and track progress?

I know you add headache and expense with POH’s and to some extent with Lease to Own but I’m really only looking at the overall cost/value aspect and how that differs or is the same for each strategy type.

How do you evaluate when looking at parks that are being run in any of these ways to be able to compare apples to apples?

Welcome, @Adam Espeut! You should check out the BP Meetup hosted by @Robert Leonard. There is a pretty good group of people here from Lafayette and South Louisiana so I'm sure you can find what you are looking for in connections. 

I hope you achieve your Goal and looking forward to hearing your success story! 

Strange that it's not letting me @ you without the quote. 

The people I know are mainly via Facebook and not close connections. If you can send me some details on it I would send them PMs and see if I get a bite and happy to pass on the info if I do. 

You can PM me or send me an email which you can find on my profile because BP won't let me post it here in the body of a message. 

I know of a couple of investors but New Iberia is a bit Stagenent at the moment. One of the reasons I'm looking at Multi.

@Steven DeHart Great! and it sounds like Lake Charles has a meetup as well which is very cool. May have to try and make it over to that meeting sometime. 

So far no deals but I spent a lot of time chasing the shiny penny. Everything new that I discovered looked good. Now I have my focus and am working with a couple of out of state Syndication Groups now and waiting on that next deal. I think the greatest take away for me is to be Focused on what you want and Networking is your greatest tool (and my weakest skill). 

All the Best!

Welcome aboard @Steven DeHart! Where in SW LA are you? Lafayette has a meetup that may be close enough for you to attend. And if it makes you feel any better you are not the only old newbie here :) I'm in my 50s and just getting started as well. I hope you find what you are looking for and if you want to connect just send me a PM. My focus is more in Muli-Family but still always good to build out your network because that will be your most important tool. 

@Andre Jernigan You have a Bright Future ahead of you! Well written post and lots of great responses! I wish I was still in my 20's and just starting out but I wasn't that smart :) 

@Canesha Edwards That's Outstanding! Great Work and I hope it all goes well for you. It's good to hear that getting into Syndication can be done without going the Guru route to get started. It just takes a bit of grinding and networking to get it done. All the Best!