Kyle,
Great questions. There are two real sets of buyers, individuals and institutions. Most individuals operate under the 100 pad number, and almost all institutions operate over it. So it is in the open, I used to teach / present at all MHPS Bootcamps when they started out. So I understand the material- we very well. I have also partnered with Dave on a couple of parks.
The great deals on The Mobile Home Park Store never see the public eye. If they are really good, they are weeded out and held internally for Dave and Frank to buy with their fund. The second stop for listings is there is an advanced list you can buy into- so prior to the deal hitting the website a select group that purchases advanced assess goes over the listings. So the deals that really hit the website have been picked over twice, and your probably 3-5 days late in seeing the listing. So not much sneaks through that filter. Loppnet can have some good listing- but it is a footrace. I called on a deal once, and so did Dave Reynolds. He called about 15 minutes after it hit, and I called just after him- and neither of use even got a chance because we were well down the list of people that called in. If your playing the footrace game, you better be willing to put a deal under contract on the first call- period.
So you need to develop a list of brokers and there are options for this. So I for instance have names and addresses for park owners in some states. I might print out that list for a broker, like mailing labels and let them contact them. With the understanding I am looking for a look at the leads. Or, I might contact the owners myself, and the deal I know are looking to list- I will feed to a broker, again with the understanding they will feed me leads the other direction. The best way I have found is to develop an email list, and contact brokers once every 3-6 months. I only do this when I am looking because there are just too many deals to look at. I will mail out to 500 brokers and probably see 5 parks I had no idea were on the market. It might take 2500 emails to find a killer deal, but there are good deals in every batch. So, yes you need to contact agents. The big house agents do big house deals- and every now and then do a smaller deals.
On the broker side, frankly not enough do mobile home parks only to have a good list. So I jog the memory of them if I am looking. There are 'deal hunters' out there also that just find deals and flip contracts or leads for a 'spiff' I call it. 10 - 50 thousand depending on the deal. Yes- I once paid 50k for a great contract.
On the buyers side here is the deal- really good deals are dug up. Contact park owners, contact agents. When I contact agents it goes like this- I get a call-
'well see- I know old man Fred, ya know on the north side, that crafty devil. Well he has that park, probably 50 homes in it and well, his wife is not feelin so well and they are spending more time at the winter house in Florida and in the RV. I heard tell at church last month he was gonna sell... maybe I will stop by the Diner at breakfast next week and see if he is interested. What kind of info are you looking for?'
And I have now generated a pocket listing. I get the location of the park, and with google earth I know more about it in 60 seconds than most people will in a full walk through. In the next 2 minutes I have a good idea of what my top offer would be, I just need to understand some income and expenses more. That is were the meat is on the bone- make your own wind. This is the same advise for brokers and buyers.