All Forum Posts by: John Fedro

Hi all,

My questions - In your opinion are the number of potential buyers of used mobile homes growing in number or shrinking? Does the affordable-ness of mobile home living supersede the perceived negative stigma of living in a mobile home? Would you say your buyers are mostly people that have lived in a mobile home in their past, or are virgins to MH living? 

Additionally, Bill did not ask me to say the following however I feel it is very worthy of a few lines. I have known Bill for some years now and he is the real deal. Bill has made countless mistakes, just like myself and every other long-term RE investor, and I see him actively aiming to help others from making these same errors too. I am very eager to see what he has put together for this niche. Great work Bill. 

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi all,

Great comments and feedback Greg and Bob. Spot on advice.

Additionally, smart thinking to post these craigslist details here for us to chat about Matthew. It provides a few good lessons. 

Greg already mentioned the fact that maintenance and vacancy numbers are likely grossly off. In addition may parks will not allow renting, however some do so this could be easily overcome depending on the park. It is odd that all of them seem to be vacant, or at least sound vacant at the moment, which will cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in lot rent expenses until sold. 

Additionally, we can not tell the ages, sizes, and number of bedrooms in each home. This will greatly determine the demand and value you can resell or rent them for. Besides the home, the park needs to be screened too to past our investor-friendly test.

It sounds like this may be a MH investor aiming to sell their portfolio, or a small part of their portfolio. I can tell you that if they are cash flowing as good as the seller mentioned then many investors would not choose to sell unless necessary. 

Lastly, with all this fear-mongering said my advice would be to call the seller for sure and express your sincere interest to learn more and aim to answer all the unanswered questions above. Perhaps the park will allow you to have a few months free lot rent, perhaps the area is booming, perhaps all the homes are 1990's 3/2 singlewides. 

I heard a saying a while ago that has stuck with me, "Price cures most worries." There is likely a price at which you would feel safe and excited purchasing all these homes for. Aim to always make your money back in 1 year or less when purchasing MHs inside parks. If this seller is motivated and you are one of the only offers then perhaps you can eventually close the deal. Again, there are a lot of hurdles to overcome first.

I hope this has all made sense and isn't too confusing. If you have any extra follow up questions or concerns don't hesitate to reach back out and we'll continue to help.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi all,

Great advice thus far. 

Of all the mobile home parks we currently come across only a small fraction will not allow you to buy and resell a mobile home inside their walls. The main three reasons for this are (1) the park managers are purchasing and reselling mobile homes themselves and does not want the competition, (2) there is a corporate policy that mandates the owner of the home must live in the property for a certain period of time before they resell it, and lastly (3) is because the park manager is incorrectly projecting a previous bad experience from another flaky- investor onto you. Typically the only one of these objections we can overcome is the last. With that said I would tell you to humbly and sincerely ask the park manager why they do not wish for you to buy a mobile home, clean it up, pay lot rent every month, and resell (even if reselling for all-cash)?  

With all that said wholesaling mobile homes inside mobile home parks is not as straightforward as it may sound. In most states a purchase and sale agreement will do nothing to cloudy title or stop a seller from undercutting you if they find a buyer willing to pay more. On land a PSA will not cloud title either however it is much less likely the seller undercutting you, similar to SFRs. I hope this makes sense.

In all the mobile homes I have wholesaled in parks it is always a dance to have the sellers leave their home so I may show it to a few prospective buyers. In addition, if the sellers cannot sell for $8,000 I am curious as to why you will be able to sell for $12,000? You may have a legitimate answer such as they are not marketing the home or advertising anywhere, however mobile home buyers willing to pay cash are very few and far between in most areas.

In short I agree that this is a pass for sure. 

Lastly, there may indeed be value and profit to be made on this deal. However there are likely other sellers of other mobile homes that are more motivated and in friendlier parks willing to work with you.

I hope this helps and makes sense. If you have any follow-up questions please don't hesitate to comment back for us all to help. Good job in aiming to help this seller and trying to put a deal together if possible.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Good question Brandon.

I too would be very curious to hear active mobile home park owners day-to-day routines. Only owning one park I woul feel very limited in giving any proper advice concerning this. There are others much more qualified than me in this arena. 

With that said I would imagine that the answer is "it depends". It depends on the person, their business model, constraints, and goals.

However, I may be looking at this all wrong though. Looking forward to hearing from others.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi Craig,

Great to see you interested in possibly pursuing mobile homes as a real estate investment. 

Many folks think that because mobile homes can be purchased at a fraction of the price of single-family homes that they must be easy and simple to invest in. Mobile homes inside mobile home parks and mobile homes attached to private land can generate serious sums of income. 

However there are also many many traps and pitfalls to be aware of while investing in this niche. This website and forum are great sources of helpful people in useful information to get you started.

In short, mobile home investing can be absolutely wonderful and on the other side of the coin you may lose a lot of money if you go down the wrong path. 

The last thing I am certainly not trying to do is scare you, quite the opposite. I just want to make sure every deal you close is a profitable and safe one. With that said if you have any questions or concerns don't hesitate to reach out to us again.

Thanks for the shout out Bill. Frank, I agree with you too.

Continue doing your research and being a real estate investing information sponge. Ask more questions then you can think of and get answers to all of them, which should lead you to many more questions. Once you have clarity moving forward and see the full picture investing in your local market will you be at a better position to pull the trigger.

I hope this makes sense and helps him.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi all,

What a great community of people that in just a few days we are able to help give Orlando so much good advice. 

It seems as if the consensus is be very careful, however it may be worth taking a look. There is already so much great advice here I only see a few things to add.

First off, good for you Orlando for taking action and getting excited about your next/first mobile home transaction.

Without taking a look at this mobile home personally I already see a few red flags.

1. 1. This is a senior citizen park and at the current date many of the snowbirds have already returned north for the season.
2. 2. The home clearly needs a good bit of rehab. Not terrible, but not ideal for your first deal.
3. 3. You seem to be a bit emotional (too excited) about this deal. (This last one may or may not be the case. And it is good to be excited, but clear minded is best.)

With that said you very well could purchase this home, clean it up, and resell it to a park approved buyer for a profit. However, there are likely other homes, sellers, and deals out there that would be much easier for you to pursue for your first deal. I suggest you move forward with the path of least resistance. Least resistance to purchase, lease resistance to repair, and least resistance to resell. 

What this typically looks like for your first few deals will be a three bedroom in a family park needing minimal repairs. In addition, ideally the park has average lot rent, allows pets, and has a fairly average or simple approval process. There are likely sellers around you that are confused and ready to move - however they don't know who you are and vice versa... yet.

I recommend that you explore your area and see all that is for sale by everyone selling a mobile home. Once you have this clarity you can then decide to make offers on as many or as few of the homes as you would like. 

I have a hunch that this mobile home will still be here in another couple weeks should you decide to come back if you don't find anything better.

Concerning your question about finding handyman, asking park managers is a good start and placing an ad in the Craigslist "gigs" section describing the labor will also attract some handymen looking to work. Make sure all your mobile home handyman have many years mobile home experience, as this will save you much time and money.

I hope this makes sense and helps. If you have any follow-up questions please don't hesitate to comment back.

Talk soon,
John

Hi all,

Great comments. 

I'm with Rhett. I'm investing in mobile homes in OKC and you can achieve the 2% rule in this situation.

Great comment Bob. 

All the best,
John Fedro

Hi guys,

My knowledge of investing in individual mobile homes inside and outside of mobile home parks is extensive, but running parks and owning parks is very limited. I am very curious as to what the more experienced park owners in the group here have to say about this too.

Thanks for the shout out Mehran.

Best,
John Fedro

Hi Todd,

Welcome to the BP team and family.

All the best,
John Fedro

Hi James,

Thanks for your interest in MHs. 

Water said it best by mentioning to look around in the forum's section for mobile home related questions, articles, and topics. This site has a ton of useful info and people willing to help.

To answer your question Yes you can quickly resell mobile home properties for fast cash or a quick flip. If the home is inside a park on rented land than pursuing your Dealer's license may be something to consider moving forward. If only buying/selling mobile homes on land then there is no limit as to Dealer status. If you plan on your end-buyer obtaining a new loan/mortgage than there are many additional things to consider, such as; seasoning, is the home financeable, is your buyer financeable, does the home appraise for the selling price, etc.   

You can also wholesale contracts and not even have to close on the homes. Concerning investing, if you can do it with a SFR then it can likely be done with a mobile home.

Thanks for the shout out Walter.

Best,
John Fedro