All Forum Posts by: John Fedro

Hi Walter,

Happy to help.

Do not simply disregard an attractive or profitable mobile home because of the age or the number bedrooms. Not only does the mobile home have to be one that is desirable to buyers, but in addition the seller should be motivated to sell quickly. The range of prices you can charge as a Move-in fee and monthly will vary depending on the condition of the home at the time of resale as well. Hope this helps and makes sense.

Good info Rachel.

Best,

John Fedro

Hi Brian,

Welcome to the BP family. BP is based on a helpful and pay-it-forward attitude. Any help, questions, answers, or education you can give would be appreciated down the line.

Best,

John Fedro

Hi all,

Great advice from others on this thread.

Congratulations on paying off your loans thus far Mike. Like so many others have already said buying could be more advantageous than renting. Like Jon K mentioned above make sure to purchase a home as an investor would, and not like an end-buyer. Make sure the deal is an investment and will be profitable when you resell.

With that said would you live in a park or on private land? Either is fine and either will make you significant profit when purchased correctly from a motivated seller.

I hope this has helped you decide what to do. Any further questions don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you for the shout out @Marlene D.

Talk soon,

John Fedro

Hi Walter,

Welcome to the BP community. It is very wise of you to be researching your market before diving in head first without clarity. Over the past 13 years I have been investing in mobile homes on land and inside of parks. I now help people all over the country do the same. I make a mention of this because I can typically give very detailed advice about most areas of the country. However the Tampa market is where I began investing and where I still hold and invest today. So the info below comes from experience and not theory.

Josh brings up a very good point about "what" you are looking for with regards to testing in your local market. However with one test of a "FSBO" advertisement in the local paper or craigslist you will find your buyer demand and what they will pay for a 2 and 3 bedroom in your area. In the Tampa and surround markets (excluding beach properties) you can expect $750-$850 for 3 bedrooms in parks and $900-$1000 on land. Lower these prices $100 for 2 bedroom MHs.

As far as looking for mobile homes to purchase - do not spend over $6k for any home in this area. This is applicable around the country. Please note as an investor you are purchasing nice homes for below market prices. These sellers may have started by asking $15k+ however after speaking with you and negotiations they are now selling their property to you for a fast sale below $6k. In short do not over pay for any mobile home. Always aim to make all your money back int he first few months or 10 months max.

Q: How did / do you evaluate your market?
A: Test the market and analyze data. Here is a past post I made on the subject. http://www.mobilehomeinvesting.net/mobile-home-blog/testing-for-buyers-before-you-start-fraud-or-not-help-decide

Q: Am I evaluating the market correctly?
A: To start with yes. However understand we are purchasing mobile homes from motivated sellers and parks that need to sell fast. If the seller is asking over $25k this is not the sellers I want to be speaking with. I say "I" in that last sentence because you can choose to buy and sell whatever homes you wish. However I want you to be as profitable and move along the path of least resistance as possible.

Q: What am I missing?
A: Clarity in your market place. Who needs to move and when? What is everyone selling? What will my buyers pay? What is every local park like and how do they do business? Once you have this clarity then you can begin to make offers knowing you will make money when you resell.

Hope this helps and makes sense to everyone. If not please let me know.

Thanks for the shout out @Doug Merriott

Best,

John Fedro

Hi Charlie,

Welcome to the BP community. Practical Purchase and Sale Contracts differ significantly between mobile homes attached to their own land Vs. mobile homes located inside mobile home parks. If you are filling out your standard 2-T PSA for a mobile home attached to real land then there will not be much different compared to a SFR. There may be others here with more Realtor insights here in NC than I. With that said do not let simple paperwork ever slow you down. Focus on helping sellers seller, helping buyers buy, and marketing your services. Everything else is just simple paperwork and procedure.

Hope this helps in some way. If I didn't answer your question don't hesitate to comment back.

Thanks for the shout out @Ramon Jenkins

Best,

John Fedro

Hi @Kevin Bupp

Welcome to the Biggerpockets community. Glad to have someone with so much experience in mobile home communities and multi-family investments here with us. I haven't heard of your podcast but will likely listen in.

Are your mobile home communities located solely in FL?

Additionally, thanks for the shout out @Doug Merriott Glad to have helped you out in any way.

All the best and talk soon,

John Fedro

Hi Barshay,

Glad to see your interested in learning more about mobile homes. There are many pros and cons for this type of investing. A complete list of pros and cons would ultimately be determined on how much time you have, capital you have to invest with, and your desired exit strategy. We could talk about each pro or con for hours, which would no doubt lead to more questions and thoughts arising with each question answered.

With all that said use the link above that Damon referenced and also type in "Mobile homes" in the search box of BiggerPockets as I know there are many articles outlining some very good information about MHs, and their pros and cons. If you have any specific MH investing questions don't hesitate to ask either.

Hope this helps.

All the best,

John Fedro

Hi Jackie,

I regret that things have gotten this bad for you with this property. It can feel like you're caught between a rock and a hard place in a situation like this.

I have placed my thoughts below. Keep in mind I am not an attorney. I would also suggest calling the THDCA at (512) 475-2200 and explaining your situation.

1) Since I do not have a signed lot lease, am I under any obligation to pay the back lot rent and late fees to the park that buyer should be paying? As Joe stated the park will simply not allow and stop the home from being moved until the lot rent is paid in full.

2) Does the mover have to notify the park before moving the home out? If it is a reputable mover yes.

3) Can the park stop the move in any way? Calling the police for trespassing when the mover comes to measure and prep the home for moving.

4) What suggestions do you have for me to get this home out with the least amount of hassle and expense? Good question. A large part of my coming answer will be based on the condition, size, and look of the home. If the home is in good shape with potential then pay the back fees (hopefully under $3,000) and resell for payments for a large profit. If the home is in a full rehab I would consider giving it to the park, if they even want it.

Like Joe above I am curious why this park is hard to work with. I have only ran into 2 parks that were difficult to work with. However as long as their lot rent was paid they were pretty harmless most of the time. If the application process is a nightmare that can also cause problems. If you explain to them that you are considering moving the home but you don't want to end on a bad note, this might help start a conversation towards a win-win resolution. "How can we work together to keep the home in the park and have the park feel compensated?" With that said if they are jerks then pay the back amount and get ready to move it. Are you going after the deadbeat tenant-buyer for monies owed?

Hopefully the home is a singlewide and therefore much easier to move should you really move it. Some parks will pay for your move and set up if you agree to keep the home in the park for X number of years. This could be a strategy to move to a nearby park you do like.

Hope this helps and makes sense.

Thanks for the shout out Andrew S.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi @Kevin Ellis

Good to see you taking interest in mobile homes. Congratulations on your past investing and welcome to BP as I see this if your first post.

My first thought is that the exit strategy and rehab strategy should have idealy been understood prior to you purchasing the home. With that said well done pulling the trigger to take action on this deal.

The advice I have for you is based on me selling mobile homes to end-users for payments, cash, and bank financing. The amount you plan to fix the home up should be determined by how you plan to resell the home and the amount of your greed.

What do I mean by "how you plan to sell the home"? If you sell for payments you will be able to sell to happy tenant-buyers willing to pay you money monthly to own a home that may need heavy cosmetic and light structural repair work. The condition of the home at the time of the sale will determine the Move-In fee you can expect. Selling homes this way will create the most amount of value and profit.

If you sell for cash you are competing with everyone else in the market place selling their mobile home. You home needs to be 10% nicer than the others and 10% less expensive. My advice here is to fix what is broken but do not upgrade.

If you plan to resell for bank financing than a nice remodel can be done with the expectation of a return on the work. This scenario is usually only the case with mobile homes attached to land.

Long story short is that you should fix the holes in the floors, holes in the walls, holes in the roof, fix the electric and plumbing if broken. Do not worry about landscaping. Pressure wash the outside if covered with heavy algae or dirt. Repair what is broken but do not upgrade. Start marketing the home to buyers the day you buy it for $XX,XXX price as-is, however for just $XX,XXX (a higher price) the home will be cleaned and move-in ready.

What I mean by greed above is the final price you decide to sell the home for. While I don't mean anything negative by the word I simply mean to place a variable on your willingness to sell for a 300% profit one day or waiting for a 350% profit.

Hope this helps and makes sense. If not let me know.

Thanks for the shout out Joel.

Talk soon,

John Fedro

Hi all and @Troy Bevans,

First off great attitude about us being stronger as a group than individually. I couldn't agree more. With that said let me help bring some added clarity to the group.

Robert, Eric, and Mark were all spot on with their instructions about what to look for with regards to mobile homes. The truth is while mobile home investing we ask many of the same "condition" type questions of SFR as we do for mobile homes. When investing in mobile homes you may choose to simply use a standard SFR property questionnaire to help you understand the property condition and specs better.

What will not be discussed on a typical SFR questionnaire are very important questions related to the sellers motivation, why they are selling, what they need the money for, the possible payment terms they will accept, etc. In addition if the mobile home is inside a park now we need to find out about the parks rules, restrictions, fees, condition, rent, other homes for sale nearby, approval process, other offers on the table the seller is considering, etc.

I hope this helps and makes sense.

Talk soon,

John Fedro

P.s. I am sure we would all like to see what you put together when your questionnaire process is complete. I know I would.