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Jon, please define "construction interest" for us.

Thanks!

So they are finally cleaning up out there? I know La Quinta and many nearby communities have been building up in the last few years, but I'll be welcomely surprised if they can clear that mess to the point of building on the Lake. I stopped at a place called Bombay Beach once (which is on the water, literally) during a hiking trip, and the following link is a good representation of what I saw...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zulick/sets/760458/

Looks like plenty of cheap flips ready for the taking!

I apologize if this is something you've already considered, but reading your post makes me see big dollars in commissions, and I'm sure some others on here are seeing the same thing. So here's my advice: Learn or confirm as much about the type of investment you do decide on as possible, from uninterested sources, before pulling the trigger. I would say this to anyone starting out, but you in particular will find no shortage of people that are willing to advocate a type of investment out there that also have nothing to lose by being wrong.

Do you two see parts of Florida (not necessarily your own) as slowing down? I hear rumors all the time about other parts of the country from other agents or lenders or investors that probably heard them from someone else, and so on. I know that one has popped up a few times recently.

Any feelings about the Atlanta and Savannah areas of Georgia?

while others might disagree, I would suggest avoiding an MH altogether if another investment presents itself. I have sold these things in California, and the resale is tougher than SFRs or condos, even when built on permanent foundations (as that loan above requires). The appreciation rates also tend to lag behind. Stuff built in the last few years are easier on both counts, but anything older than say, 10 years, and you have added problems of being highly susceptible to water damage and you can't defer maintenance on them at all. There also fewer loans available. If the unit was built before 1977, avoid it entirely unless you plan to tear it down.

You see this with new construction at any stage; sometimes the builder will establish a relationship with one lender or more, either to speed financing, make sure buyers are properly qualified, or as another avenue for making a buck off the deal. You'll hear ads for cars all the time where they say "special incentive only available through GMAC financing". Well, this is the same thing, and sometime there is a genuine incentive for using the inhouse lender, although if you do start doing this kind of investing, you WILL want to establish a relationship with a lender of your own, and have them see if they can give you the same or a better deal.

I was recently at a seminar where the company was selling 3s and 4s. At some point a question was raised on condo converting these things, as based on the description, there seemed to be no reason why they couldn't be broken up. The company said that they would not allow any buyers to do condo conversion as part of the contract.

Now I do not know what kind of language was in these thin contract to supposedly prevent this, but would it be possible for a builder to block this when the city would normally approve it? This was in Texas.

Agreed..
Earlier this year I did some resale work in areas of California where the older tracks were being surrounded by newer construction. In the process, I would hear about some pretty surprising stuff, all electrical or HVAC in these cases, that were just never final checked by the builder. Stuff gets missed.

I know that's asking for a lot of work, but I'd love to see a substantial but not by any means all-encompassing explanation of this kind of investment that I could throw at people.. I've seen a few sites that give brief descriptions but if someone knows a site with a few pages on the ins and outs, feel free to message or post if it's allowed. This type of investment is dancing in a lot of people's eyes right now and I'd love to have something I could hand around, with your name and number on it of course.

Sounds good, I took down your number. As I know a couple of other agents perusing this board, rather than have me forward things to everybody, can you post how you work up a fee? If not, feel free to shoot me a message.