All Forum Posts by: John Arendsen

@Armando Raygoza, there's always buying opps for MH's everywhere. But like any investment you just have to be careful where and what you are getting involved with. I've been buying, fixing, flipping and holding MH's along the North San Diego Coast for 30 years. 

Homes are not on the cheap and a lot of them are old and need replacing not fixing. But the dirt is close to the beach and therefore has an added and intrinsic value which makes them a good investment if you buy them right.

I don't know anything about the AZ market but I do know that a lot of folks are moving there to retire because of the overall cost of living. So I have to believe that once again if the MH is in the path of progress there is potential.

But once again I'd tread lightly on any MH that's older than 1976 for all the reasons I've previously stated. Also check out the demographics in the area you're interested in and take the time to drive through the MHP that you're interested in. 

Look at the homes and their condition. Also look for empty lots. If there's a lot of them keep on looking for other parks that don't have many empty lots. You should also talk to other residents/tenants in the park and find out what they think about the park and the management. There's lots of lousy managers in this biz and they can make your life miserable.

I can really only speak for California but I tend to avoid anything older that June 15, 1976 for a variety of reasons from safety, quality of construction, finance ability, resale, etc. I'm also reticent to purchase in a lease/rent park as so many of them are becoming increasingly more blighted, neglected and ignored by their owners. 

Additionally, and most importantly if you plan to invest in a park community make sure that it's in the path of progress. So many MHC's today are not and they continue to slip down that slippery slope of dismal disrepair and neglect while residents continue their exodus to nicer communities or other living arrangements altogether.

A long distance relationship is never a good thing. Especially for a skinny chick with no meat on her bones. (Old worn out single wide).

Very prudent decision @Keeya WangJones Believe me there will be plenty of buying opps and time is on your side.

Not a doublewide. Not even a single wide. It's a Park Model RV and the owner is asking 120k. Reason being it's about 300 feet from the beach. Anything near the beach you'll pay a premium for. I have a 2008 Silvercrest 24x36 850sf doublewide going for 375,000 and a 2007 2 story hybrid that I designed and built myself. It's 1130sf and I'm asking 575k for that one.  

Personally I'd stay away from anything made before June 15, 1976. That's a Pre HUD home and not only are they built like trailers you can't get them financed. Not only that there's lots of caustic and carcinogenic chemicals all thought them.

What is your price point and how big of a home do you want? There's only 1 MH park that I'm aware of and that's on the North San Diego County Coast in the city of Leucadia. It's a small park as are most of them but they offer a long term 25 year lease and do allow for a sub lease. But that's the only one I'm aware of. 

Most MHC's don't allow a sub lease for all the obvious reasons the first being the ability for the park owner to maintain direct control over the original tenant. When a tenant starts sub leasing the park owner loses control to some extent and therein lies the problem.

The only other scenarios I'm aware of are in resident owned communities where there are no tenants; only homeowners and the homeowners own the dirt under their home. However, you're dealing with a much higher price point and most of them are senior park community developments that you must be 55 or older to purchase.

Feel free to call me and I'll let you know where the park in Leucadia is located. But do realize that there is only one home for sale presently and they don't come up often.

No prob @Ken Rishel. No need for snark here. BTW, while I've got your attention. How does the MHI work with 1031's?

Little brash and abrupt for a friendly platform wouldn't you say @Nathan W.?  I found @Ken Rishel's information very interesting if not timely to my particular situation. In this world of too much information and the need for attention to detail I personally like getting as much information as I can on any given subject; especially if it might impact or influence my personal financial situation which this does. 

Just go to the building municipality in the area you're interested in investing in. All the public records are at your disposal; often for a fee. Sure some park owners are somewhat anonymous but you need to start where you need to start. 

Parks in California need a Special or Conditional Use Permit to operate and the owner's must file for those permits so it becomes a public record. I may also be a multiple ownership group i.e. investor syndication, RIET, corporation, etc but you would still be able to obtain ownership and related contact info. 

Many if not most publicly recorded documents will not accept PO boxes, postal annex addresses, cyber space addresses, etc and require some sort of real property address. So back into this and start with the area you want to invest in. Not with what's necessarily on the open market. 

Not so sure that first statement is entirely true. I think a lot depends on the location and demographics of the park and the tenants ability to pay the rent just like any RE rental investment. I personally own a number of MH's in MHP's but not the entire park. I've had very few problems with my tenants. But they're all in a beach community where everyone wants to live so folks don't mess around with not paying rent or reasonable taking care of the MH.