All Forum Posts by: Jason Robinett

I've recently purchased a 17 unit senior mobile home park. My operating expenses are mainly water sewer garbage. I'd like to extend the cost of the water to the lot renters by submetering each unit and sending them a bill (or having a third party do it) I was wondering, who has done this, how much I'm looking at spending, are permits needed, where can I go about getting the best deal on hardware (should I use a wireless meter which gathers data 4 times a day that I can review from home?), etc. I've completed a few google searches and a few searches on here to come up with very little helpful information. I'd like some feedback from those who have done it. The process does not seem hard, but better to know what not to do before jumping in head first :).

Thanks,

Jason

True. All notes mature. Perhaps you could find a park or two which allows rentals. Now you have a rental (for cheap) and is sustainable longterm. I for one am not interested in being a landlord. My business plan:

Lonnie deals to generate shortterm passive income and eventually buying a mobile home park.

I have have a commercial mortgage banker friend who decided one day to review his wealthiest clients financial statements. Guess what they ALL owened. Mobile home parks! :mrgreen:

Thank for the information Drake and Lance.

Terry, I was sweating bullets, but so was the guy I bought it from. He made it irresistable and I came out OK. I ran an add in the nickel and am getting an average of 5 callers a day. I would have used craigslist but... not many 55+ are computer savy.

My girlfriends brother in law has cash. He floated me 1/3 payable in two installments for this deal. I'll most likely create a promissory note with the cheapest interest rate he'll take to borrow next time.

Going forward, I'll stick to the 2k range. They seem to make the highest return with less risk. I will also stay away from the high lot rent parks.

Lessons learned on my first deal for those reading this:
1. Before you buy, make sure you know exactly what homes are priced in the park you are selling. Depending on lot rent, they will fluctuate from park to park.
2. Know how much your rehab will cost, especially carpet, paint, and cleaning. I for one, hate cleaning and would rather pay someone else to do it. Carpet can get expensive fast.
3. I think Terry talked about this, but carpet and paint will make a huge difference.... especially for the new home smell. Don't skimp on the carpet, if it needs to be replaced... DO IT!
4. Know your closing costs. Have the taxes been paid through the new year? Excise tax rate? Title transfer fee? They may not be much, but will eat into your bottomline.

One more thing. If you don't know everything, thats ok. Take one step at a time. I used Lonnie Scruggs book, Deals On Wheels as a reference guide on everything!! It was a huge help! He covers almost every scenario you could come across.

Another vote for excel! Create headings for the information you need to sort by and subfolders such as "leads" "followup" "under contract". Good luck!

I am not an expert but you could quit your job if you had enough coming in. If you average 1 a month for 12 months at an average of $200 per deal, thats $1200 a month after the first year and $2400 after the second year. I for one am "planning" to do two per month, which would be $2400 per month first year and $4800 per monoth the second year. Could you live on that??? I could. My first deal was bought and sold within 7 days. (recently completed) If you buy low and sell for retail with financing.... there are plenty of buyers out there! I havent quit my job YET, but plan on it in the next year or two! Need to build those cash reserves. Good luck

Looks like you're well on your way. Curious, how much cash did you start out with?

I just finished my first Lonnie Deal and came out OK. It was a 2/2 double wide in a 55+ park. Bought it for $4,750 and sunk another $750 into it with carpets, carpet cleaning and some paint, etc. Total invested $5500. (Looking back I could have got it for cheaper). I bought it August 16 and had it under contract August 23 contingent on park approval. Sold August 26 for $6,900, $500 down, $175 month, 48 months. Interest rate is 14%.

Like you said on your first deal, the amount I learned from this was priceless and I came out with a 28% ROI. Not great, but not bad. I priced it low because the lot rent was $775 per month (really nice 55+ park) and I didn't want to pay it.

If I were to do it again, I'd buy for less and hire someone to clean and install the carpet. I now know the cost and labor involved so it'll be easy to factor into my offer.

It'll take me a bit now to gather enough money for my next lonnie deal. I'm considereing borrowing some from my brother inlaw at a low interest rate. Time to be creative!