this two story m/h is not a new idea but a good one. the car port part got me excited and thinking. once the bottem is in you could. with help of an archateck(love the spelling, me 2) create a second story. i envision a slide out master b/room. or possably a deck for created outdoor space. just don’t put the kitchen up stairs. who wants to carry groceries. maby an elevator,na that would cut all my profit.lol. i am in contact with a designer and am going to bring this up, might just get a laugh but this is exactly what residential needs for low cost living, being built everyday in the pop up market, (modulars) but with the right support this could be very profitable. electrical connections could be made easy, plumbing and structure, all it would take is a computer design to…well you know the rest. i thought of adding a partial second to mine but found out no matter how it was built the ins co i use would not insure it,well back to the drawing board.
Future of MHP’s , 40 & 50 years old - Posted by Bob Hendrix
Posted by Bob Hendrix on March 27, 2002 at 16:12:08:
Have looked at a number of MHP’s that are at least 40 years
old, and most have space limitations, that newer single
wides will not even fit in. Whats the future for these
older parks? We may have to buy a much newer park, but
finding one thats not over priced is a challenge.
There are lots of such older, small lot parks around. I often wonder why some coach manufacturer doesn’t design a two story unit. I know there are some two stories around but they are not designed with these small lots in mind. I would expect that with proper support the upper floor could also go over the carport area essentially making it a double wide over a singlewide, giving a trememdous boost in sq. footage. This could make these old parks more valuable. I wonder if a small mfgr. would accomodate this need if they could sell several hundred extra units per year? They often complain that their sales are slow. If they offered a product that was unique and really needed maybe sales wouldn’t be so slow. It seems like the first company to fill this need might cut a fat hog, selling these at premium prices due to a lack of competition. With modern computer aided design, this might be a viable niche market.
Re: Future of MHP’s , 40 & 50 years old - Posted by Ernest Tew
Posted by Ernest Tew on March 27, 2002 at 19:36:23:
As mentioned, the lots in most older parks are too small to accommodate today’s modern, larger homes. Two partial solutions is to put a small double-wide on the smaller lots or to use multiple lots for one home. For example, you may be able to use three lots for two homes.
The objective is, of course, to increase income and you can’t lose too many lots and still increase income. The sale of mobile homes in the park, upgrading, and providing better management and maintenance can all result in increased rents and, in turn, an increase in the market value of the property.
If the park is in a good business location, you may be able to eventually sell the land to be used for a “higher and better” use.
Doc,
I actually built one something like this about 15 years ago. It was a modular that was trucked in in 3 pieces (two on the bottom, one on top on a concrete block foundation that I had to have built in advance). The only problem was putting it together required a crane and a factory crew to raise the roof from the folded down position. Then I had to plumb and wire all the pieces together so setup was pretty extensive / expensive.
The idea sounds intriguing though. If you could simplify the setup and avoid the permanent foundation somehow…
Lyal
PS: Good to see you and Chuck posting again.
Yeah that makes me nervous–say I buy some mobiles that have been sucking dirt for a while but still in good shape, then bingo, the owner sells the park and no way those mobiles are going to be moved without tearing them up. Some of them have rooms built on them!
I’m in the process of buying one of those ‘skinny’ parks right now. This has been on my mind lately. Wondering what the possibilities are is fun. Future development is the result of past thoughts. Doc