Park Approval... - Posted by Steve-DC

Real Estate Investing Mobile Homes & Mobile Home Parks
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Posted by Chuck (AZ) on July 10, 2001 at 11:04:32:

Just in case your not aware of it, I own 2 parks here in Arizona and I currently “PM” one of them. In fact I’ve PM’d several parks in recent years, that’s how I got part of my RE education. I mention this so you’ll understand my perspectives a bit better.

  1. You’d be hard pressed to find a PM that won’t want to approve a tenant. You’ve no doubt read or heard someone say that the PM is the key to working the park. It’s true. Your going to have to get past him/her before you’ll do any real business there.

I can’t stress this enough… BE PROFESSIONAL!!

The PM’s main concern is that the lot rent is on time, and that the tenant doesn’t cause him/her a problem.

One trick that I’ve picked up over the years is to guarantee the lot rent. You can do this at no cost to yourself by paying a couple of months in advance, out of the down payment you get on a home. Then add that back into the note and extend the payments accordingly. Let the buyer know that your doing this, and put a clause in your contract that specifically states… “if the lot rent becomes more than 30 days deliquent, the contract is in default and thus is due and payable on demand”.

Also add wording that entitles you to “take posession of the the home without recourse from the buyer, in the event of default”.

Explain to the buyer (in front of the PM) that this doesn’t mean they can slide 2 months on the rent if things get tight… it means that they have to keep this current (meaning 2 months in advance) or they loose the home.

Make sure the PM knows (privately) that this is how you work, and that you’ll cover the lot rent if you don’t have another buyer in the home by the next due date. Roll the expense into the re-sale and go again.

Trust me, this works!!

You might also consider giving the PM $100 for any good leads that pan out (a finder’s fee). Realtor’s get a cut, and alot of PM’s feel they should too, if they’re helping you do deals. This can back-fire on you, so proceed with caution.

The PM knows what’s going on in that park, you just need him/her to share that info with you.

  1. I’d hold off on the bandit signs, and instead I’d send a postcard to the homes that are currently for sale. It’s less intrusive, and doesn’t risk pi$$ing the PM off.

Street adress, and lot number (to answer your next question).

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Park Approval… - Posted by Steve-DC

Posted by Steve-DC on July 09, 2001 at 20:17:50:

Hi folks…

I’m having two issues with being approved by a park that I need some feedback on:

  1. I’ve been calling on sellers and the first thing they ask me is if I have been approved by the park. It’s smart for them to ask as many of them have had deals fall through because the buyer doesn’t get approved while the seller waits around for them. They got smart and now ask up front.

  2. My second thought would be to just go get approved and then I’d have an answer for them. Needless to say I’m not in any condition to be approved to buy anything.

Is there a way of addressing this with both the sellers and the park managers? I’m not finding one PM to be quite too friendly to me being around. He’s not negative, just not friendly.

I realize that getting personally approved by the park has some advantages with a PM I’ve never done business with and to have one step in the process done when I call on sellers…any creative ideas?

Lonnie mentions the need to learn which parks to business with and which ones to steer clear of…am I dealing with too much rigidity from the park?

Could some of the cold shoulder I’m getting from the park manager generate from him personally buying a lot of the units when they come up for sale? From speaking with some of the residents, it seems as if they believe the only way to sell their home is with the PM as a middle man…should I stay away from this place or am I missing something and blowing it out of proportion?

whew…sorry for the story, thanks in advance though for your response,

-Steve Hittle

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Re: Park Approval… - Posted by Chuck (AZ)

Posted by Chuck (AZ) on July 10, 2001 at 24:51:28:

  1. You don’t need park-approval to discuss the specifics of a home that’s for sale.

  2. If your not in a position to buy, then what’s the point?

In any event, it sounds to me like your trying to work a park where the tenants have been brain-washed by the PM. It also sounds like the PM may be doing some deals of his own there… or at least getting a cut of their action.

You might consider approaching them as a “buyer’s agent”… a person who locates what the buyer desires to purchase. You could then discuss the specifics of the home and feel the seller out. Of course it would probably be wise to have a few buyers lined up… you could run an ad and take names and numbers for the “home you’ll have available next week”, so to speak.

I’m thinking quick flips as opposed to Lonnie-deals at least in this particular park.

Since you can’t break the rules, you might as well bend them a bit… it’s obvious that the PM is.

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Re: Park Approval… - Posted by Steve-DC

Posted by Steve-DC on July 10, 2001 at 08:25:49:

Chuck, thanks very much for the response…

“1) You don’t need park-approval to discuss the specifics of a home that’s for sale.”

I thought of something last night…do you think it’d be worth trying approaching the PM and “giving him something” aside from getting approved? Example, “Hey buddy, I’m going to buy a home here and sell it immediately…I’ll bring my buyers for your approval…and if it doesn’t work out (he’s already thinking that I’m not approved and that’s going to be a problem if I don’t sell) I’ll flip it too you.”

“2) If your not in a position to buy, then what’s the point?”

I found a partner that’s willing to finance the deal with a 50/50 split.

The tenants are definately brainwashed…they think they can’t even consider moving without first approaching the PM…which gives him a significant jump start on the deal. Wish I were him right now!

I’ll be putting up some bandit signs right outside the park in the next week or so…maybe that will get people thinking that there’s someone else who’ll pay for their home other than the guy in the office.

The other thing I thought of was sending a post card to the entire park…about 700 units. I’m having trouble finding the addresses though. I can find the park, but I can’t find the addresses of the units…any input?

The quick flip is a good idea…the market value of 20 year old single wide units here (in decent shape) is from about 14-18K…ridiculous, but enough for a small profit if I can find the deal. Right back to the beginning - motivated sellers!

Take care Chuck, thanks again.

-Steve Hittle