I am sending this message to the writers of the Blogs.
I read every update that you write and wish to commend you on your dedication to keeping up with writing them. It does provide a great view
of the owner / manger perspective of turn-around park operation.
It has opened my eyes to view the parks and the park management issues
of the parks I do “Lonnie Deals” in a different light. It has changed how we work. We now go to greater lengths to improve the outside of the homes we rehab.
We do more work on the yard and outside of the homes. Besides just pulling weeds and clearing out junk, we put in some flowers and bark. We rehab the entry stairs and decks. Paint some homes…
We now put in mini blinds or curtains in all the windows (the sheets, towels, rags or whatever our buyers where hanging really don’t look good).
We put in low flow fixtures in when we need to replace plumbing fixtures.
These changes have actually improved our selling prices, reduced selling time and get positive feedback from mangement and other park residents. The park managers have given us a few deals we would not have heard about.
Thanks again for your work…
PS… I have one small request, the trackback/comment moderator needs to update the files, I want to hear what is being discussed…
It's great to pass on to others the experiences we have day to day operating the parks, some are rewarding, some are challenging and we're always learning as we go. I find it very rewarding to help people better understand the many different hats you must wear as an entrepreneur
operating a turn around park. The thing that’s so great about this whole website is that we are all constantly learning from one another’s experiences by reading the posts, the blogs, asking questions and receiving feedback from people with varying degrees of experience. Sometimes a simple question from a newbie will spark a new and better way to handle a situation or problem, everyone is contributing and sharing in some small way, on behalf of myself and the other writers and contributors to the blog’s, thank you.
I am so happy that you wrote a post about the blogs. We have over 600 people a day that come to the website and many of them read the blogs. Unfortunately the three bloggers don’t receive direct feedback from the MHU readers and sometimes do not realize how many people read their every entry. All three definitely have a profound impact on the MHU readers.
Writing is very time consuming and I know all three bloggers spend a lot of time and heart trying to help others!
We really DO appreciate the feedback! Corey is right, we do not have any idea how many people are reading our blogs and if they are getting insight from any of the stuff we write!
It is great to see that you have noticed the things that Park Owners want to see in their park and have acted on them as well. It is just as easy to cut corners as it is to over-improve a home - and we have all probably done both at one time or another!
I think the thing that is really great about the blogs is that we all write about our parks, which are different, but have the same basic problems and good points no matter where located. I always look to see if either Fred or Daphne have posted because I am absolutely positive that what they talk about is something we will run into soon if we have not done so already! It is nice to know how to approach something before it happens!
I consider Fred, Daphne, and John wonderful friends that Jim and I would never have met had we not all been part of the manufactured home community. Funny, but Jim and I have learned over the last few years that the majority of our true friends live here (on this board)! We even discussed that with Steve (WA) while at MHM.
We check the blogs regularly and really love reading them. We learn a lot from the experiences of Fred, Daphne/John, and Jim/Ellen. It helps keep us connected to our friends, and keeps us from feeling isloated in the business. My son and I were taking a break the other day while hooking up a cen/ac unit, and he said " you know if Daphne were here; she would be scolding us for spending our time crawling around under this home, instead of paying someone to do it while we went out and did deals".
this entire website is awesome!!! definetly a mobile home & park university! thanks so much corey for the site! thanks to everyone who shares their skills & ideals and devotes the time to answer questions for us newbies!
I just found the blogs last week! They are GREAT!! I have read every one and wait for new entries. We are considering buying a park right now and before reading the blogs we thought a few small parks would be the best (under 20 lots) But now I am thinking go bigger and concentrate on one deal and one park instead of several mini parks. Keep up the inspiring work, Thanks.
If you are looking for a MHP you might consider either or both of the boot camps that are offered! Steve and Corey have one that they run in Texas. I know they just finished one and don’t know when the next one is, but there is a small park bootcamp in Asheville, NC which Tony Colella has in the beginning of August. There will be tons of MH people there. Find out more about that on the CRE website.
Buying and working on turning around a park is definitely an experience. Jim and I are natives from the Catskill Mountains in NYS, so being in Alabama is definitely eye-opening for us! Although we are mountain grown ourselves, this is a whole different lifestyle. I think there are lots of opportunities up there for someone who likes the snow, though!
Best of luck and we hope you continue to enjoy the blogs.