Cell Phone Tower...Any MHP Owners Have These?...Thanks!

mobile home university
1

  • QUESTION #1: Has any MHP Owner had a Cell Phone Tower installed in your MHP?

  • QUESTION #2: As a MHP Owner if someone approached you with installing a Cell Phone Tower would you consider it?

  • As per a Post from Frank ( @frankrolfe ) in January 2014:
    "…But we did try to do a cell tower deal a while back, until we learned that new regulations require that the tower not be able to hit a single mobile home in the park if it falls – there has to be a “clear zone” the height of the tower all the way around it (it makes sense if you think about it). In our case, that meant a 400’ clear zone, which was impossible given the density and footprint of our property. That leaves out about every property we own."

Just last week we were approached by a gentleman who wants to do the following for a Cell Phone Tower:

  • For: Cell Phone Tower
  • Height: 125 Feet
  • Lease: 50 Years
  • Monthly Lease Paid: $700 - $900
  • Physical Space Needed: 100 Feet x 100 Feet
  • Location: Back Left Hand Corner Of MHP in Green Space
  • Space To Nearest Home: There Would Be At The Bare Minimum Of 125 Feet To The Nearest Home
  • No Lots Lost: No Lots Would Be Lost As This Is Unused Green Space In The Back Of The Park
  • Cell Phone Company: Cell Phone Company Would Create & Pay For Road To Cell Phone Tower Including A Culvert Over A Low Area Leading To The Cell Phone Tower

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

1 Like
2

@Kristin I don’t have experience of this but have talked to park owners in two different states. I can probably rustle through my notes and see if I can find at least one of them to connect you with if that would be a benefit.

3

Forgot to state two park owners that had cell phone towers on their properties

4

No expert here, although I do work in telecom. I would research what they are offering to see if it matches with industry standard. I’ve heard many a story about people signing leases and having tremendous buyer’s remorse when they realized they should have gotten substantially more. (Not saying this is the case here as there might be plenty of options for them with surrounding properties).

And I would go over any contracts with a fine-toothed comb so you fully understand what the lease entitles them to (I’ve seen your posts and know that you would do this anyway, but thought I should throw it in there :slight_smile:).

5

i know in the instance, the phone provider leasing the tower kept coming back to try and purchase the land , so not sure if that is something to be valued or practical depending on the layout (and assuming that would make sense for them )

1 Like
6

There’s little chance it’s a 50 year lease.

My guess is it’s a 5 year (tops) with extensions.

That isn’t 50 years.

7

@steelcitydavid , thank you for your post.

We just reviewed the Contract again.

Yes, you are correct that it is a 5 Year Lease.

However, the 5 Year Lease has “Automatic Extensions” for 9 Additional 5 Year Terms.

Thus, 5 Year Initial Lease + (9 Additional x 5 Year Lease) = 50 Year Lease

Since the Lease can only be terminated by the “Cell Company”, it would essentially be a 50 Year Lease.

Below is an excerpt from the Contract:

  • “Term. The term of this Agreement (the “Initial Term”) is 5 years commencing on the date (“Commencement Date”) both “Cell Company” and Owner have executed this Agreement. This Agreement will be automatically renewed for nine (9) additional terms (each a “Renewal Term”) of five years each, unless “Cell Company” provides Owner notice of intention not to renew not less than 90 days prior to the expiration of the Initial Term or any Renewal Term.”
8

@Deleted_User_ME and @Tyler , thank you so very much for your comments!

We greatly appreciate them!

@Deleted_User_ME , thank you for offering the MHP Owners info. That is very kind of you. If you happen to be able to find the MHP Owners with the Cell Towers, could you please message me with their contact info. We would greatly appreciate it! Thank you very much!

9

@Deleted_User_ME , thank you so very much for messaging the MHP Owners name.

I have contacted him and will hopefully talk this Monday.

Thank you again so very much!

10

As for Cell Phone Towers below is some interesting information from the following website:

  • Always Counter Their Initial Offer
    The initial offer presented by a cell phone company can sometimes be 300% or more below market! It is important to speak with a cell tower lease expert to secure a fair market deal with your cell tower lease. Remember that whatever rate you lock in today will be locked in for the next 20-to-30 years. Giving up even $100 a month can cost you over $50,000 over the life of the lease!

  • Carriers Ask For More Land Then They Need
    Most representatives for new cell towers across the country are asking for a 100′ x 100′ lease area. That is 10,000 square feet, of your property, that the cell phone company will control for the several decades. Here is what they don’t want you to know – they really only need approximately 300 square feet.

  • So Why Are They Are They Asking For So Much Land?
    They are leasing extra land from you now to sublease to other carriers in the future. By controlling that much of your land now, they will receive 100% of the land and tower revenue from a future subtenant (which will likely be another wireless carrier). This leads us to our next tip…

  • Secure Co-location Rent
    If another tenant want’s to co-locate onto the tower you and your land, you deserve a piece of the action. After all, it is your property that the cell phone company is now making money on. Make sure that you have a cell tower lease expert, such as Airwave Advisors, in order to help secure you with lease rates, including those relating to future income.

  • Land Lease Rates Are Not Comparable To Your Neighbor
    One of the most common mistakes that we see property owners make is when they call other property owners who have cell tower leases to see what they are getting paid. Our intuition tells us this is how we can sample the market and to compare our offer to others receiving cell tower rent. However, the fact is that most cell tower leases – including the one down the street with your neighbor – were poorly negotiated.

  • How Do I Get A Better Deal?
    The carrier’s have cell tower lease experts on their side who negotiates hundreds of deals per year, thousands over the course of a career. Unfortunately, when a property owner enters into discussions with professionals who do this for a living, they are outmatched from day one and will leave money on the table, even though they may think it was a great deal. Cell phone companies know this, which is why the cell tower industry is so lucrative for tower companies – and has been for decades.

1 Like
11

@Deleted_User_ME , thank you so very much for your contact who owns a Mobile Home Park and who has a Cell Tower! I was able to speak to your Contact and he was very knowledgeable!

@Deleted_User_ME , thank you for connecting me to him!

WHAT I LEARNED:

  • There Are Attorneys Who Specialize In Long-Term Contract Negotiations For The Land Owner For Cell Towers
  • There Are 3rd Party Companies Who Specialize In Long-Term Contract Negotiations For The Land Owner For Cell Towers
  • After A Land Owner Signs A Lease For A Cell Tower To Be Built On Their Property Then “Other” Companies Will Contact The Property Owner To “Buy” Their Lease
  • If A Third Party Contacts You Concerning Building A Cell Tower On Your Property, They Are Very Interested.
  • If You Contact A Third Party Concerning Building A Cell Tower On Your Property, The Third Party Will Probably Ignore You.
2 Likes
12

@Kristin

Thanks for following up .

13

Lot of good stuff in this thread.

BTW, Is there a way to contact the cell phone companies and inform them that you own land for cell phone towers?

1 Like
14

@DallasMHP , as per your post:

  • “BTW, Is there a way to contact the cell phone companies and inform then that you own land for cell phone towers?”

Below is a website that addresses contacting the cell phone companies:

Below is from their website. Some of the Links were no longer valid, but I was able to directly contact some of the Cell Phone Companies. However, I have not heard back from any of the Carriers.:
"Submit your cell site locations to the carriers:

Here is the step by step process you should follow to get a cell tower on your property or a cell site on your building. Contact every single one of the entities listed below at least once every year. Put a reminder in your calendar to repeat the process every year. Don’t forget to bookmark our site. If we had a dollar for every time someone called us trying to get a cell tower on their land we could take our kids to Disneyland for a year. If getting a cell site was easy, everybody would be getting one. Good luck.

★ T-Mobile Towers: Get a T-Mobile cell tower on your property. Submit your location to the nice folks at T-Mobile.

★ Verizon Wireless Towers: Get Verizon Wireless cell tower on your property. Submit Your Location to VZW.

★ AT&T Wireless: 877-231-5447: Get an AT&T cell phone tower on your property. Leasing, Real Estate, Network Administration may be contacted by sending and email to RELeaseAdmin@att.com about possible cell tower sites. Be certain to provide them with the following information:
o Contact name, number, address or email address
o Property address, city, state, county
o Property size acres or square feet
o Latitude, longitude if available
o Map or survey if available

★ Sprint / ClearWire: Get a Sprint cellular tower on your property. Sprint Nextel’s Real Estate Network Administration group can be reached via the following email address that you need to copy and paste. “LandlordSolutions@sprint.com” Provide them with the same information as listed above for AT&T Wireless.

★ U.S. Cellular: Address a letter to:
Real Estate Manager for (Your State)
U.S. Cellular
8410 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue
Chicago, IL 60631

★ MetroPCS >> (Contact T-Mobile)

★ Cricket >> (Contact AT&T)"

We wish you the very best!

2 Likes
15

Hi Kristin,

Thanks a bunch. Was going to call them on couple of our parks. Let’s see what we can come up with additional revenues.

Your posts are very helpful. Please continue with them.

Cheers

16

@DallasMHP , thank you for your post!

17

Hi there. I have over 12 years in cellular leasing and now consult landowners with cellular leasing rights. Feel free to email me at rreiss92-at-gmail.com and I would be happy to connect.

18

@Ballgame35, thank you for your post!

19

UPDATE - CELL TOWER AGREEMENT:

We have signed a Cell Tower Agreement for our MHP.

In order to negotiate the Cell Tower Agreement we were able to speak to and learn from the following individuals:

  1. Individual Who Works In The Cell Tower Industry
  2. Landowner (With MHP) With Cell Tower Lease
  3. Landowner (With Timberland) With Cell Tower Leases
  4. Cell Tower Attorneys
  5. Cell Tower Consultants

Below is what we learned.

Please note:
We are NOT Attorneys
We are NOT Cell Tower Consultants
We are NOT Cell Tower Employees

We are just Mobile Home Park Owners who researched Cell Tower Agreements because of a literal “knock” on our front door from a Cell Tower Company.

  1. Cell Tower Agreement is 2 Fold:
    a. Option: Option To Lease Land
    b. Lease: Lease If The Cell Tower Company Selects To Use Their Option

  2. Payments:
    a. Option: The Option is a One-Time, Very Minimal Payment to the Landowner. The Option basically gives the Cell Tower Company a time frame to obtain Surveys, Permits, Costs, Profits to determine if the Cell Tower is:
    i. Feasible: Does the Government give its approval?
    ii. Profitable: Is this Profitable for the Cell Tower Company?
    b. Lease: The Lease is a Monthly Payment to the Landowner once “Physical Preparation Of The Site” begins. Since “Physical Preparation Of The Site” has no defined time frame, the Landowner would want to make sure that they specified a Drop Dead Date that the Lease (Monthly Payments) begins.

  3. Cell Tower Agreement - Clause - “Right Of First Refusal” - On Land Under Cell Tower & Easements For Cell Tower - Bad For Landowner:
    “Right Of First Refusal” gives the Cell Tower Company “X” Days (such as 30 Days) to step in and buy the Land (at the same Terms or in some cases lower Terms) when you have a Ratified Contract from another Buyer. This Clause causes a lot of “Potential Buyers” to not place a contract on your MHP if you choose to sell. Why would a “Potential Buyer” want to negotiate a Ratified Contract with you only to have to wait “X” Days (30 Days) to see if they are “really” able to purchase your land?

  4. Lease - Others Will Buy:
    Once the Cell Tower has been placed on your Land you could potentially get 3rd Parties contacting you asking to purchase your Cell Tower Lease (the “Paper” that states that the Cell Tower Company will give you “X Dollars Per Month For X Years”). You could potentially sell your Cell Tower Lease (Not the Land…Just the Lease). You would still have the Cell Tower on your Land, but you would be selling out the Lease (Monthly Payments) for a one-time Lump Sum Payment.

May everyone have Cell Tower Companies knocking on your doors :slight_smile:

If you do, please educate yourself.

We spoke to several Cell Tower Attorneys and Cell Tower Consultants. We had the Option to use them.

There is a risk and reward there.

As for the Attorneys the one, local Cell Tower Attorney said that “sure…he could help us…we just needed to give him a $6,000 retainer”. The other Cell Tower Attorney said that he charged $500 per hour. Both were very nice.

As for our Cell Tower Consultant he one missed our first scheduled phone meeting and was late for the second scheduled phone meeting. I asked for his ‘Rates’. Unfortunately, I never received a “Clear, Defined Rate Schedule”. He was also nice.

One of our friends who is a major Landowner (Timberland) and who has several Cell Towers currently on his property reviewed our Cell Tower Agreement.

In addition a friend of a friend who previously negotiated Cell Tower Agreements for the Cell Phone Companies was able to educate us.

Lastly, a Mobile Home Park Owner with a Cell Tower was able to educate us also. He had used two Attorneys and had a bill around $6,000 for their services. This MHP Owner was the one with the “Right Of First Refusal” Clause which was causing issues selling his MHP. However, he was able to get his Cell Tower Company (a large, nationally traded Company) to pay for his $6,000 Attorney Bill in a “Signing Bonus”. Our Cell Tower Company (a small, local company) did not seem very keen on a “Signing Bonus” (well they said “No”).

Thus, we selected not to use an Attorney nor Cell Tower Consultant.

However, if you find yourself in this situation, please pursue all your options.

We wish you the very best!

20

UPDATE - CELL TOWER AGREEMENT:

Approximately one year ago we signed a Cell Tower Agreement for our MHP.

The “Cell Tower Agreement” was basically a $100 “Option” to Lease a designated area to do the following:
1.) Due Diligence
2.) Obtain City Approval For Cell Tower

The Actual “Monthly Payments” would only start…
"…the first day of the month following the start of the physical preparation of the Site…"

Well, the physical preparation of the Site has begun along with the “Monthly Payments” :slight_smile:.

IF a Cell Tower Company comes a knockin’ at your door, we wish you a very, successful Cell Tower Agreement!