Do you tell sellers it's your first time?

When approaching sellers, do you disclose that you’ve never owned a park? Or try to play off like you are very sophisticated?

On one hand, humble honesty could create a friendship with the seller. On the other hand, sellers/brokers may think you are a waste of time to deal with if you have zero experience closing deals…

You don’t tell park owners it’s your first time, in the same way you don’t tell the prostitute it’s your first time ;).

In all seriousness, exposing your inexperience will only lead to you being taken advantage of.

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Completely agree with TN. You gain nothing from telling them it’s your first time. Some people might say it could inspire some sympathy from mom & pop but it’s not really worth the risk. As much as mom & pop don’t understand the finer points of the business, they are still business owners and many of them have been doing this for decades. They probably aren’t going to want to sell to an unknown entity who may destroy their work.

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What do you say when they ask you how many parks you own, if you don’t actually own any, yet? White lie?

I, for one, believe honesty is the best policy. You don’t have to volunteer ignorance, but there’s no point in prevarications. Just be honest and sell yourself some other way. (My 1st park but I’ve been in real estate investor for ten years with three SFR and I think MHP is great because …) You might hear some interesting response.

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@TripleNet - I don’t condone lying, but there is an element of ‘fake it till you make it’. Putting parks under contract is a sales game. Have a reasonable response that should quell any concerns. Building relationships is so crucial for some of these owners. If it is a concern of you should write down some responses.

The third park we bought was 430 lots. The first two totaled $2.0mm. I had no money at that moment to pull it off. I called the owner of this property, and he picked up on my first call. Fortunate timing. He asked who I was and who I was with. I told a story on the spot of how the company I was working for was looking to get into the space but they currently invested in other forms of real estate. He bought it. It wasn’t 100% accurate, but it bought me time. That deal changed my life financially. So yes, find a way to work yourself into deals.

Basically people want to know if they are working with someone who knows what they are doing. If you can instill confidence in them, you will be fine.

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As Brandon and Archimedesgrp said, don’t lie if they ask. But you really have no reason to volunteer the information. Now that I own a park I always volunteer that info to brokers because it makes them a lot easier to work with.

It has been my experience in whatever type of real estate that very few sellers ask if you own the type of property you are trying to buy. If they do ask, never lie, just say you are involved with a group that owns several parks all over the US and then ask a question so you change and direct the line of questions back to them and the park.

That is why you have to be prepared ahead of time with a list of questions.

Hope that helps.