I have been looking through the forum and it looks like there is a ton of great advice here. I’d like to pick your brains a bit!
I have been a landlord, but not a mobile home park owner and would like some guidance on whether this is feasible and pitfalls I should be aware of.
There is a park that has been brought to my attention that was closed several years ago due to some issues with the septic system. Later, the former owner apparently had some issues going on and let it go in a tax sale. Now, the park is in the hands of a holding company and is being offered for sale.
I have spoken to the real estate agent who says that the wells on the property will need to be re-drilled to a deeper depth, but doesn’t know anything about the septic system. I assume it needs an overhaul, but I have no idea how much that and the re-drilling would cost.
The agent says that it is still zoned as commercial, mobile home park. I do realize that would need to be verified.
I have looked at some of the public documents online and water tests and such and I was unable to find any major issues, other than an article saying it was closed due to a “long ago” septic system failure of some sort.
There is no possibility for this park to go on city/county sewer and water as it is not available in the area.
The park is a 35 unit park with no existing tenants since it has been closed for years. The property is quite nice, almost 12 acres. Pads are in place for single wide homes, has a small lake, etc.
A friend and I are looking at this with the possibility of using about half the property as residential and income producing business/agricultural and the other half as mobile home park. I’m not sure yet if that is completely feasible, but we are brainstorming some ideas. The alternative, of course, would be to use it fully as a mobile home park, and that is also a possibility.
The price on the property seems reasonable, even for this semi-rural area (there are small cities all around nearby with decent amenities and a larger city about an hour away) and from speaking to the agent, it sounds like I could get them to come down a bit more.
I guess I’m trying to figure out if this has decent potential even with the well and septic issues that must be taken care of. And also what else I need to be aware and wary of under the circumstances.
Also, since the park is not income producing at the moment, what financing snags I may hit as well.
Asking price is $100,000. I don’t know how financing works on these things with a holding company. I am assuming they would not work with me, but if anyone has any insight on that, it would be appreciated as well.
Thank you for your help!