Please share some test Craigslist advertisements!

I may have missed these in the home study kit if they exist. I would be highly appreciative if someone would link me here their super secret Craigslist advertisement forumula for MHs or RV pads. Or PM me.

Place this ad under ‘Mobile Homes For Rent’ in your local newspaper.{TOWN NAME IN ALL CAPS}: 2, 3, & 4 BR Sale or Rent from $450/mo. Includes lot rent
{PHONE NUMBER} / WEBSITEAd a bit more description for CraigsList and include photos inside and out.Good luck,-jl-

Thanks Jefferson, Wow, I was expecting a marketing challenge. Are traditional newspaper advertisements statistically more effective than Craigslist ads? Could you share your stats to give me an idea on differences?

The classified section of the largest metro newspaper is always a better source of calls than Craigslist, but Craigslist always comes in #2. You might also try running an ad on MHBay, which also pulls some calls.

Ill share with you about Craigslist. In my experience the “super secret Craigslist advertisement formula”  comes down to one word, consistency. If you keep your ads running and renewed (dont spam) for months on end you will get calls. When I stop getting calls from Craigslist its because I am forgetting to renew and manage my ads. Another tip is make a few ads. Not just one. For example I will put ads in under homes for rent and for sale. If I have multiple homes I make ads for each one. Remember Craigs list is free, use it. But you must use it well and consistently for reap the best rewards. When purchasing homes on Craigslist you must be even more consistent. Look every day, literally every day you are able. When the right deal pops up be ready take out your checkbook. Also look in the surrounding Craigslist “territory’s” to broadened your net. I have purchased several homes wthin 24 hours of first talking to the seller. Even homes far away. If you know what questions to ask, and get pics you can get an idea of what the home is like. I had one last month that the sellers inheritated the home and were “in town” to sell all of their parents old belongings. They had another buyer back out on them before they called me. They literally wanted to sell the home within 3 days. After looking at the pics and talking to the sellers, we agreed on a price on the phone pending my physical inspection. I knew I was most likely going be purchasing the home within 20 minutes of talking to these people. Alot of people get excited about doing deals then quickly burn out when they can’t force a deal quickly. With Craigslist act slow and steady, one day you be sitting at your computer on the phone with a seller and get these butterfly’s in you stomach because you know your talking to a very motivated seller who has what you want. That never gets old haha. Another thing to remember is to talk to some less motivated sellers also. Always give you name and number. Remember unmotivated sellers often become very motivated sellers on day. Sometimes if the home is close to me I’ll go look at it just to make a relationship with the seller. These relationships become deals also. Many of these principals regarding relationships with sellers and knowing about motivated sellers apply to about any type of deal. Including mobile home parks. I am getting to know the park owners in the counties I deal in so when they become motivated sellers I will be right there. Anyways here is some text from my ads. We pay to move your Mobile Home (Town names)

If you own your mobile home and are ready to move to a different
location our park may pay the moving cost for you. Our community is very
nice, clean and safe. The home must be 1990 or newer and in nice shape.

Large lots
Lot rent is between $185 and $250 mo/ Another ad:
3 BR 2 Bath mobile home in very nice park in XXX. Many updates.
Very clean home. Nice carpet. Newer clean shower and tub. This home has
had a lot of attention. Shed and deck are included. Each lot has their own private
parking. No big dogs. Park
application required. Lot rent is $225.  $8,900 for the home. Phone calls only please.I need to go actually work now! I hope this helps you.

Instead of checking CraigsList everyday for MHs for sale, I believe, you can set up a Google alert so you get an email when a new home is posted.Here is a step-by step, how-to site:How to Set up a Google Alert for Craigslist: 8 Steps

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I agree with ‘MobileHomePark’ concerning Craigslist Ads:'Consistency’Before owning a Mobile Home Park our family never used Craigslist.  However, after purchasing a Mobile Home Park we quickly learned that Craigslist is our friend.Craigslist is ‘Free’ (which is a great thing) and it pulls from the demographic that we need for our particular park.  We get almost as many calls from our physical Mobile Home Park sign as we do from our Craigslist ads.  However, we have found that the Craigslist peeps are more stable and reliable.On Craigslist we post 24 pictures (the max) of the mobile home (inside & out).  Also, if we have multiple mobile homes then we do separate ads.  We will renew these ads every 48 hours until one rents.  Once a prospective Tenant emails us we then send follow up questions such as:  Have you ever been evicted?  /  Do you owe any landlords money?  /  Where do you work & how long have you been there?  /  How much do you gross an hour or year?At this point if the prospective tenant is able to financially afford the rent we will email an Application and Rental Agreement.The mobile homes are then rented on a first come first serve basis with the first person to fill out the Application and pay the Application Fee (which is non-refundable).One of our sample Craigslist Ads is listed below.We wish you the very best!** Mobile Home – For Rent – 3 Bed/2Bath – **MOBILE HOME – FOR RENT – – NORTHWEST OF WALMART:3 Bedroom & 2 Bath$525 Per Month Plus $525 Security Deposit – ($1,050 To Move In + Application Fees)In Great ShapeNO PetsIn An Excellent, Well Kept Mobile Home Park – Large Lots3.8 Miles (6 Minutes) Northwest Of The Walmart Supercenter & LowesAvailable: May 16, 2014$50 Application Fee (Non-Refundable) For 1 Adult Over 18 Years Old + $25 For Each Adult Over 18 Years Old (Non-Refundable)Background Check, Eviction Report & Credit Check Will Be ProcessedTenant Pays For All UtilitiesPlease Email – Thanks!

Our experience has been different than Frank’s as regards what source generates the most leads.  For us, CraigsList is always the #1 source of leads, by far (roughly 2/3rds of our leads - and those convert to closed sales).  The large local newspaper is a distant second (1/3 of leads).  I’m not quite sure what drives the difference. Our experience has been primarily in the Oklahoma City metro.  Someone else on this forum was raving about how well Facebook was pulling for them.  They were in Georgia, I believe.  We tried Facebook, and it did not pull well for us (well under 5% of our leads, and seems to be trickling down from that).So your mileage will definitely vary,-jl-

Jefferson,It could be your Craiglist strategy and set of tactics is different thank Frank & Dave. Would you be willing to share your method when you want to fill a lot as soon as possible? Do you create multiple ads and spin the copy to make them appear different so that you have the benefit of search volume?

I’ve been playing with Craigslist ads for Extended Stay RVs and doing keyword research with little success. Anyone here experienced with ads for customers who will rent pads in MH parks? Do most pad renters ONLY search within their geographical area? For example, if I’m renting a pad in Bellingham WA, should I stick with Bellingham Craigslist or perhaps advertise in a larger one like Seattle Craigslist? What percentage of MH pad renters are looking to move to different cities? What percentage of MH pad renters will only move their homes into the same city? I need these advertisements built for maximum exposure to test a park I’m looking at which extended stay RV spaces. The MH lots are too small for homes. If anyone could share keyword research, that would be wonderful. For example, is “MH pad” better than “MH lot”, etc.

OMG!!! On Craigslist potential renters BLOW  my phone up and I rent very quick :)]

I think that which media works the best is based on your market. The important thing is that, when using both Craigslist and the newspaper ad, that the sum of the calls is enough to get any home out the door fast. We have some parks that get over 100 calls a week, and our weakest still get 20 to 30 – that’s a huge amount of demand! Back when I owned billboards, if I could get the phone to ring at all was a miracle. All mobile home park owners are spoiled with demand, as long as they focus on the affordable housing sector.

parkinvestor -No, we don’t create multiple ads.  Perhaps we should.  We just run a fairly basic ad that lists photos, price (both regular-rent and RC), amenities of the park, hours, and our phone and website.  Having a decent website is key.  You want it to display the homes attractively, as well as answer ‘all’ the questions a prospective resident could have (hours, location, price, etc.).  That way you knock-out low-value calls that would otherwise waste your time (e.g. “Do you have any trailers available?  What are your hours?  Where are you guys located?”) and you get just the best questions from the best prospective residents (“I’ve seen all your photos and stuff on your website.  I really like the 3 bedroom on lot 17.  Would you allow me to RTO for less per month if I put down a larger deposit?”)I’d be interested to hear of anyone is running multiple ads and has quantified the benefit of doing so.Good luck, -jl- 

**UPDATE*I’ve been creating ads for Mobile Home “Lots” for rent. Bring your own mobile home, etc. I’ve gotten tons of calls but apparently no one in this demographic can read very well. Everyone calls about the Mobile Home rental. So when creating these ads, is it best to jack up the price and write the ad for park owned rentals rather than lots when testing a market?

I would do exactly that, Mobile Home Rental.  I would also add a line where you include something about move-in specials.  Of course, your only move-in special at this point will be for customers who can bring in homes, but that might be something you need to screen for when they call.  I’ve called a ton of parks over the last year and many of the professionally run parks use this strategy of pre-screening over the phone.  It’s probably because most MH customers really only see two things in your ad, pictures and price.

In a decent market your available homes will rent fast and you will have a waiting list to move in! There is a shortage of affordable housing in USA and it will continue.
Even putting a for rent sign in the window of the trailer will work.
You are selling a basic necessity that is huge demand.
The biggest challenge for me is finding the homes at a price I am willing to pay not renting them.

Renting lots on the other hand is a challenge!

We are renting three mobile homes – in “as is condition” – in a property that does not even have a sign up yet or an ad placed yet. Even though the park is a complete turnaround, these customers sought us out by driving into the park and looking for the manager. That’s how high the demand for affordable housing is right now.

Thanks Frank,I rebuilt my ads for MH for rent rather than lots or RV pads and am getting 3-4 calls per week.

We run our ads in both rentals and homes for sale. We have 4 variants of ads for each park, and rotate them using our craigslist accounts.We also run 2 open houses per week, and also set showing by appointment. We sell about 90% of the homes through the open houses… 

this is an ad we ran today.$450 / 2br - 924ft² - Mobile Home Lease / Option- Open House Today2BR / 2Ba 924ft2 manufactured available may 31w/d hookups off-street parkingcats are OK - purrr dogs are OK - wooofOpen house to view these homes on Wed June 14th between 10am and 4pm.If you can not make this time, reply to this post with your contact info and we will try to set up a time for you to see the homes. We have several (4) mobile homes being offered on a lease / with option to buy. These homes are ready to move into, and only await a qualified person to move into them. Our program is pretty simple. There are 2 leases- one for the space rent- which is $250 / monthone for the home- Lots 16 and 19- $750 due at lease signing, 200/ month for 30 months. Then you can pay $3,000 for the home. If you have made your payments on time for the 30 months we will offer you financing for the final purchase. (2 bedroom)lots 29 and 39- $750 due at lease signing, 200/ month for 35 months. Then you can pay $4,000 for the home. If you have made your payments on time for the 35 months we will offer you financing for the final purchase. PLEASE print this post- posts get flagged, sometimes removed and you will want this info!