Would love to hear everyone’s three biggest or most concerning park issues that you had with your park(s), and how you addressed those problems, giving you back some peace of mind.
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I would say the biggest mistake in any RE deal is telling the tenants that you are the owner. I know that if will be hard to hold back that excitement, but trust me it will come back to bite you every time. Don’t think that just telling one person and telling them to “Not Tell” is going to work either. The reality is they are your tenants and not your friend, if you are looking for friends try Facebook. That is a lesson I learned very early in my career. and has served me well.
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Sewer problems are one thing that can keep me up. This can cause the city to shut off the water to your park, which will of course make it uninhabitable. We had a major problem that cost over $200k to fix, and we had to bring in external pumps and backups to make sure the temp fix was fail-proof, and the city inspector over our heads the whole time.
Anything having to do with fighting the city is a huge headache and nightmare. City claiming you’re not allowed to bring in new homes, for instance. City demanding that you improve or change something. Or the state (ADA complaints, discrimination complaints, etc)
Manager who goes radio-silent (disappears) or who you discover is [stealing / illegally discriminating / running a side business / failing to deposit the rent].
Major infrastructure problems (collapsing sewers, sewer bellies, major road repairs) – these are huge headaches.
Problem tenants – violence in the park, especially directed at the manager. I would probably lose sleep over that one.
Bank hassles (Mortgage bank threatening to do something you don’t want them to).
That’s off the top of my head
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PG - What did/do you tell the tenants you are then?
Brandon - What have you done to mitigate those items?
Keep on top of things. Inspect and ask questions, especially when the professionals (e.g. plumber, electrician) are on site. Write emails & document conversations. A little concurrent documentation goes a long way (e.g., in court).
I usually tell tenants that I work for the owner(s) as a handy man, manager etc. I then try to re-direct the conversation onto them and get them talking about themselves and their lives. People love to talk about themselves.
If asked, you don’t have a business card either - even if you do. If they ask for your phone give them the park number that is the 800 # and tell them to leave a message for you.
Septic, water and trees.
Mine is a rural community on well and septic. Having well water makes a pump failure a major concern. I have a spare well pump and equipment to pull the pump and replace in less than a day. Septic is also a concern over pump failure, I have spare lift pumps and can replace a failed pump very quickly. Line blockages is a second issue and I have a professional grade snake to deal with those issues. Trees is the third issue and best approach is to stay on top of trimming and removing dying or diseased trees before they cause a problem. When storms bring down trees there is nothing you can do but clean up.
To best mitigate all issues I do all the repair and maintenance myself. If I had to call people in to replace pumps and clean up problems down time would be considerably longer. The second best approach to dealing with emergencies is to take the approach that there is no such thing as a emergency. There are simply maintenance issues that need to be addressed.
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