One thing I’ve learned researching mobile home parks across the country is how much opportunity gets overlooked simply because the ownership information is difficult to find.
A park might have no website, no working business phone, barely any Google presence, and an owner who’s held the property for 30 years.
That doesn’t mean the owner wants to sell. But it’s absolutely worth researching.
Here’s how I approach finding off-market parks:
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Don’t rely on one database. Cross-reference Google Maps, park directories, county GIS, and property records. You’ll find parks missing from one source that appear in another.
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Separate the park name from the property owner. The name on Google isn’t necessarily the name on the deed. I’ve found that this is where a lot of research goes wrong.
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Pay attention to ownership tenure. I’m particularly interested in individually owned parks held for 20+ years. Sometimes the owners are in their 80s or 90s and have held these properties for decades.
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Look beyond the business phone number. A disconnected number doesn’t mean you’ve reached a dead end. It means you need to research the actual owner. Most investors who cold call skip over the leads with bad numbers.
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Research ownership across multiple properties. One owner might control several parks under different names. Understanding those connections can uncover opportunities you wouldn’t find researching each park individually.
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Stop treating unanswered calls as dead leads. There’s a huge difference between someone telling you they’re not interested and never actually reaching the decision maker.
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Keep your research organized. Track what you’ve verified, what you’re assuming, and what still needs work. Otherwise, you’ll keep researching the same properties over and over.
Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned is that finding a park and finding the person who can actually sell you that park are two completely different things.
I spend a lot of time on the research side because I want to know exactly who I’m calling before I pick up the phone.
Curious how others here are approaching direct-to-owner acquisitions. Are you building your own ownership data or relying primarily on existing databases?