I imagine myself having bought a park and being stuck with the park’s name which is that of the former owner - in my dream it is Boudro’s MH Park or Sally Ann’s neither of which suits me. If the name is changed, is that going to foul up town records, deeds or anything else I haven’t thought of?
'm not worried about advertising. Need to distance oneself from the prior owner. Anything to consider?
Andy,
I think you’re putting the park before the horse.
Anne
Speaking as the new owner of a park named “Ben’s” I’m coming up with new branding next month. We are getting rid of the former owner’s name after 41 years. I would suspect that changing the name may even make it harder for any liabilities to trace to me, but I’m new at this and can’t be sure. But I see no problems with the name change, and already my utilities and other bills are coming in the new name.
I view my investments as long-term, and getting the branding right for the long run will, I think, pay good dividends. I’ve also found that few tenants have ever moved in because of the old ‘brand.’ Instead, they moved in because “Ben’s” was the cheapest park in town. After the name change, we’ll still be affordable, but perhaps not outright cheap. The new branding will stand for 1) safety for families and a 2) good school district.
My 2 cents worth,
-Jefferson-
As for putting the park before the horse, having a new name ready at time of purchase or shortly thereafter will coincide with documentation, change of ownership for utility bills, town records etc. I am concerned about the mailing address to tenants. They have a boxes at the entrance.
Change the name and pick a nice name unrelated to any individual. Example Pine Hill, Riverview etc. Don’t make the same mistake and name it after yourself. This is a common error.
You may also consider tying the name to the location (“South Springfield” or “Park at Sping Lake” etc.) so that if people are searching the phone book or on-line and are looking for a place in your town they are likely to find you. You might not be planning on having a web site but you will eventually end up on other peoples sites. The Chamber of commerce may list you or mobile home sales lots etc.
If you build a good name for the park you build “Good will”. Good will has an actual value when you go to sell the park. The downside of dealing with someone elses personal name will be avoided next time around and the property will be that much easier to sell when you do sell.
We agree there are a lot of good reasons to change the name. Did you run into any problems when doing so? Appreciate a head up.
If changing the name is part of a larger effort to change the reputation of the MHP, it will be more effective if it is implemented in conjunction with some visible, physical improvement to demonstrate that this is just the beginning of good things to come, not merely window dressing.
Daphne
We changed the name of our park. It had a really bad reputation and we wanted to start with a clean slate. The roads inside the park have the prior name.
We also changed the atmosphere here. Jim immediately took down the gate that was erected so nobody could move their homes out. We wanted less of a “prison” feel…
We also immediately started bringing in newer homes, made some of the older ones look pretty, and demolished some of them. We planted trees and flowers. We started demanding that homeowners maintain their homes and get rid of the junk.
The name of our park and the name of the LLC that manages it are the same.
“got rid of the gates so it didn’t fill like a prison” !!! hahaha. this made me laugh. I just bought a park in savannah, tn and will have many questions soon. I’m kicking non-payers out and working on getting leases signed.